32 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 5, Ch. 1
mukto ‘pi tavad bibhryat sva-deham
Grabdham asnann abhimadna-siinyah
yathanubhitam pratiyata-nidrah
kim tv anya-dehaya gundan na vrnkte

muktah—a liberated person; api—even; tdvat—so long; bibhryat—
must maintain; sva-deham—his own body; drabdham—obtained as a
result of past activity; asnan—accepting; abhimana-stiinyah—without
erroneous conceptions; yatha—as; anubhiittam—what was perceived;
pratiyata-nidrah—one who has awakened from sleep; kim tu—but;
anya-dehaya—for another material body; gundn—the material
qualities; na—never; vrrkte—enjoys.

TRANSLATION

Even if one is liberated, he nevertheless accepts the body he has
received according to his past karma. Without misconceptions,
however, he regards his enjoyment and suffering due to that
karma the way an awakened person regards a dream he had while
sleeping. He thus remains steadfast and never works to achieve
another material body under the influence of the three modes of
material nature.

PURPORT

The difference between a liberated and conditioned soul is that the
conditioned soul is under the concept of bodily life, whereas a liberated
person knows that he is not the body but a spirit, different from the
body. Priyavrata might have thought that although a conditioned soul is
forced to act according to the laws of nature, why should he, who was far
advanced in spiritual understanding, accept the same kind of bondage
and impediments to spiritual advancement? To answer this doubt, Lord
Brahma informed him that even those who are liberated do not resent ac-
cepting, in the present body, the results of their past activities. While
sleeping, one dreams many unreal things, but when he awakens he dis-
regards them and makes progress in factual life. Similarly, a liberated
person—one who has completely understood that he is not the body but a
spirit soul—disregards past activities performed in ignorance and per-
forms his present activities in such a way that they produce no reactions.
