Canto 7: The Science of GodChapter 13: The Behavior of a Perfect Person

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.13.40

kvacic chaye dharopasthe

tṛṇa-parṇāśma-bhasmasu

kvacit prāsāda-paryańke

kaśipau vā parecchayā

SYNONYMS

kvacit — sometimes; śayeI lie down; dhara-upasthe — on the surface of the earth; tṛṇa — on grass; parṇa — leaves; aśma — stone; bhasmasu — or a pile of ashes; kvacit — sometimes; prāsādain palaces; paryańke — on a first-class bedstead; kaśipau — on a pillow; — either; para — of another; icchayā — by the wish.

TRANSLATION

Sometimes I lie on the surface of the earth, sometimes on leaves, grass or stone, sometimes on a pile of ashes, or sometimes, by the will of others, in a palace on a first-class bed with pillows.

PURPORT

The learned brāhmaṇa's description indicates different types of births, for one lies down according to one's body. Sometimes one takes birth as an animal and sometimes as a king. When he takes birth as an animal he must lie down on the ground, and when he takes birth as a king or a very rich man he is allowed to lie in first-class rooms in huge palaces decorated with beds and other furniture. Such facilities are not available, however, at the sweet will of the living entity; rather, they are available by the supreme will (parecchayā), or by the arrangement of māyā. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (18.61):

īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāḿ

hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati

bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni

yantrārūḍhāni māyayā

"The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy." The living entity, according to his material desires, receives different types of bodies, which are nothing but machines offered by material nature according to the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By the will of the Supreme, one must take different bodies with different means for lying down.

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