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TEXT 51 karma-jam buddhi-yukta hi
SYNONYMS  karma-jam--because
of fruitive activities; buddhi-yuktah--being done in devotional
service; hi--certainly; phalam--results; tyaktva--giving
up; manisinah--devotees who are great sages; janma-bandha--the
bondage of birth and death; vinirmuktah--liberated soul; padam--position;
gacchanti--reached;
anamayam--without miseries.
TRANSLATION The wise,
engaged in devotional service, take refuge in the Lord, and free themselves
from the cycle of birth and death by renouncing the fruits of action in
the material world. In this way they can attain that state beyond all miseries.
PURPORT The liberated
living entities seek that place where there are no material miseries. The
Bhagavatam
says:
samasrita ye padapallava-plavam
"For one who
has accepted the boat of the lotus feet of the Lord, who is the shelter
of the cosmic manifestation and is famous as Mukunda or the giver of mukti,
the ocean of the material world is like the water contained in a calf's
hoofprint. Param padam, or the place where there are no material
miseries, or Vaikuntha, is his goal, not the place where there is danger
in every step of life."
Owing to
ignorance, one does not know that this material world is a miserable place
where there are dangers at every step. Out of ignorance only, less intelligent
persons try to adjust to the situation by fruitive activities, thinking
that the resultant actions will make them happy. They do not know that
no kind of material body anywhere within the universe can give life without
miseries. The miseries of life, namely birth, death, old age and diseases,
are present everywhere within the material world. But one who understands
his real constitutional position as the eternal servitor of the Lord, and
thus knows the position of the Personality of Godhead, engages himself
in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Consequently he becomes
qualified to enter into the Vaikuntha planets, where there is neither material,
miserable life nor the influence of time and death. To know one's constitutional
position means to know also the sublime position of the Lord. One who wrongly
thinks that the living entity's position and the Lord's position are on
the same level is to be understood to be in darkness and therefore unable
to engage himself in the devotional service of the Lord. He becomes a lord
himself and thus paves the way for the repetition of birth and death. But
one who, understanding that his position is to serve, transfers himself
to the service of the Lord, at once becomes eligible for Vaikunthaloka.
Service for the cause of the Lord is called karma-yoga or buddhi-yoga,
or in plain words, devotional service to the Lord.
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