इच्छावशात्पापमुपासकानां
क्षीयेत भोगोन्मुखमप्यमुष्मात् ।
प्रारब्धमात्रं भवतीतरेषां
कर्मावशिष्टं तदवश्यभोग्यम् ॥
icchā-vaśāt pāpam upāsakānāṁ
kṣīyeta bhogonmukham apy amuṣmāt |
prārabdha-mātraṁ bhavatītareṣāṁ
karmāvaśiṣṭaṁ tad avaśya-bhogyam ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.3.169)
“Even the sin which is about to be experienced [i.e., the prārabdha-karma] of upāsakas is destroyed by this [i.e., by nāma-saṅkīrtana] according to their will. For others, prārabdha [-karma] is the only remaining karma, since that is necessary to be experienced.”
Commentary
nanu īdṛśa-mahā-prabhāvakaṁ nāma-saṅkīrtanaṁ kurvatām api kathaṁ duḥkhādikaṁ dṛśyate ? tatrāhuḥ—iccheti | upāsakānāṁ sadā bhagavan-nāma-sevā-parāṇāṁ bhogonmukhaṁ prārabdha-bhogam api pāpam amuṣmān nāma-saṅkīrtanād eva kṣīyate duḥkha-phalatvāt | ataḥ śubha-phalatvāt puṇyaṁ tiṣṭhed evety arthaḥ | kutaḥ ? icchā-vaśāt teṣām evecchādhīnatvāt, upāsakānām icchayaiva karma tiṣṭhen naśyed apīty arthaḥ | yathoktaṁ śrī-hari-bhakti-sudhodaye—karma-cakraṁ tu yat proktam avilaṅghyaṁ surāsuraiḥ | mad-bhakti-prabalair martyair viddhi laṅghitam eva tat || iti | itareṣām upāsaka-vyatiriktānāṁ kadācit katham api nāma-saṅkīrtayatām ity arthaḥ | prārabdha-mātraṁ, na tu kūṭādi-karma avaśiṣṭaṁ bhavati, yatas tat prārabdham avaśya-bhogyaṁ, bhogenaiva tasya kṣayāt |
(Dig-darśanī-ṭīkā)
“‘Well, how is suffering and so forth seen even in those who engage in nāma-saṅkīrtana, which is endowed with such tremendous power [to destroy all forms of karma]?’ In this regard, this verse (icchā …) is spoken. Even the sin which is about to be experienced, that is, sin the experience of which has commenced [i.e., which is prārabdha], of upāsakas, that is, those who are always engaged in service to Bhagavān’s name, is destroyed by this, that is, just by nāma-saṅkīrtana, because of its [i.e., that sin’s] result being suffering. Therefore, piety can remain because of its result being auspicious. This is the meaning. How? ‘According to their will’, that is, because of it [i.e., the matter of their karma] being under the control of their will alone, the karma of upāsakas shall remain or be destroyed just by their will. This is the meaning, as per the statement in Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya (5.63): ‘Know the cycle of karma, which I have described to be insurmountable by the suras and asuras, to be already surmounted by mortals endowed with the power of bhakti to me.’ For others, that is, for those other than upāsakas, meaning, those who [unlike upāsakas, only] sometimes somehow or other engage in nāma-saṅkīrtana—prārabdha [-karma] is the only remaining karma, and not kūṭa and so forth [i.e., not aprārabdha-, kūṭa-, or bīja-karma], as that—prārabdha [-karma]—is necessary to be experienced [by them] because its destruction occurs only by experiencing it [in their case, unless they become upāsakas themselves].”