FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.24.41

प्रवृत्ताय निवृत्ताय पितृदेवाय कर्मणे । नमोऽधर्मविपाकाय मृत्यवे दु:खदाय च ॥ ४१ ॥
pravṛttāya nivṛttāya
[pravrittaaya nivrittaaya]
pitṛ-devāya karmaṇe
[pitri-devaaya karmane]
namo ’dharma-vipākāya
[namo ’dharma-vipaakaaya]
mṛtyave duḥkha-dāya ca
[mrityave duhkha-daaya cha]
pravṛttāya — inclination nivṛttāya — disinclination pitṛ-devāya — unto the master of Pitṛloka karmaṇe — unto the resultant action of fruitive activities namaḥ — offering respects adharma — irreligious vipākāya — unto the result mṛtyave — unto death duḥkha-dāya — the cause of all kinds of miserable conditions ca — also.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
pravṛttāya nivṛttāya
pravṛttāya
inclination
nivṛttāya
disinclination
pitṛ-devāya karmaṇe
pitṛ-devāya
unto the master of Pitṛloka
karmaṇe
unto the resultant action of fruitive activities
namo ’dharma-vipākāya
namaḥ
offering respects
mṛtyave duḥkha-dāya ca
adharma
irreligious
vipākāya
unto the result
mṛtyave
unto death
duḥkha-dāya
the cause of all kinds of miserable conditions
ca
also.
My dear Lord, You are the viewer of the results of pious activities. You are inclination, disinclination and their resultant activities. You are the cause of the miserable conditions of life caused by irreligion, and therefore You are death. I offer You my respectful obeisances.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is situated in everyone’s heart, and from Him issue a living entity’s inclinations and disinclinations. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15) :

sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca

“I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.”

The Supreme Personality of Godhead causes the asuras to forget Him and the devotees to remember Him. One’s disinclinations are due to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. According to Bhagavad-gītā (16.7) , pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca janā na vidur āsurāḥ: the asuras do not know which way one should be inclined to act and which way one should not be inclined to act. Although the asuras oppose devotional service, it is to be understood that they are inclined that way due to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because the asuras do not like to engage in the Lord’s devotional service, the Lord within gives them the intelligence to forget. Ordinary karmīs desire promotion to Pitṛloka, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (9.25) . Yānti deva-vratā devān pitṝn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ: “Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods, and those who worship ancestors go to the ancestors.”

In this verse the word duḥkha-dāya is also very significant, for those who are nondevotees are perpetually put into the cycle of birth and death. This is a very miserable condition. Because one’s position in life is attained according to one’s activities, the asuras, or nondevotees, are put into such miserable conditions.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
I offer respects to you who inspire people to enjoy and to renounce through karmas, and who give the results of worshipping Pitṛs. I offer respects to you who give results to those committing sinful acts, who award death and sorrow. He offers respects to the Lord as the instigator of other dharmas. I offer respects to the he who lets one attain the Pitṛs. I offer respects to the Lord in the form of he who gives results for forbidden activities (adharma-vipākāya).
You are inclination and disinclination and their results; You are the cause of irreligion's misery; You are death. The Lord is the engine behind even our motivations and the destination behind even our deaths.
Reflection Questions
  • Where do I credit only myself for my inclinations and disinclinations?
  • What does it mean that the Lord stands behind even the choices I think I'm making?
📝 My note

← Read full Chapter 24