पापानुबन्धो वै यस्य कर्मणः कर्म को नु तत्।
कुर्वीत लोकाधिपतिः स्वयंभूर्भगवानपि॥
pāpānubandho vai yasya karmaṇaḥ karma ko nu tat
kurvīta lokādhipatiḥ svayam-bhūr bhagavān api
pāpa-anubandhaḥ = one attains a sinful reaction; vai = certainly; yasya karmaṇaḥ = because of which; karma = an action; kaḥ nu = who; tat = an; kurvīta = would undertake; loka-adhipatiḥ = the ruler of all the worlds; svayam-bhūḥ = the self-born; bhagavān = and the powerful lord; api = including.
Who, including the ruler of all the worlds, the self-born and the powerful lord, would undertake an action because of which one certainly attains a sinful reaction?1
1 “The ruler of all the worlds” is Lord Viṣṇu. “The self-born” is Lord Brahmā. “The powerful lord” is Lord Śiva. Even these three guṇāvatāras don’t engage in activities that are certain to result in sinful reactions—so which intelligent man inferior to them would do so? This is a rhetorical question. Jaṭāyu’s point is: Don’t engage in this sinful activity. Technical note: lokādhipatiḥ sarva-loka-pālakaḥ viṣṇur vā svayaṁbhūr brahmā vā bhagavān maheśo vā.
1 Sārārtha-varṣiṇī 3.37: eṣa kāma eva viṣayābhilāṣātmakaḥ puruṣaṁ pāpe pravartayati tenaiva prayuktaḥ puruṣaḥ pāpaṁ caratīty arthaḥ.
NOTE. Why does one engage in sinful activities? This topic is discussed in the Bhagavad-gītā 3.36-41 thus:
arjuna uvāca
atha kena prayukto ’yaṁ pāpaṁ carati pūruṣaḥ
anicchann api vārṣṇeya balād iva niyojitaḥ
Arjuna said: O descendant of Vṛṣṇi, by what is one impelled to sinful acts, even unwillingly, as if engaged by force?
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
kāma eṣa krodha eṣa rajo-guṇa-samudbhavaḥ
mahāśano mahā-pāpmā viddhy enam iha vairiṇam
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: It is lust only, Arjuna, which is born of contact with the material mode of passion and later transformed into wrath, and which is the all-devouring sinful enemy of this world.
dhūmenāvriyate vahnir yathādarśo malena ca
yatholbenāvṛto garbhas tathā tenedam āvṛtam
As fire is covered by smoke, as a mirror is covered by dust, or as the embryo is covered by the womb, the living entity is similarly covered by different degrees of this lust.
āvṛtaṁ jñānam etena jñānino nitya-vairiṇā
kāma-rūpeṇa kaunteya duṣpūreṇānalena ca
Thus the wise living entity’s pure consciousness becomes covered by his eternal enemy in the form of lust, which is never satisfied and which burns like fire.
indriyāṇi mano buddhir asyādhiṣṭhānam ucyate
etair vimohayaty eṣa jñānam āvṛtya dehinam
The senses, the mind and the intelligence are the sitting places of this lust. Through them lust covers the real knowledge of the living entity and bewilders him.
tasmāt tvam indriyāṇy ādau niyamya bharatarṣabha
pāpmānaṁ prajahi hy enaṁ jñāna-vijñāna-nāśanam
Therefore, O Arjuna, best of the Bhāratas, in the very beginning curb this great symbol of sin [lust] by regulating the senses, and slay this destroyer of knowledge and self-realization.
The “lust” that Lord Kṛṣṇa refers to here is identified by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura in his Gītā commentary as the hankering for sense objects (viṣayābhilāṣa), that is, the hankering to enjoy physical sound, touch, form, taste and smell.1 It is this lust that impels the living entity to engage in sinful activities which lead to sinful reactions.
How one can eradicate this lust is explained by Prabhupāda thus:
Lust is only the perverted reflection of the love of God which is natural for every living entity. But if one is educated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness from the very beginning, that natural love of God cannot deteriorate into lust. When love of God deteriorates into lust, it is very difficult to return to the normal condition. Nonetheless, Kṛṣṇa consciousness is so powerful that even a late beginner can become a lover of God by following the regulative principles of devotional service. So, from any stage of life, or from the time of understanding its urgency, one can begin regulating the senses in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, devotional service of the Lord, and turn the lust into love of Godhead—the highest perfectional stage of human life. (Bhagavad-gītā 3.41 purport)