Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.2.47

yāval lińgānvito hy ātmā

tāvat karma-nibandhanam

tato viparyayaḥ kleśo

māyā-yogo 'nuvartate

SYNONYMS

yāvat — as long as; lińga-anvitaḥ — covered by the subtle body; hi — indeed; ātmā — the soul; tāvat — that long; karma — of fruitive activities; nibandhanam — bondage; tataḥ — from that; viparyayaḥ — reversal (wrongly thinking the body to be the self); kleśaḥ — misery; māyā-yogaḥ — a strong relationship with the external, illusory energy; anuvartate — follows.

TRANSLATION

As long as the spirit soul is covered by the subtle body, consisting of the mind, intelligence and false ego, he is bound to the results of his fruitive activities. Because of this covering, the spirit soul is connected with the material energy and must accordingly suffer material conditions and reversals, continually, life after life.

PURPORT

The living entity is bound by the subtle body, consisting of the mind, intelligence and false ego. At the time of death, therefore, the position of the mind becomes the cause for the next body. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (8.6), yaḿ yaḿ vāpi smaran bhāvaḿ tyajaty ante kalevaram: at the time of death the mind sets the criteria for the spirit soul's being carried to another type of body. If a living being resists the dictation of the mind and engages the mind in the loving service of the Lord, the mind cannot degrade him. The duty of all human beings, therefore, is to keep the mind always engaged at the lotus feet of the Lord (sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ). When the mind is engaged at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, the intelligence is purified, and then the intelligence gets inspiration from the Supersoul (dadāmi buddhi-yogaḿ tam). Thus the living entity makes progress toward liberation from material bondage. The individual living soul is subject to the laws of fruitive activity, but the Supersoul, Paramātmā, is not affected by the fruitive activities of the individual soul. As confirmed in the Vedic Upaniṣad, the Paramātmā and the jīvātmā, who are likened to two birds, are sitting in the body. The jīvātmā is enjoying or suffering by eating the fruits of the bodily activities, but the Paramātmā, who is free from such bondage, witnesses and sanctions the activities of the individual soul as the individual soul desires.

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