प्रयुज्यमाने मयि तां शुद्धां भागवतीं तनुम् ।
आरब्धकर्मनिर्वाणो न्यपतत्पाञ्चभौतिकः ॥२८॥

prayujyamÄne mayi tÄá¹
Å›uddhÄá¹ bhÄgavatÄ«á¹ tanum
Ärabdha-karma-nirvÄṇo
nyapatat pÄñca-bhautikaḥ

 prayujyamÄne - having been awarded; mayi - on me; tÄm - that; Å›uddhÄm - transcendental; bhÄgavatÄ«m - fit for associating with the Personality of Godhead; tanum - body; Ärabdha - acquired; karma - fruitive work; nirvÄṇaḥ - prohibitive; nyapatat - quit; pÄñca-bhautikaḥ - body made of five material elements.


Text

Having been awarded a transcendental body befitting an associate of the Personality of Godhead, I quit the body made of five material elements, and thus all acquired fruitive results of work [karma] stopped.

Purport

Informed by the Personality of Godhead that he would be awarded a transcendental body befitting the Lord’s association, NÄrada got his spiritual body as soon as he quit his material body. This transcendental body is free from material affinity and invested with three primary transcendental qualities, namely eternity, freedom from material modes, and freedom from reactions of fruitive activities. The material body is always afflicted with the lack of these three qualities. A devotee’s body becomes at once surcharged with the transcendental qualities as soon as he is engaged in the devotional service of the Lord. It acts like the magnetic influence of a touchstone upon iron. The influence of transcendental devotional service is like that. Therefore change of the body means stoppage of the reaction of three qualitative modes of material nature upon the pure devotee. There are many instances of this in the revealed scriptures. Dhruva MahÄrÄja and PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja and many other devotees were able to see the Personality of Godhead face to face apparently in the same body. This means that the quality of a devotee’s body changes from material to transcendence. That is the opinion of the authorized GosvÄmÄ«s via the authentic scriptures. In the Brahma-saá¹hitÄ it is said that beginning from the indra-gopa germ up to the great Indra, King of heaven, all living beings are subjected to the law of karma and are bound to suffer and enjoy the fruitive results of their own work. Only the devotee is exempt from such reactions, by the causeless mercy of the supreme authority, the Personality of Godhead.