FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.49.21

एक: प्रसूयते जन्तुरेक एव प्रलीयते । एकोऽनुभुङ्क्ते सुकृतमेक एव च दुष्कृतम् ॥ २१ ॥
ekaḥ prasūyate jantur
[ekah prasooyate jantur]
eka eva pralīyate
[eka eva praleeyate]
eko ’nubhuṅkte sukṛtam
[eko ’nubhunkte sukritam]
eka eva ca duṣkṛtam
[eka eva cha dushkritam]
ekaḥ — alone prasūyate — is born jantuḥ — a living creature ekaḥ — alone eva — also pralīyate — meets his demise ekaḥ — alone anubhuṅkte — enjoys as is due him sukṛtam — his good reactions ekaḥ — alone eva ca — and surely duṣkṛtam — bad reactions .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
ekaḥ prasūyate jantur
ekaḥ
alone
prasūyate
is born
jantuḥ
a living creature
eka eva pralīyate
ekaḥ
alone
eva
also
pralīyate
meets his demise
eko ’nubhuṅkte sukṛtam
ekaḥ
alone
anubhuṅkte
enjoys as is due him
sukṛtam
his good reactions
eka eva ca duṣkṛtam
ekaḥ
alone
eva ca
and surely
duṣkṛtam
bad reactions .
  • ekaḥ — alone
    Repeated four times in the verse — Vyāsa is hammering the metric. The aloneness is not nihilist; in Gauḍīya reading it is the precondition for the truly non-alone relationship, with Kṛṣṇa as the only one who actually follows.
  • prasūyate — is born
    Passive of pra-√sū — caused to come forth. The jīva does not choose the birth; one comes alone because the karmic stream is one's own.
  • anubhuṅkte — enjoys as is due
    Anu (along, after) + √bhuj (to enjoy/suffer). The same root as bhoga; one anu-bhujti, undergoes, the consequences. No proxy can taste them for us.
  • sukṛtam — good reactions
    Su (good) + kṛta (done) — pious deeds and their fruits. In bhakti-śāstra, only kṛṣṇa-related sukṛti accumulates toward śraddhā in the Lord (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya 22).
Every creature is born alone and dies alone, and alone one experiences the just rewards of his good and evil deeds.

The term anubhuṅkte is significant here. Bhuṅkte means “(the living being) experiences,” and anu means “following,” or “in sequence.” In other words, we experience happiness and distress according to the moral and spiritual quality of our activities. We are responsible for what we do. Dhṛtarāṣṭra was falsely and obsessively attached to his evil-minded sons, forgetting that he alone would have to suffer for his imprudent behavior.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Every creature is born alone and dies alone, and alone one experiences the just rewards of his good and evil deeds.
Commentary

"There, at the time of birth and death, happiness and distress, one has no relationship with others, one is alone."

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

One is born alone and dies alone. Instead of pralīyate sometimes pramīyate (is destroyed) is seen. The word eva should be understood after all the words ekaḥ. No friend helps when one is prosperous what to speak of when one is in danger. The word ca means “all.” One alone enjoys after death (anu) in another body all the good and bad results of karma after being together with sons.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

One is born alone and dies alone. Instead of pralīyate sometimes pramīyate (is destroyed) is seen. Living beings are born without free choice of their bodies. They must experience in that particular body. One enjoys or suffers after death (anu) as previously mentioned (ca). After enjoying with sons in one life, in the next one must suffer and enjoy all alone.

Related values
Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)Aparigraha (Non-possessiveness)Karuna (Kindness / Compassion)Tyaga (Renunciation / Letting Go)
Related verses
Every creature is born alone, dies alone, and alone experiences the just rewards of good and evil deeds. Karma is individual; companionship doesn't extend to the consequences.
Reflection Questions
  • Where do you assume that companions will absorb your karmic consequences?
  • What does honoring individual karma mean for how you live with others?

We arrive in this world without an escort and leave the same way. The good and the bad we did walk beside us alone — like a single oil lamp accompanying a traveller through a long unlit corridor. No retinue follows us through that door.

Bharata Mahārāja and the deer

SB 5.7–14 narrates how the great Bharata, in his final life as a king, became attached to a fawn and lost his sādhana — he was reborn as a deer, then as a brāhmaṇa who refused to speak. The lesson: even pure-hearted attachment outside Kṛṣṇa follows the soul alone into the next life, while no creature comes with us.

Akrūra's verse states the principle Bharata's story dramatises — one is born alone, dies alone, reaps alone.

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