44 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 6, Ch. 14

na—not: hi—indeed; kramah—chronological order; cet—if; iha—in
this material world; mrtyu—of death; janmanoh—and of birth;
Saririnam—of the conditioned souls, who have accepted material bodies;
astu—let it be; tat—that; atma-karmabhih—by the results of one’s
karma (fruitive activities); yah—that which; sneha-pasah—bondage of
affection; nija-sarga—Your own creation; vrddhaye—to increase;
svayam—personally; krtah—made; te—by You; tam—that; imam—
this; vivrscasi—you are cutting.

TRANSLATION

My Lord, You may say that there is no law that a father must die
in the lifetime of his son and that a son must be born in the
lifetime of his father, since everyone lives and dies according to
his own fruitive activity. However, if fruitive activity is so strong
that birth and death depend upon it, there is no need of a con-
troller, or God. Again, if You say that a controller is needed be-
cause the material energy does not have the power to act, one may
answer that if the bonds of affection You have created are dis-
turbed by fruitive action, no one will raise children with affection;
instead, everyone will cruelly neglect his children. Since You have
cut the bonds of affection that compel a parent to raise his child,
You appear inexperienced and unintelligent.

PURPORT

As stated in the Brahma-samhita, karmani nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-
bhajam: one who has taken to Krsna consciousness, devotional service, is
not affected by the results of karma. In this verse, karma has been
stressed on the basis of karma-mim4msé philosophy, which says that one
must act according to his karma and that a supreme controller must give
the results of karma. The subtle laws of karma, which are controlled by
the Supreme, cannot be understood by ordinary conditioned souls.
Therefore Krsna says that one who can understand Him and how He is
acting, controlling everything by subtle laws, immediately becomes freed
by His grace. That is the statement of Brahma-samhita (karmani nir-
dahati kintu ca bhakti-bhéjam). One should take to devotional service
without reservations and surrender everything to the supreme will of the
Lord. That will make one happy in this life and the next.
