karmÄṇy Ärabhate yena
pumÄn iha vihÄya tam
amutrÄnyena dehena
juá¹£á¹Äni sa yad aÅ›nute
karmÄṇi - fruitive activities; Ärabhate - begins to perform; yena - by which; pumÄn - a living entity; iha - in this life; vihÄya - giving up; tam - that; amutra - in the next life; anyena - another; dehena - by a body; juá¹£á¹Äni - the results; saḥ - he; yat - that; aÅ›nute - enjoys.
A person generally does not know how one body is linked with another body. How is it possible that one suffers or enjoys the results of activities in this body in yet another body in the next life? This is a question the King wants NÄrada Muni to answer. How may one have a human body in this life and not have a human body in the next? Even great philosophers and scientists cannot account for the transferal of karma from one body to another. As we experience, every individual soul has an individual body, and one person’s activities or one body’s activities are not enjoyed or suffered by another body or another person. The question is how the activities of one body are suffered or enjoyed in the next.