tato 'rvÄk pratilabdhÄká¹£aḥ
kaḥ paretavad utthitaḥ
ká¹›cchrÄd unmÄ«lya vai dṛṣṭīr
Äcaṣṭedaá¹ sahÄtmanÄ

 tataḥ - then; arvÄk - externally; pratilabdha-aká¹£aḥ - having revived his consciousness; kaḥ - Lord BrahmÄ; pareta-vat - just like a dead man; utthitaḥ - stood up; ká¹›cchrÄt - with great difficulty; unmÄ«lya - opening up; vai - indeed; dṛṣṭīḥ - his eyes; Äcaṣṭa - he saw; idam - this universe; saha-ÄtmanÄ - along with himself.


Text

Lord BrahmÄ’s external consciousness then revived, and he stood up, just like a dead man coming back to life. Opening his eyes with great difficulty, he saw the universe, along with himself.

Purport

We actually do not die. At death, we are merely kept inert for some time, just as during sleep. At night we sleep, and all our activities stop, but as soon as we arise, our memory immediately returns, and we think, “Oh, where am I? What do I have to do?†This is called suptotthita-nyÄya. Suppose we die. “Die†means that we become inert for some time and then again begin our activities. This takes place life after life, according to our karma, or activities, and svabhÄva, or nature by association. Now, in the human life, if we prepare ourselves by beginning the activity of our spiritual life, we return to our real life and attain perfection. Otherwise, according to karma, svabhÄva, praká¹›ti and so on, our varieties of life and activity continue, and so also do our birth and death. As explained by Bhaktivinoda ṬhÄkura, mÄyÄra vaÅ›e, yÄccha bhese’, khÄccha hÄbuá¸ubu bhÄi: “My dear brothers, why are you being washed away by the waves of mÄyÄ?†One should come to the spiritual platform, and then one’s activities will be permanent. Ká¹›ta-puṇya-puñjÄḥ: this stage is attained after one accumulates the results of pious activities for many, many lives. Janma-koá¹­i-suká¹›tair na labhyate (Cc. Madhya 8.70). The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement wants to stop koá¹­i-janma, repeated birth and death. In one birth, one should rectify everything and come to permanent life. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.