न चेदिहैवापचितिं यथांहसः
कृतस्य कुर्यान्मनौक्तपाणिभिः ।
ध्रुवं स वै प्रेत्य नरकानुपैति
ये कीर्तिता मे भवतस्तिग्मयातनाः ॥७॥
Å›rÄ«-Å›uka uvÄca
na ced ihaivÄpacitiá¹ yathÄá¹hasaḥ
ká¹›tasya kuryÄn mana-ukta-pÄṇibhiḥ
dhruvaá¹ sa vai pretya narakÄn upaiti
ye kÄ«rtitÄ me bhavatas tigma-yÄtanÄḥ
5 times this text was mentioned in purports to other texts: LSB(5)
Å›rÄ«-Å›ukaḥ uvÄca - ÅšrÄ«la Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« said; na - not; cet - if; iha - within this life; eva - certainly; apacitim - counteraction, atonement; yathÄ - duly; aá¹hasaḥ ká¹›tasya - when one has performed sinful activities; kuryÄt - performs; manaḥ - with the mind; ukta - words; pÄṇibhiḥ - and with the senses; dhruvam - undoubtedly; saḥ - that person; vai - indeed; pretya - after death; narakÄn - different varieties of hellish conditions; upaiti - attains; ye - which; kÄ«rtitÄḥ - were already described; me - by me; bhavataḥ - unto you; tigma-yÄtanÄḥ - in which there is very terrible suffering.
Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« replied: My dear King, if before one’s next death whatever impious acts one has performed in this life with his mind, words and body are not counteracted through proper atonement according to the description of the Manu-saá¹hitÄ and other dharma-Å›Ästras, one will certainly enter the hellish planets after death and undergo terrible suffering, as I have previously described to you.
ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« ṬhÄkura mentions that although MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it was a pure devotee, Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« did not immediately speak to him about the strength of devotional service. As stated in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (14.26):
mÄá¹ ca yo ’vyabhicÄreṇa
bhakti-yogena sevate
sa guṇÄn samatÄ«tyaitÄn
brahma-bhÅ«yÄya kalpate
Devotional service is so strong that if one fully surrenders to Kṛṣṇa and takes fully to His devotional service, the reactions of his sinful life immediately stop.
Elsewhere in the GÄ«tÄ (18.66), Lord Kṛṣṇa urges that one give up all other duties and surrender to Him, and He promises, ahaá¹ tvÄá¹ sarva-pÄpebhyo moká¹£ayiá¹£yÄmi: “I shall free you from all sinful reactions and give you liberation.†Therefore in response to the inquiries of ParÄ«ká¹£it MahÄrÄja, Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ«, his guru, could have immediately explained the principle of bhakti, but to test ParÄ«ká¹£it MahÄrÄja’s intelligence, he first prescribed atonement according to karma-kÄṇá¸a, the path of fruitive activities. For karma-kÄṇá¸a there are eighty authorized scriptures, such as Manu-saá¹hitÄ, which are known as dharma-Å›Ästras. In these scriptures one is advised to counteract his sinful acts by performing other types of fruitive action. This was the path first recommended by Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« to MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it, and actually it is a fact that one who does not take to devotional service must follow the decision of these scriptures by performing pious acts to counteract his impious acts. This is known as atonement.
