तेनोपयुक्तकरणो ब्रह्म प्राप परं मुनिः ॥१४॥
evaá¹ vá¹›tto vanaá¹ gatvÄ
dṛṣá¹vÄ dÄvÄgnim utthitam
tenopayukta-karaṇo
brahma prÄpa paraá¹ muniḥ
evam vá¹›ttaḥ - being situated in such an order of life; vanam - to the forest; gatvÄ - after going; dṛṣá¹vÄ - when he saw; dÄva-agnim - a forest fire; utthitam - existing there; tena - by that (fire); upayukta-karaṇaḥ - engaging all the senses of the body by burning; brahma - transcendence; prÄpa - he achieved; param - the ultimate goal; muniḥ - as a great saintly person.
With this attitude, Pṛṣadhra became a great saint, and when he entered the forest and saw a blazing forest fire, he took this opportunity to burn his body in the fire. Thus he achieved the transcendental, spiritual world.
The Lord says in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (4.9):
janma karma ca me divyam
evaṠyo vetti tattvataḥ
tyaktvÄ dehaá¹ punar janma
naiti mÄm eti so ’rjuna
“One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.†Pṛṣadhra, because of his karma, was cursed to take his next birth as a śūdra, but because he took to saintly life, specifically concentrating his mind always upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he became a pure devotee. Immediately after giving up his body in the fire, he reached the spiritual world, as mentioned in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (mÄm eti), as a result of his devotional situation. Devotional service performed by thinking of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is so powerful that although Pṛṣadhra was cursed he avoided the terrible consequence of becoming a śūdra and instead returned home, back to Godhead. As stated in Brahma-saá¹hitÄ (5.54):
yas tv indra-gopam athavendram aho sva-karma-
bandhÄnurÅ«pa-phala-bhÄjanam Ätanoti
karmÄṇi nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhÄjÄá¹
govindam Ädi-puruá¹£aá¹ tam ahaá¹ bhajÄmi
Those who engage in devotional service are unaffected by the results of their material activities. Otherwise, everyone, from the smallest microbe up to the King of heaven, Indra, is subject to the laws of karma. A pure devotee, being always engaged in the service of the Lord, is exempt from these laws.
