296 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 10, Ch. 4

karmaéni nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhajam
govindam ddi-purusam tam aham bhajami

Everyone, beginning from the small insect known as indra-gopa up to
Indra, the King of the heavenly planets, is obliged to undergo the results
of his fruitive activities. We may superficially see that one is suffering or
enjoying because of some external causes, but the real cause is one’s own
fruitive activities. Even when someone kills someone else, it is to be
understood that the person who was killed met the fruitive results of his
own work and that the man who killed him acted as the agent of material
nature. Thus Karnsa begged Devaki’s pardon by analyzing the matter
deeply. He was not the cause of the death of Devaki’s sons. Rather, this
was their own destiny. Under the circumstances, Devaki should excuse
Karnsa and forget his past deeds without lamentation. Karnsa admitted
his own fault, but whatever he had done was under the control of provi-
dence. Karnsa might have been the immediate cause for the death of
Devaki’s sons, but the remote cause was their past deeds. This was an
actual fact.

TEXT 22
TAGAS SAA AA ATASATT |
aaa ATTAIN 11221

ydavad dhato ’smi hantasmi-
ty Gtmanam manyate ’sva-drk
tdvat tad-abhimany ajrio
badhya-badhakatam iyat

ydvat—as long as; hatah asmi—I am now being killed (by others);
hantaé asmi—I am the killer (of others); iti—thus; dtmanam—own self;
manyate—he considers; a-sva-drk—one who has not seen himself
(because of the darkness of the bodily conception of life); tavat—for that
long; tat-abhimadni—regarding himself as the killed or the killer;
ajriah—a foolish person; bédhya-badhakatam—the worldly transaction
of being obliged to execute some responsibility; iyat—continues.
