60 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 6, Ch. 1

kart kuh svayam dharma iti
hy ete daihyasya saksinah

stiryah—the sun-god; agnih—the fire; kham—the sky; marut—the
air; devah—the demigods; somah—the moon; sandhyd—evening;
ahani—the day and night; disah—the directions; kam—the water;
kuh—the land; svayam—personally; dharmah—Yamaraja or the Super-
soul; iti—thus; hi—indeed; ete—all of these; daihyasya—of a living
entity embodied in the material elements; saksinah—witnesses.

TRANSLATION

The sun, fire, sky, air, demigods, moon, evening, day, night,
directions, water, land and Supersoul Himself all witness the ac-
tivities of the living entity.

PURPORT

The members of some religious sects, especially Christians, do not
believe in the reactions of karma. We once had a discussion with a
learned Christian professor who argued that although people are
generally punished after the witnesses of their misdeeds are examined,
where are the witnesses responsible for one’s suffering the reactions of
past karma? To such a person the answer by the Yamaditas is given
here. A conditioned soul thinks that he is working stealthily and that no
one can see his sinful activities, but we can understand from the Sdstras
that there are many witnesses, including the sun, fire, sky, air, moon,
demigods, evening, day, night, directions, water, land and the Supersoul
Himself, who sits with the individual soul within his heart. Where is the
dearth of witnesses? The witnesses and the Supreme Lord both exist, and
therefore so many living entities are elevated to higher planetary systems
or degraded to lower planetary systems, including the hellish planets.
There are no discrepancies, for everything is arranged perfectly by the
management of the Supreme God (svabhaviki jaana-bala-kriya ca). The
witnesses mentioned in this verse are also mentioned in other Vedic
literatures:

aditya-candrav anilo ’nalas ca
dyaur bhiimir apo hrdayam yamas ca
