Text 58]
Brahmā Stealing the Boys and Calves
69
TEXT 58
ततोऽवक् प्रतिलब्धाक्षः कः परेतवदुत्थितः । कृच्छ्रादुन्मील्य वै दृष्टीराचष्टेदं सहात्मना ॥५८॥
tato 'rvāk pratilabdhākṣaḥ kaḥ paretavad utthitaḥ kṛcchrād unmīlya vai dṛṣṭīr ācaṣṭedaṁ sahātmanā
tataḥ—then; arvāk—externally; pratilabdha-akṣaḥ—having revived his consciousness; kaḥ—Lord Brahmā; pareta-vat—just like a dead man; utthitaḥ—stood up; kṛcchrāt—with great difficulty; unmīlya—opening up; vai—indeed; dṛṣṭīḥ—his eyes; ācaṣṭa—he saw; idam—this universe; saha-ātmanā—along with himself.
TRANSLATION
Lord Brahmā's external consciousness then revived, and he stood up, just like a dead man coming back to life. Opening his eyes with great difficulty, he saw the universe, along with himself.
PURPORT
We actually do not die. At death, we are merely kept inert for some time, just as during sleep. At night we sleep, and all our activities stop, but as soon as we arise, our memory immediately returns, and we think, “Oh, where am I? What do I have to do?” This is called  suptotthita-nyāya . Suppose we die. “Die” means that we become inert for some time and then again begin our activities. This takes place life after life, according to our  karma , or activities, and  svabhāva , or nature by association. Now, in the human life, if we prepare ourselves by beginning the activity of our spiritual life, we return to our real life and attain perfection. Otherwise, according to  karma ,  svabhāva ,  prakṛti  and so on, our varieties of life and activity continue, and so also do our birth and death. As explained by Bhaktivinoda Thākura,  māyāra vaśe ,  yāccha bhese ,  khāccha hābuḍubu bhāi : “My dear brothers, why are you being washed