कीदृशः कस्य वा शापो हरिदासाभिमर्शनः ।
अश्रद्धेय इवाभाति हरेरेकान्तिनां भवः ॥३४॥
Å›rÄ«-yudhiá¹£á¹hira uvÄca
kÄ«dṛśaḥ kasya vÄ Å›Äpo
hari-dÄsÄbhimarÅ›anaḥ
aÅ›raddheya ivÄbhÄti
harer ekÄntinÄá¹ bhavaḥ
Å›rÄ«-yudhiá¹£á¹hiraḥ uvÄca - MahÄrÄja Yudhiá¹£á¹hira said; kÄ«dṛśaḥ - what kind of; kasya - whose; vÄ - or; Å›Äpaḥ - curse; hari-dÄsa - the servant of Hari; abhimarÅ›anaḥ - overcoming; aÅ›raddheyaḥ - incredible; iva - as if; ÄbhÄti - appears; hareḥ - of Hari; ekÄntinÄm - of those exclusively devoted as exalted attendants; bhavaḥ - birth.
MahÄrÄja Yudhiá¹£á¹hira inquired: What kind of great curse could affect even liberated viṣṇu-bhaktas, and what sort of person could curse even the Lord’s associates? For unflinching devotees of the Lord to fall again to this material world is impossible. I cannot believe this.
In Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (8.16) the Lord clearly states, mÄm upetya tu kaunteya punar janma na vidyate: one who is purified of material contamination and returns home, back to Godhead, does not return to this material world. Elsewhere in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (4.9) Kṛṣṇa says:
janma karma ca me divyam
evaṠyo vetti tattvataḥ
tyaktvÄ dehaá¹ punar janma
naiti mÄm eti so ’rjuna
“One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.†MahÄrÄja Yudhiá¹£á¹hira, therefore, was surprised that a pure devotee could return to this material world. This is certainly a very important question.
