Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 12.5.10
चोदितो विप्रवाक्येन न त्वां धक्ष्यति तक्षक: ।
मृत्यवो नोपधक्ष्यन्ति मृत्यूनां मृत्युमीश्वरम् ॥ १० ॥
codito vipra-vākyena
[chodito vipra-vaakyena]
na tvāṁ dhakṣyati takṣakaḥ
[na tvaam dhakshyati takshakah]
mṛtyavo nopadhakṣyanti
[mrityavo nopadhakshyanti]
mṛtyūnāṁ mṛtyum īśvaram
[mrityoonaam mrityum eeshvaram]
Word-for-word
coditaḥ
—
sent
vipra-vākyena
—
by the words of the brāhmaṇa
na
—
not
tvām
—
you
dhakṣyati
—
will burn
takṣakaḥ
—
the snake-bird Takṣaka
mṛtyavaḥ
—
the agents of death personified
na upadhakṣyanti
—
cannot burn
mṛtyūnām
—
of these causes of death
mṛtyum
—
the very death
īśvaram
—
the master of the self.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
codito vipra-vākyena
coditaḥ
sent
vipra-vākyena
by the words of the brāhmaṇa
na
not
na tvāṁ dhakṣyati takṣakaḥ
tvām
you
dhakṣyati
will burn
takṣakaḥ
the snake-bird Takṣaka
mṛtyavo nopadhakṣyanti
mṛtyavaḥ
the agents of death personified
mṛtyūnāṁ mṛtyum īśvaram
na upadhakṣyanti
cannot burn
mṛtyūnām
of these causes of death
mṛtyum
the very death
īśvaram
the master of the self.
The snake-bird Takṣaka, sent by the curse of the brāhmaṇa, will not burn your true self. The agents of death will never burn such a master of the self as you, for you have already conquered all dangers on your path back to Godhead.
Purport
Real death is the covering of one’s eternal Kṛṣṇa consciousness. For the soul, material illusion is just like death, but Parīkṣit Mahārāja had already destroyed all those dangers that threaten one’s spiritual life, such as lust, envy and fear. Śukadeva Gosvāmī here congratulates the great saintly king, who, as a pure devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa homeward bound to the spiritual sky, was far beyond the reach of death.
— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura
Gauḍīya
Translation
The snake-bird Takṣaka, sent by the curse of the brāhmaṇa, will not burn your true self. The agents of death will never burn you who are capable of killing the servants of death.
Takṣaka will not burn you--the ātmā, different from your body. What to speak of Takṣaka, even death personified will not burn you. The esoteric meaning is as follows. You are independent of the body (īśvaram) since you are liberated from upādhis and you are the destroyer (mṛtyum) of obstacles to bhakti (mṛtyunām). Coming to you, the curse of the brāhmaṇa and other obstacles to bhakti will be destroyed.
Personal Guidance
Taksaka — the snake-bird sent by the brahmana's curse — cannot burn the true self. For the master of the self, even death personified is unable to consume what is unborn. Real death is forgetting Kṛṣṇa; everything else is just a body's change.
Reflection Questions
- Which 'real death' do I currently fear most — physical or spiritual?
- How does remembering Kṛṣṇa reframe each as a different kind of event?
My note
Source: vedabase.io