प्रवृत्ताय निवृत्ताय पितृदेवाय कर्मणे ।
नमोऽधर्मविपाकाय मृत्यवे दुःखदाय च ॥४१॥

pravá¹›ttÄya nivá¹›ttÄya
pitá¹›-devÄya karmaṇe
namo 'dharma-vipÄkÄya
má¹›tyave duḥkha-dÄya ca

 pravá¹›ttÄya - inclination; nivá¹›ttÄya - disinclination; pitá¹›-devÄya - unto the master of Pitá¹›loka; karmaṇe - unto the resultant action of fruitive activities; namaḥ - offering respects; adharma - irreligious; vipÄkÄya - unto the result; má¹›tyave - unto death; duḥkha-dÄya - the cause of all kinds of miserable conditions; ca - also.


Text

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.

Purport

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-gÄ«tÄ (15.15):

sarvasya cÄhaá¹ há¹›di sanniviṣṭo
 mattaḥ smá¹›tir jñÄnam apohanaá¹ ca

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

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-gÄ«tÄ (16.7), pravá¹›ttiá¹ ca nivá¹›ttiá¹ ca janÄ na vidur ÄsurÄḥ: 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 karmÄ«s desire promotion to Pitá¹›loka, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (9.25). YÄnti deva-vratÄ devÄn pitá¹n yÄnti pitá¹›-vratÄḥ: “Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods, and those who worship ancestors go to the ancestors.â€

In this verse the word duḥkha-dÄya 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.