Text 24] King Citraketu Meets the Lord 105

TEXT 24

aefxamorratraisa

aafig: waa ae |
ana aeferarrad

aay at AEIATAFA RWI

dehendriya-prana-mano-dhiyo ’mi
yad-amsa-viddhah pracaranti karmasu

naivanyada lauham ivaprataptam
sthanesu tad drastrapadesam eti

deha—the body; indriya—senses; prdna—life airs; manah—mind;
dhiyah—and intelligence; ami—all those; yat-amsa-viddhah—being
influenced by rays of Brahman, or the Supreme Lord; pracaranti—they
move; karmasu—in various activities; nma—not; eva—indeed; an-
yadaé—at other times; lauham—iron; iva—like; aprataptam—not
heated (by fire); sthdnesu—in those circumstances; tat—that; drastr-
apadesam—the name of a subject matter; eti—achieves.

TRANSLATION

As iron has the power to burn when made red-hot in the
association of fire, so the body, senses, living force, mind and in-
telligence, although merely lumps of matter, can function in their
activities when infused with a particle of consciousness by the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. As iron cannot burn unless
heated by fire, the bodily senses cannot act unless favored by the
Supreme Brahman.

PURPORT

Red-hot iron can burn, but it cannot burn the original fire. Therefore
the consciousness of the small particle of Brahman is fully dependent on
the power of the Supreme Brahman. In Bhagavad-gita the Lord says,
mattah smrtir jia@nam apohanam ca: ‘From Me the conditioned soul
receives memory, knowledge and forgetfulness.” The power for ac-
