Text 24]
King Citraketu Meets the Lord
105
TEXT 24
देहेन्द्रियप्राणमनोधियोऽमी
यदंशविद्धाः प्रचरन्ति कर्मसु ।
नैशन्यदा लौहमिवाप्रतप्तं
स्थानेषु तद् द्रष्टृपदेशमेति ॥२४॥
dehendriya-prāṇa-mano-dhiyo 'mī yad-aṁśa-viddhāḥ pracaranti karmasu naivānyadā lauham ivāprataptaṁ sthāneṣu tad draṣṭrapadeśam eti
deha —the body;  indriya —senses;  prāṇa —life airs;  manaḥ —mind;  dhiyaḥ —and intelligence;  amī —all those;  yat-aṁśa-viddhāḥ —being influenced by rays of Brahman, or the Supreme Lord;  pracaranti —they move;  karmasu —in various activities;  na —not;  eva —indeed;  an-yadā —at other times;  lauham —iron;  iva —like;  aprataptam —not heated (by fire);  sthāneṣu —in those circumstances;  tat —that;  draṣṭrapadeśam —the name of a subject matter;  eti —achieves.
TRANSLATION
As iron has the power to burn when made red-hot in the association of fire, so the body, senses, living force, mind and intelligence, although merely lumps of matter, can function in their activities when infused with a particle of consciousness by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As iron cannot burn unless heated by fire, the bodily senses cannot act unless favored by the Supreme Brahman.
PURPORT
Red-hot iron can burn, but it cannot burn the original fire. Therefore the consciousness of the small particle of Brahman is fully dependent on the power of the Supreme Brahman. In  Bhagavad-gītā  the Lord says,  mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanam ca : “From Me the conditioned soul receives memory, knowledge and forgetfulness.” The power for ac-