Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.29.59
इति वेदविदां वाद: श्रूयते तत्र तत्र ह ।
कर्म यत्क्रियते प्रोक्तं परोक्षं न प्रकाशते ॥ ५९ ॥
iti veda-vidāṁ vādaḥ
[iti veda-vidaam vaadah]
śrūyate tatra tatra ha
[shrooyate tatra tatra ha]
karma yat kriyate proktaṁ
[karma yat kriyate proktam]
parokṣaṁ na prakāśate
[paroksham na prakaashate]
Word-for-word
iti
—
thus
veda-vidām
—
of persons who know the Vedic conclusions
vādaḥ
—
the thesis
śrūyate
—
is heard
tatra tatra
—
here and there
ha
—
certainly
karma
—
the activity
yat
—
what
kriyate
—
is performed
proktam
—
as it was said
parokṣam
—
unknown
na prakāśate
—
is not directly manifested.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
iti veda-vidāṁ vādaḥ
iti
thus
veda-vidām
of persons who know the Vedic conclusions
vādaḥ
the thesis
śrūyate tatra tatra ha
śrūyate
is heard
tatra tatra
here and there
ha
certainly
karma yat kriyate proktaṁ
karma
the activity
yat
what
kriyate
is performed
proktam
as it was said
parokṣaṁ na prakāśate
parokṣam
unknown
na prakāśate
is not directly manifested.
The expert knowers of the Vedic conclusions say that one enjoys or suffers the results of his past activities. But practically it is seen that the body that performed the work in the last birth is already lost. So how is it possible to enjoy or suffer the reactions of that work in a different body?
Purport
Atheists want evidence for the resultant actions of past activities. Therefore they ask, “Where is the proof that I am suffering and enjoying the resultant actions of past karma ?” They have no idea how the subtle body carries the results of the present body’s actions down to the next gross body. The present body may be finished grossly, but the subtle body is not finished; it carries the soul to the next body. Actually the gross body is dependent on the subtle body. Therefore the next gross body must suffer and enjoy according to the subtle body. The soul is carried by the subtle body continuously until liberated from gross material bondage.
— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura
Gauḍīya
Translation
This statement is heard from the knowers of the Vedas. Also, the action prescribed in the Vedas that is performed disappears with the end of the act, and its future result also is absent.
He raises another doubt. The action mentioned in the Vedas which is performed by men immediately disappears the next moment. The fate generated from the act, though existing, is absent, since we see no evidence of it existing. How then can one enjoy the results on another planet after death?
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
How is it that the body which acted is gone, yet the next body enjoys/suffers the result? Honest scientific question; not rhetorical. The answer comes from subtle-body continuity.
Reflection Questions
- Where do I make scientific objections to scripture I haven't fully heard out?
- What does it mean that subtle body is the continuity between forms?
My note
Source: vedabase.io