FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.16.4

జీవ ఉవాచ కస్మిఞ్జన్మన్యమీ మహ్యం పితరో మాతరోఽభవన్ । కర్మభిర్భ్రామ్యమాణస్య దేవతిర్యఙ్‌నృయోనిషు ॥ ౪ ॥
jīva uvāca
[jeeva uvaacha]
kasmiṣ janmany amī mahyaṁ
[kasmish janmany amee mahyam]
pitaro mātaro ’bhavan
[pitaro maataro ’bhavan]
karmabhir bhrāmyamāṇasya
[karmabhir bhraamyamaanasya]
deva-tiryaṅ-nṛ-yoniṣu
[deva-tiryan-nri-yonishu]
jīvaḥ uvāca — the living entity said kasmin — in which janmani — birth amī — all those mahyam — to me pitaraḥ — fathers mātaraḥ — mothers abhavan — were karmabhiḥ — by the results of fruitive action bhrāmyamāṇasya — who am wandering deva-tiryak — of the demigods and the lower animals nṛ — and of the human species yoniṣu — in the wombs.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
jīva uvāca
jīvaḥ uvāca
the living entity said
kasmiṣ janmany amī mahyaṁ
kasmin
in which
janmani
birth
amī
all those
mahyam
to me
pitaro mātaro ’bhavan
pitaraḥ
fathers
mātaraḥ
mothers
karmabhir bhrāmyamāṇasya
abhavan
were
karmabhiḥ
by the results of fruitive action
bhrāmyamāṇasya
who am wandering
deva-tiryaṅ-nṛ-yoniṣu
deva-tiryak
of the demigods and the lower animals
nṛ
and of the human species
yoniṣu
in the wombs.
By the mystic power of Nārada Muni, the living entity reentered his dead body for a short time and spoke in reply to Nārada Muni’s request. He said: According to the results of my fruitive activities, I, the living being, transmigrate from one body to another, sometimes going to the species of the demigods, sometimes to the species of lower animals, sometimes among the vegetables, and sometimes to the human species. Therefore, in which birth were these my mother and father? No one is actually my mother and father. How can I accept these two people as my parents?

Here it is made clear that the living being enters a material body that is like a machine created by the five gross elements of material nature (earth, water, fire, air and sky) and the three subtle elements (mind, intelligence and ego). As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā, there are two separate identities, called the inferior and superior natures, which both belong to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. According to the results of a living entity’s fruitive actions, he is forced to enter the material elements in different types of bodies.

This time the living entity was supposed to have been the son of Mahārāja Citraketu and Queen Kṛtadyuti because according to the laws of nature he had entered a body made by the King and Queen. Actually, however, he was not their son. The living entity is the son of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and because he wants to enjoy this material world, the Supreme Lord gives him a chance to enter various bodies. The living entity has no true relationship with the material body he gets from his material father and mother. He is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, but he is allowed to go through different bodies. The body created by the so-called father and mother actually has nothing to do with its so-called creators. Therefore the living entity flatly denied that Mahārāja Citraketu and his wife were his father and mother.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
The jīva said: Since I have been wandering by karma in wombs of devatās, animals and humans, in which birth were these persons my father and mother? The sage, entering that body, then spoke as if the child had come to life. Mahyam should be mama, the possessive case.
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