svargāpavarga-narakeṣv
nārāyaṇa-parāḥ sarve
na kutaścana bibhyati
svargāpavarga-narakeṣv
api tulyārtha-darśinaḥ
Devotees solely engaged in the service of Nārāyaṇa never fear any condition of life. For them the heavenly planets, liberation and the hellish planets are all the same.
“What is the reason that devotees have such greatness?” They are fixed in Nārāyaṇa. That is the only reason. Not only Citraketu and others, but all devotees have no fear. Svarga, liberation and hell are all equal because they are tasteless, since they do not have the happiness of bhakti.
|| 6.17.29 ||
dehināṁ deha-saṁyogād
dvandvānīśvara-līlayā
sukhaṁ duḥkhaṁ mṛtir janma
śāpo 'nugraha eva ca
The dualities of happiness and distress, birth and death, curses and favors, are the products of this combination of the jīva with the body through māyā.
If one does not surrender to Nārāyaṇa he ends up in this position. Īśvara-līlayā means “by māyā, who receives her capacity through the playful glance of the Lord.”
|| 6.17.30 ||
aviveka-kṛtaḥ puṁso
hy artha-bheda ivātmani
guṇa-doṣa-vikalpaś ca
bhid eva srajivat kṛtaḥ
Just as a person makes the mistake of identifying with objects in a dream, he makes false identification with happiness and distress in the waking state, like mistaking a garland for a rope.
One should know that temporary creations of māyā, happiness and distress, are all unreal because they are temporary. A sleeping person thinks he is eating food or having a son die. Similarly in the waking state, he thinks he experiences happiness and distress (guṇa-doṣa-vikalpaḥ). An example is given. One mistakes a garland for something else—for a rope or a snake. Vat means “like this.” The dictionary says that iva and vat have the same meaning: similarly. Another version has sraji tat. The meaning is “like seeing differently where there is a real garland.” Bhit is in the neuter gender. Another version has bhidā in the instrumental case.
|| 6.17.31 ||
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