72 Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead

both brahmanas left the palace in anger, thinking that their lawful position
had been usurped.

After this incident, when the time came for the King to give up his
body, he was taken before Yamaraja, the superintendent of death.
Yamaraja asked him whether he wanted to first enjoy the results of his
pious activities or first suffer the results of his impious activities. Yamaraja
also hinted that since the King had executed so many pious activities and
charities, the limit of Nrga’s enjoyment would be unknown to him. There
was practically no end to the King’s material happiness, but in spite of this
hint, he was bewildered. He decided to first suffer the results of his
impious activities and then to accept the results of his pious activities;
therefore Yamaraja immediately turned him into a lizard.

King Nrga had remained in a well as a big lizard for a very long time. He
told Lord Krsna: “In spite of being put into that degraded condition of
life, I simply thought of You, my dear Lord, and my memory was never
vanquished.” It appears from these statements of King Nrga that persons
who follow the principles of fruitive activities and derive some material
benefits are not very intelligent. Being given the choice by the super-
intendent of death, Yamaraja, King Nrga could have first accepted the
results of his pious activities. Instead he thought it would be better to
first receive the effects of his impious activities and then enjoy the effects
of his pious activities without disturbance. On the whole, he had not
developed Krsna consciousness. The Krsna conscious person develops love
of God, Krsna, not love for pious or impious activities; therefore he is not
subjected to the results of such action. As stated in the Brahma-samhita, a
devotee, by the grace of the Lord, does not become subjected to the
resultant reactions of fruitive activities.

Somehow or other, as a result of his pious activities, King Nrga had
aspired to see the Lord. He continued to say: “‘My dear Lord, I had a great
desire that someday I might be able to see You personally. I think that my
tendency to perform ritualistic and charitable activities, combined with
this great desire to see You personally, has enabled me to retain the
memory of who I was in my former life, even though I became a lizard.”
(Such a person, who remembers his past life, is called jati-smara.) ““My
dear Lord, You are the Supersoul seated in everyone’s heart. There are
many great mystic yogis who have eyes to see You through the Vedas and
Upanisads. In order to achieve the elevated position of being equal in
quality with You, they always meditate on You within their hearts. Al-
though such exalted saintly persons may see You constantly within their
hearts, they still cannot see You eye to eye; therefore I am very much
