CHAPTER NINE
Answers by Citing the Lord's Version
TEXT 1
श्रीशुक उवाच
अत्ममायामृते राजन् परस्यानुभवात्मनः ।
न घटेतार्थसम्बन्धः स्वप्नद्रष्टुरिवाञ्जसा ॥ १ ॥
śrī śuka uvāca ātma-māyām ṛte rājan parasyānubhavātmanaḥ na ghaṭetārtha-sambandhaḥ svapna-draṣṭur ivāñjasā
śrī śukaḥ uvāca—Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said; ātma—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; māyām—energy; ṛte—without; rājan—O King; parasya—of the pure soul; anubhava-ātmanaḥ—of the purely conscious; na—never; ghaṭeta—it can so happen; artha—meaning; sambandhaḥ—relation with the material body; svapna—dream; draṣṭuḥ—of the seer; iva—like it; añjasā—completely.
TRANSLATION
Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: O King, unless one is influenced by the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, there is no meaning to the relationship of the pure soul in pure consciousness with the material body. It is just like the dreamer seeing his own body working.
PURPORT
The question of Mahārāja Parīkṣit is perfectly answered as to how a living entity began his material life, although he is apart from the material body and mind. The spirit soul is distinct from the material conception of his life, but he is absorbed in such a material conception because of being influenced by the external energy of the Lord, called ātma-māyā. This is already explained in the First Canto in connection with Vyāsadeva's
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