Sankaracarya's Vivekachudamani 551

स्त्रोतसा नीयते दारु यथा निम्नोन्नतस्थलम् ।

दैवेन नीयते देहो यथाकालोपभुक्तिषु ॥

strotasā nīyate dāru yathā nimnonnatasthalam |

daivena nīyate deho yathākālopabhuktiṣu ||

(Sankaracarya's Vivekachudamani 551)

Just as a piece of wood is carried by the current to high ground or low ground, so too the body of the liberated one is carried by the momentum of its past actions and their fruits, as and when they appear.

From the spiritual world, you have fallen into this prison, this material world. You have your prison uniform, this material body. We are all fallen criminals, what is the value of these materially imprisoned living entities? All over the world, people are becoming godless cats and dogs in the mere dress of human beings. So para- upakara: we have to rescue them from this nonsense and make them truly happy—restore their God-consciousness. When God decides, he will pull us out of this body according to our past karmas and their results. Our soul will be carried by the Lord as a piece of wood that goes high or low according to the current. If one wishes to have liberation, he/she should surrender to the Lord and get good karma. We shouldn't enjoy this material world by creating more bad karmas. Our only business in this world is to surrender to the Lord and know more about the soul and the connection with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.