TEXT 2

pravṛtti-lakṣaṇaś caiva

traiguṇya-viṣayo mune

yo ’sāv alīna-prakṛter

guṇa-sargaḥ punaḥ punaḥ

SYNONYMS

pravṛtti—byinclination; lakṣaṇaḥ—symptomized; ca—also; eva—indeed; trai-

guṇya—the three modes of nature; viṣayaḥ—possessing as objectives; mune—
O great sage; yaḥ—which; asau—that; alīna-prakṛteḥ—of one who is not freed
from the clutches of māyā; guṇa-sargaḥ—in which there is a creation of
material bodies; punaḥ punaḥ—again and again.

TRANSLATION

O great sage Śukadeva Gosvāmī, unless the living entity is

freed from the infection of the material modes of nature, he
receives different types of bodies in which to enjoy or suffer,
and according to the body, he is understood to have various
inclinations. By following these inclinations he traverses the
path called pravṛtti-mārga, by which one may be elevated to the
heavenly planets, as you have already described [in the Third
Canto].

PURPORT

As Lord Kṛṣṇa explains in Bhagavad-gītā (9.25):

yānti deva-vratā devān

pitṝn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ
bhūtejyā
bhūtāni yānti
yānti mad-yājino ’pi mām

“Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods;
those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings;
those who worship ancestors go to the ancestors; and those who worship
Me will live with Me.” Because of the influence of the various modes of
nature, the living entities have various tendencies or propensities, and
therefore they are qualified to achieve various destinations. As long as
one is materially attached, he wants to be elevated to the heavenly
planets because of his attraction to the material world. The Supreme
Personality of Godhead declares, however, “Those who worship Me come
to Me.” If one has no information about the Supreme Lord and His
abode, one tries to be elevated only to a higher material position, but
when one concludes that in this material world there is nothing but
repeated birth and death, he tries to return home, back to Godhead. If
one attains that destination, he need never return to this material world
(yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama [Bg. 15.6]). As Śrī Caitanya
Mahāprabhu says in Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 19.151):

brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva

guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja

“According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the
entire universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary
systems, and some are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out
of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate
gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the
grace of Kṛṣṇa. By the mercy of both Kṛṣṇa and the spiritual master, such a
person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.” All living
entities are rotating throughout the universe, going sometimes up to the
higher planetary systems and sometimes down to the lower planets. This
is the material disease, which is known as pravṛtti-mārga. When one
becomes intelligent he takes to nivṛtti-mārga, the path of liberation, and
thus instead of rotating within this material world, he returns home,
back to Godhead. This is necessary.