Text 14
etā hy eveha nṛbhir upagantavyā gatayo yathā-karma-vinirmitā yathopadeśam anuvarṇitāḥ kāmān kāmayamānaiḥ.
etāḥ — all these; hi — indeed; eva — certainly; iha — in this universe; nṛbhiḥ — by all living entities; upagantavyāḥ — achievable; gatayaḥ — destinations; yathā-karma — according to one’s past activities; vinirmitāḥ — created; yathā-upadeśam — as instructed; anuvarṇitāḥ — described accordingly; kāmān — material enjoyment; kāmayamānaiḥ — by those who are desiring.
My dear King, as I heard of it from my spiritual master, I have fully described to you the creation of this material world according to the fruitive activities and desires of the conditioned souls. Those conditioned souls, who are full of material desires, achieve various situations in different planetary systems, and in this way they live within this material creation.
In this regard, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura sings,
anādi karama-phale, paḍi’ bhavārṇava-jale,
taribāre nā dekhi upāya
“My Lord, I do not know when I commenced my material life, but I can certainly experience that I have fallen in the deep ocean of nescience. Now I can also see that there is no other way to get out of it than to take shelter of Your lotus feet.” Similarly, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu offers the following prayer:
ayi nanda-tanuja kiṅkaraṁ
patitaṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau
kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja-
sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ vicintaya
“My dear Lord, son of Nanda Mahārāja, I am Your eternal servant. Somehow or other, I have fallen into this ocean of nescience. Kindly, therefore, save me from this horrible condition of materialistic life.”