प्राचीनबर्हिषं क्षत्तः कर्मस्वासक्तमानसम् ।
नारदोऽध्यात्मतत्त्वज्ञः कृपालुः प्रत्यबोधयत् ॥३॥

prÄcÄ«nabarhiá¹£aá¹ ká¹£attaḥ
karmasv Äsakta-mÄnasam
nÄrado 'dhyÄtma-tattva-jñaḥ
ká¹›pÄluḥ pratyabodhayat

 prÄcÄ«nabarhiá¹£am - unto King PrÄcÄ«nabarhiá¹£at; ká¹£attaḥ - O Vidura; karmasu - in fruitive activities; Äsakta - attached; mÄnasam - with this mentality; nÄradaḥ - the great sage NÄrada; adhyÄtma - spiritualism; tattva-jñaḥ - one who knows the truth; ká¹›pÄluḥ - being compassionate; pratyabodhayat - gave instructions.


Text

While the princes were undergoing severe austerities in the water, their father was performing different types of fruitive activities. At this time the great saint NÄrada, master and teacher of all spiritual life, became very compassionate upon the King and decided to instruct him about spiritual life.

Purport

As pointed out by PrabodhÄnanda SarasvatÄ« ṬhÄkura, a great devotee of Lord Caitanya, kaivalya, or merging into the Brahman effulgence, is just like going to hell. He similarly states that elevation to the upper planetary systems for the enjoyment of heavenly life is just so much phantasmagoria. This means that a devotee does not give any importance to the ultimate goal of the karmÄ«s and jñÄnÄ«s. The ultimate goal of the karmÄ«s is promotion to the heavenly kingdom, and the ultimate goal of the jñÄnÄ«s is merging into the Brahman effulgence. Of course, the jñÄnÄ«s are superior to the karmÄ«s, as confirmed by Lord Caitanya. Koá¹­i-karmaniṣṭha-madhye eka ‘jñÄnī’ Å›reṣṭha: “One jñÄnÄ«, or impersonalist, is better than many thousands of fruitive actors.†(Cc. Madhya 19.147) Therefore a devotee never enters upon the path of karma, or elevation by fruitive activities. NÄrada Muni took compassion upon King PrÄcÄ«nabarhiá¹£at when he saw the King engaged in fruitive activity. In comparison to mundane workers, those who are trying to be elevated to the higher planetary systems by performing yajñas are undoubtedly superior. In pure devotional service, however, both karma and jñÄna are considered bewildering features of the illusory energy.