Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 6 Chapter 17 Verse 23

Canto 6: Prescribed Duties for Mankind | Chapter 17: Mother Pārvatī Curses Citraketu

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.17.23

tathāpi tac-chakti-visarga eṣāḿ

sukhāya duḥkhāya hitāhitāya

bandhāya mokṣāya ca mṛtyu-janmanoḥ

śarīriṇāḿ saḿsṛtaye 'vakalpate

SYNONYMS

tathāpi — still; tat-śakti — of the Lord's energy; visargaḥ — the creation; eṣām — of these (conditioned souls); sukhāya — for the happiness; duḥkhāya — for the distress; hita-ahitāya — for the profit and loss; bandhāya — for the bondage; mokṣāya — for the liberation; ca — also; mṛtyu — of death; janmanoḥ — and birth; śarīriṇām — of all those who accept material bodies; saḿsṛtaye — for the repetition; avakalpate — acts.

TRANSLATION

Although the Supreme Lord is unattached to our happiness and distress according to karma, and although no one is His enemy or favorite, He creates pious and impious activities through the agency of His material potency. Thus for the continuation of the materialistic way of life He creates happiness and distress, good fortune and bad, bondage and liberation, birth and death.

PURPORT

Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the ultimate doer of everything, in His original transcendental existence He is not responsible for the happiness and distress, or bondage and liberation, of the conditioned souls. These are due to the results of the fruitive activities of the living entities within this material world. By the order of a judge, one person is released from jail, and another is imprisoned, but the judge is not responsible, for the distress and happiness of these different people is due to their own activities. Although the government is ultimately the supreme authority, the justice is administered by the departments of the government, and the government is not responsible for the individual judgments. Therefore the government is equal to all the citizens. Similarly, the Supreme Lord is neutral to everyone, but for the maintenance of law and order His supreme government has various departments, which control the activities of the living entities. Another example given in this regard is that lilies open or close because of the sunshine, and thus the bumblebees enjoy or suffer, but the sunshine and the sun globe are not responsible for the happiness and distress of the bumblebees.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness