Chapter Five
Vidura's Talks with Maitreya
TEXT 1
TEXT
sri-suka uvaca
dvari dyu-nadya rsabhah kurunam
maitreyam asinam agadha-bodham
ksattopasrtyacyuta-bhava-siddhah
papraccha sausilya-gunabhitrptah
SYNONYMS
sri-sukah uvaca--Sukadeva Gosvami said; dvari--at the source of; dyu-nadyah--the celestial River Ganges; rsabhah--the best of the Kurus; kurunam--of the Kurus; maitreyam--unto Maitreya; asinam--sitting; agadha-bodham--of unfathomed knowledge; ksatta--Vidura; upasrtya--having approached nearer; acyuta--the infallible Lord; bhava--character; siddhah--perfect; papraccha--inquired; sausilya--gentleness; guna-abhitrptah--satisfied in transcendental qualities.
TRANSLATION
Sukadeva Gosvami said: Vidura, the best amongst the Kuru dynasty, who was perfect in devotional service to the Lord, thus reached the source of the celestial Ganges River [Hardwar], where Maitreya, the great, fathomless learned sage of the world, was seated. Vidura, who was perfect in gentleness and satisfied in transcendence, inquired from him.
PURPORT
Vidura was already perfect due to his unalloyed devotion to the infallible Lord. The Lord and the living entities are all qualitatively the same by nature, but the Lord is quantitatively much greater than any individual living entity. He is ever infallible, whereas the living entities are prone to fall under the illusory energy. Vidura had already surpassed the fallible nature of the living entity in conditional life due to his being acyuta-bhava, or legitimately absorbed in the devotional service of the Lord. This stage of life is called acyuta-bhava-siddha, or perfection by dint of devotional service. Anyone, therefore, who is absorbed in the devotional service of the Lord is a liberated soul and has all admirable qualities. The learned sage Maitreya was sitting in a solitary place on the bank of the Ganges at Hardwar, and Vidura, who was a perfect devotee of the Lord and possessed all good transcendental qualities, approached him for inquiry.
TEXT 2
TEXT
vidura uvaca
sukhaya karmani karoti loko
na taih sukham vanyad-uparamam va
vindeta bhuyas tata eva duhkham
yad atra yuktam bhagavan vaden nah
SYNONYMS
vidurah uvaca--Vidura said; sukhaya--for attaining happiness; karmani--fruitive activities; karoti--everyone does so; lokah--in this world; na--never; taih--by those activities; sukham--any happiness; va--or; anyat--differently; uparamam--satiation; va--either; vindeta--achieves; bhuyah--on the contrary; tatah--by such activities; eva--certainly; duhkham--miseries; yat--that which; atra--under the circumstances; yuktam--right course; bhagavan--O great one; vadet--may kindly enlighten; nah--us.
TRANSLATION
Vidura said: O great sage, everyone in this world engages in fruitive activities to attain happiness, but one finds neither satiation nor the mitigation of distress. On the contrary, one is only aggravated by such activities. Please, therefore, give us directions on how one should live for real happiness.
PURPORT
Vidura asked Maitreya some common questions, which was not originally his intention. Uddhava asked Vidura to approach Maitreya Muni and inquire into all the truths concerning the Lord, His name, fame, quality, form, pastimes, entourage, etc., and thus when Vidura approached Maitreya, he should have asked only about the Lord. But out of natural humility he did not immediately ask about the Lord, but inquired into a subject which would be of great importance to the common man. A common man cannot understand the Lord. He must first know the real position of his life under the influence of the illusory energy. In illusion one thinks that he can be happy only by fruitive activities, but what actually happens is that one becomes more and more entangled in the network of action and reaction and does not find any solution to the problem of life. There is a nice song in this connection: "Because of a great desire to have all happiness in life, I built this house. But unfortunately the whole scheme has turned to ashes because the house was unexpectedly set on fire." The law of nature is like that. Everyone tries to become happy by planning in the material world, but the law of nature is so cruel that it sets fire to one's schemes; the fruitive worker is not happy in his schemes, nor is there any satiation of his continuous hankering for happiness.
TEXT 3
TEXT
janasya krsnad vimukhasya daivad
adharma-silasya suduhkhitasya
anugrahayeha caranti nunam
bhutani bhavyani janardanasya
SYNONYMS
janasya--of the common man; krsnat--from the Supreme Lord, Krsna; vimukhasya--of the one who has turned his face against the Lord; daivat--by the influence of external energy; adharma-silasya--of one who is engaged in irreligion; su-duhkhitasya--of one who is always unhappy; anugrahaya--due to being compassionate towards them; iha--in this world; caranti--wander; nunam--certainly; bhutani--persons; bhavyani--great philanthropic souls; janardanasya--of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
TRANSLATION
O my lord, great philanthropic souls travel on the earth on behalf of the Supreme Personality of Godhead to show compassion to the fallen souls who are averse to the sense of subordination to the Lord.
PURPORT
To be obedient to the wishes of the Supreme Lord is the natural position of every living entity. But due only to past misdeeds, a living being becomes averse to the sense of subordination to the Lord and suffers all the miseries of material existence. No one has anything to do but render devotional service to the Supreme Lord, Sri Krsna. Therefore any activity other than transcendental loving service to the Lord is more or less a rebellious action against the supreme will. All fruitive activity, empirical philosophy and mysticism are more or less against the sense of subordination to the Lord, and any living entity engaged in such rebellious activity is more or less condemned by the laws of material nature, which work under the subordination of the Lord. Great unalloyed devotees of the Lord are compassionate towards the fallen, and therefore they travel all over the world with the mission of bringing souls back to Godhead, back to home. Such pure devotees of the Lord carry the message of Godhead in order to deliver the fallen souls, and therefore the common man who is bewildered by the influence of the external energy of the Lord should avail himself of their association.
TEXT 4
TEXT
tat sadhu-varyadisa vartma sam nah
samradhito bhagavan yena pumsam
hrdi sthito yacchati bhakti-pute
jnanam sa-tattvadhigamam puranam
SYNONYMS
tat--therefore; sadhu-varya--O great one amongst the saints; adisa--please instruct; vartma--the path; sam--auspicious; nah--for us; samradhitah--being perfectly served; bhagavan--the Personality of Godhead; yena--by which; pumsam--of the living entity; hrdi sthitah--residing in the heart; yacchati--awards; bhakti-pute--unto the unalloyed devotee; jnanam--knowledge; sa--that; tattva--truth; adhigamam--by which one learns; puranam--authorized, old.
TRANSLATION
Therefore, O great sage, please give me instruction on the transcendental devotional service of the Lord, so that He who is situated in the heart of everyone can be pleased to impart, from within, knowledge of the Absolute Truth in terms of the ancient Vedic principles delivered only to those who are purified by the process of devotional service.
PURPORT
As already explained in the First Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, the Absolute Truth is realized in three different phases--although they are one and the same--in terms of the knower's capacity to understand. The most capable transcendentalist is the pure devotee of the Lord, who is without any tinge of fruitive actions or philosophical speculation. By devotional service only does one's heart become completely purified from all material coverings like karma, jnana and yoga. Only in such a purified stage does the Lord, who is seated in everyone's heart with the individual soul, give instruction so that the devotee can reach the ultimate destination of going back home, back to Godhead. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (10.10): tesam satata-yuktanam bhajatam. Only when the Lord is satisfied with the devotional service of the devotee does He impart knowledge, as He did for Arjuna and Uddhava.
The jnanis, yogis and karmis cannot expect this direct cooperation of the Lord. They are not able to satisfy the Lord by transcendental loving service, nor do they believe in such service to the Lord. The bhakti process, as performed under the regulative principles of vaidhi-bhakti, or devotional service following the prescribed rules and regulations, is defined by the revealed scriptures and confirmed by great acaryas. This practice can help the neophyte devotee to rise to the stage of raga-bhakti, in which the Lord responds from within as the caitya-guru, or the spiritual master as Superconsciousness. All transcendentalists other than devotees make no distinction between the individual soul and the Supersoul because they miscalculate the Superconsciousness and the individual consciousness to be one and the same. Such miscalculation by the nondevotees makes them unfit to receive any direction from within, and therefore they are bereft of the direct cooperation of the Lord. After many, many births, when such a nondualist comes to sense that the Lord is worshipable and that the devotee is simultaneously one with and different from the Lord, then only can he surrender unto the Lord, Vasudeva. Pure devotional service begins from that point. The process of understanding the Absolute Truth adopted by the misguided nondualist is very difficult, whereas the devotee's way of understanding the Absolute Truth comes directly from the Lord, who is pleased by devotional service. On behalf of many neophyte devotees, Vidura, at the very first instance, inquired from Maitreya about the path of devotional service, by which the Lord, who is seated within the heart, can be pleased.
TEXT 5
TEXT
karoti karmani krtavataro
yany atma-tantro bhagavams tryadhisah
yatha sasarjagra idam nirihah
samsthapya vrttim jagato vidhatte
SYNONYMS
karoti--does them; karmani--transcendental activities; krta--by accepting; avatarah--incarnations; yani--all those; atma-tantrah--Self-independent; bhagavan--the Personality of Godhead; tri-adhisah--the Lord of the three worlds; yatha--as much as; sasarja--created; agre--at first; idam--this cosmic manifestation; nirihah--although desireless; samsthapya--by establishing; vrttim--means of livelihood; jagatah--of the universes; vidhatte--as He regulates.
TRANSLATION
O great sage, kindly narrate how the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the independent, desireless Lord of the three worlds and the controller of all energies, accepts incarnations and creates the cosmic manifestation with perfectly arranged regulative principles for its maintenance.
PURPORT
Lord Krsna is the original Personality of Godhead from whom the three creative incarnations, namely the purusa-avataras--Karanarnavasayi Visnu, Garbhodakasayi Visnu and Ksirodakasayi Visnu--expand. The whole material creation is conducted by the three purusas in successive stages under the external energy of the Lord, and thus material nature is controlled by Him. Thinking material nature to be independent is like seeking milk from the nipplelike bags on the neck of a goat. The Lord is independent and desireless. He does not create the material world for His own satisfaction as we create our household affairs to fulfill our material desires. Actually the material world is created for the illusory enjoyment of the conditioned souls, who have been against the transcendental service of the Lord since time immemorial. But the material universes are full in themselves. There is no scarcity for maintenance in the material world. Because of their poor fund of knowledge, the materialists are disturbed when there is an apparent increase of population on the earth. Whenever there is a living being on the earth, however, his subsistence is immediately arranged by the Lord. The other species of living entities, who far outnumber human society, are never disturbed for maintenance; they are never seen dying of starvation. It is only human society that is disturbed about the food situation and, to cover up the real fact of administrative mismanagement, takes shelter in the plea that the population is excessively increasing. If there is any scarcity in the world, it is the scarcity of God consciousness, otherwise, by the grace of the Lord, there is no scarcity of anything.
TEXT 6
TEXT
yatha punah sve kha idam nivesya
sete guhayam sa nivrtta-vrttih
yogesvaradhisvara eka etad
anupravisto bahudha yathasit
SYNONYMS
yatha--as much as; punah--again; sve--in His; khe--form of space (virat-rupa); idam--this; nivesya--entering into; sete--lies down; guhayam--within the universe; sah--He (the Personality of Godhead); nivrtta--without endeavor; vrttih--means of livelihood; yoga-isvara--the master of all mystic powers; adhisvarah--proprietor of everything; ekah--one without a second; etat--this; anupravistah--entering afterwards; bahudha--by innumerable; yatha--as much as; asit--exists.
TRANSLATION
He lies down on His own heart spread in the form of the sky, and thus placing the whole creation in that space, He expands Himself into many living entities, which are manifested as different species of life. He does not have to endeavor for His maintenance, because He is the master of all mystic powers and the proprietor of everything. Thus He is distinct from the living entities.
PURPORT
The questions regarding creation, maintenance and destruction, which are mentioned in many parts of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, are in relation to different millenniums (kalpas), and therefore they are differently described by different authorities when questioned by different students. There is no difference regarding the creative principles and the Lord's control over them, yet there are some differences in the minute details because of different kalpas. The gigantic sky is the material body of the Lord, called the virat-rupa, and all material creations are resting on the sky, or the heart of the Lord. Therefore, beginning from the sky, the first material manifestation to the gross vision, down to the earth, everything is called Brahman. Sarvam khalv idam brahma: "There is nothing but the Lord, and He is one without a second." The living entities are the superior energies, whereas matter is the inferior energy, and the combination of these energies brings about the manifestation of this material world, which is in the heart of the Lord.
TEXT 7
TEXT
kridan vidhatte dvija-go-suranam
ksemaya karmany avatara-bhedaih
mano na trpyaty api srnvatam nah
susloka-maules caritamrtani
SYNONYMS
kridan--manifesting pastimes; vidhatte--He performs; dvija--twice-born; go--cows; suranam--of the demigods; ksemaya--welfare; karmani--transcendental activities; avatara--incarnations; bhedaih--differently; manah--mind; na--never; trpyati--satisfies; api--in spite of; srnvatam--continuously hearing; nah--our; su-sloka--auspicious; mauleh--of the Lord; carita--characteristics; amrtani--undying.
TRANSLATION
You may narrate also about the auspicious characteristics of the Lord in His different incarnations for the welfare of the twice-born, the cows and the demigods. Our minds are never satisfied completely, although we continuously hear of His transcendental activities.
PURPORT
The Lord appears in this universe in different incarnations like Matsya, Kurma, Varaha and Nrsimha, and He manifests His different transcendental activities for the welfare of the twice-born, the cows and the demigods. The Lord is directly concerned with the twice-born or civilized men. A civilized man is one who has taken his birth twice. A living entity takes birth in this mundane world due to the union of male and female. A human being is born due to union of the father and mother, but a civilized human being has another birth by contact with a spiritual master, who becomes the actual father. The father and mother of the material body are so only in one birth, and in the next birth the father and mother may be a different couple. But the bona fide spiritual master, as the representative of the Lord, is the eternal father because the spiritual master has the responsibility to lead the disciple to spiritual salvation, or the ultimate goal of life. Therefore, a civilized man must be twice-born, otherwise he is no more than the lower animals.
The cow is the most important animal for developing the human body to perfection. The body can be maintained by any kind of foodstuff, but cow's milk is particularly essential for developing the finer tissues of the human brain so that one can understand the intricacies of transcendental knowledge. A civilized man is expected to live on foodstuffs comprising fruits, vegetables, grains, sugar and milk. The bull helps in the agricultural process of producing grain, etc., and thus in one sense the bull is the father of humankind, whereas the cow is the mother, for she supplies milk to human society. A civilized man is therefore expected to give all protection to the bulls and cows.
The demigods, or the living entities who live in the higher planets, are far superior to human beings. Since they have better arrangements for living conditions, they live far more luxuriously than human beings, yet they are all devotees of the Lord. The Lord incarnates in different forms, such as those of a fish, a tortoise, a hog, and a combined lion and man, just to give protection to civilized man, the cow and the demigods, who are directly responsible for the regulative life of progressive self-realization. The whole system of the material creation is planned so that the conditioned souls may have the opportunity for self-realization. One who takes advantage of such an arrangement is called a demigod or civilized man. The cow is meant to help maintain such a high standard of living.
The Lord's pastimes for the protection of the twice-born civilized men, the cows and the demigods are all transcendental. A human being is inclined to hear good narrations and stories, and therefore there are so many books, magazines and newspapers on the market to satisfy the interests of the developed soul. But the pleasure in such literature, after it is read once, becomes stale, and people do not take any interest in reading such literature repeatedly. In fact, newspapers are read for less than an hour and then thrown in the dustbins as rubbish. The case is similar with all other mundane literatures. But the beauty of transcendental literatures like Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam is that they never become old. They have been read in the world by civilized man for the last five thousand years, and they have never become old. They are ever fresh to the learned scholars and devotees, and even by daily repetition of the verses of Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam, there is no satiation for devotees like Vidura. Vidura might have heard the pastimes of the Lord many, many times before he met Maitreya, but still he wanted the same narrations to be repeated because he was never satiated by hearing them. That is the transcendental nature of the Lord's glorious pastimes.
TEXT 8
TEXT
yais tattva-bhedair adhiloka-natho
lokan alokan saha lokapalan
aciklpad yatra hi sarva-sattva-
nikaya-bhedo 'dhikrtah pratitah
SYNONYMS
yaih--by whom; tattva--truth; bhedaih--by differentiation; adhiloka-nathah--the King of the kings; lokan--planets; alokan--planets of the lower region; saha--along with; loka-palan--respective kings; aciklpat--planned; yatra--wherein; hi--certainly; sarva--all; sattva--existence; nikaya--living entities; bhedah--difference; adhikrtah--occupied; pratitah--it so appears.
TRANSLATION
The Supreme King of all kings has created different planets and places of habitation where living entities are situated in terms of the modes of nature and work, and He has created their different kings and rulers.
PURPORT
Lord Krsna is the chief King of all kings, and He has created different planets for all kinds of living entities. Even on this planet there are different places for inhabitation by different types of men. There are places like deserts, ice lands, and valleys in mountainous countries, and in each of them there are different kinds of men born of different modes of nature according to their past deeds. There are people in the Arabian deserts and in the valleys of the Himalayan Mountains, and the inhabitants of these two places differ from one another, just as the inhabitants of the ice lands also differ from them. Similarly, there are also different planets. The planets below the earth down to the Patala planet are full of various kinds of living beings; no planet is vacant, as wrongly imagined by the modern so-called scientist. In Bhagavad-gita we find it said by the Lord that the living entities are sarva-gata, or present in every sphere of life. So there is no doubt that on other planets there are also inhabitants like us, sometimes with greater intelligence and greater opulence. The living conditions for those of greater intelligence are more luxurious than on this earth. There are also planets where no sunlight reaches, and there are living entities who must live there due to their past deeds. All such plans for living conditions are made by the Supreme Lord, and Vidura requested Maitreya to describe this for the sake of further enlightenment.
TEXT 9
TEXT
yena prajanam uta atma-karma-
rupabhidhanam ca bhidam vyadhatta
narayano visvasrg atma-yonir
etac ca no varnaya vipra-varya
SYNONYMS
yena--by which; prajanam--of those who are born; uta--as also; atma-karma--destined engagement; rupa--form and feature; abhidhanam--endeavors; ca--also; bhidam--differentiation; vyadhatta--dispersed; narayanah--the Supreme Personality of Godhead; visvasrk--the creator of the universe; atma-yonih--self-sufficient; etat--all these; ca--also; nah--unto us; varnaya--describe; vipra-varya--O chief amongst the brahmanas.
TRANSLATION
O chief amongst the brahmanas, please also describe how Narayana, the creator of the universe and the self-sufficient Lord, has differently created the natures, activities, forms, features and names of the different living creatures.
PURPORT
Every living being is under the plan of his natural inclinations in terms of the modes of material nature. His work is manifested in terms of the nature of the three modes, his form and bodily features are designed according to his work, and his name is designated according to his bodily features. For example, the higher classes of men are white (sukla), and the lower classes of men are black. This division of white and black is in terms of one's white and black duties of life. Pious acts lead one to take birth in a good and highly placed family, to become rich, to become learned, and to acquire beautiful bodily features. Impious acts lead one to become poor by parentage, to be always in want, to become a fool or illiterate and to acquire ugly bodily features. Vidura requested Maitreya to explain these differences between all the living creatures made by Narayana, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
TEXT 10
TEXT
paravaresam bhagavan vratani
srutani me vyasa-mukhad abhiksnam
atrpnuma ksulla-sukhavahanam
tesam rte krsna-kathamrtaughat
SYNONYMS
para--higher; avaresam--of these lower; bhagavan--O my lord, O great one; vratani--occupations; srutani--heard; me--by me; vyasa--Vyasa; mukhat--from the mouth; abhiksnam--repeatedly; atrpnuma--I am satisfied; ksulla--little; sukha-avahanam--that which causes happiness; tesam--out of that; rte--without; krsna-katha--talks about the Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna; amrta-oghat--from the nectar.
TRANSLATION
O my lord, I have repeatedly heard about these higher and lower statuses of human society from the mouth of Vyasadeva, and I am quite satiated with all these lesser subject matters and their happiness. They have not satisfied me with the nectar of topics about Krsna.
PURPORT
Because people are very much interested in hearing social and historical presentations, Srila Vyasadeva has compiled many books such as the Puranas and Mahabharata. These books are reading matter for the mass of people, and they were compiled with a view to reviving their God consciousness, now forgotten in the conditional life of material existence. The real purpose of such literatures is not so much to present topics of historical references, but to revive the people's sense of God consciousness. For example, Mahabharata is the history of the Battle of Kuruksetra, and common people read it because it is full of topics regarding the social, political and economic problems of human society. But factually the most important part of Mahabharata is Bhagavad-gita, which is automatically taught to readers along with the historical narrations of the Battle of Kuruksetra.
Vidura explained to Maitreya his position of being fully satiated with the knowledge of mundane social and political topics and having no more interest in them. He was anxious to hear transcendental topics regarding Lord Sri Krsna. Because there were insufficient topics directly concerning Krsna in the Puranas, Mahabharata, etc., he was not satisfied and wanted to know more about Krsna. Krsna-katha, or topics regarding Krsna, are transcendental, and there is no satiation in hearing such topics. Bhagavad-gita is important on account of its being krsna-katha, or speeches delivered by Lord Krsna. The story of the Battle of Kuruksetra may be interesting for the mass of people, but to a person like Vidura, who is highly advanced in devotional service, only krsna-katha and that which is dovetailed with krsna-katha is interesting. Vidura wanted to hear of everything from Maitreya, and so he inquired from him, but he desired that all the topics be in relationship with Krsna. As fire is never satisfied in its consumption of firewood, so a pure devotee of the Lord never hears enough about Krsna. Historical events and other narrations concerning social and political incidents all become transcendental as soon as they are in relationship with Krsna. That is the way to transform mundane things into spiritual identity. The whole world can be transformed into Vaikuntha if all worldly activities are dovetailed with krsna-katha.
There are two important krsna-kathas current in the world--Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. Bhagavad-gita is krsna-katha because it is spoken by Krsna, whereas Srimad-Bhagavatam is krsna-katha because it narrates about Krsna. Lord Caitanya advised all His disciples to preach krsna-katha all over the world without discrimination because the transcendental value of krsna-katha can purify one and all from material contamination.
TEXT 11
TEXT
kas trpnuyat tirtha-pado 'bhidhanat
satresu vah suribhir idyamanat
yah karna-nadim purusasya yato
bhava-pradam geha-ratim chinatti
SYNONYMS
kah--who is that man; trpnuyat--that can be satisfied; tirtha-padah--whose lotus feet are all the places of pilgrimage; abhidhanat--from the talks of; satresu--in human society; vah--one who is; suribhih--by great devotees; idyamanat--one who is so worshiped; yah--who; karna-nadim--in the holes of the ears; purusasya--of a man; yatah--entering; bhava-pradam--that which awards births and deaths; geha-ratim--family affection; chinatti--is cut off.
TRANSLATION
Who in human society can be satisfied without hearing sufficient talk of the Lord, whose lotus feet are the sum total of all places of pilgrimage and who is worshiped by great sages and devotees? Such topics can cut off one's bondage to family affection simply by entering the holes of one's ears.
PURPORT
Krsna-katha is so powerful that simply by entering into a person's ear it can at once give deliverance from the bondage of family affection. Family affection is an illusory manifestation of the external energy, and it is the only impetus for all mundane activities. As long as there is mundane activity and the mind is absorbed in such engagement, one has to undergo the repetition of birth and death in the current material nescience. People are most influenced by the mode of ignorance, and some are influenced by the passionate mode of material nature, and under the spell of these two modes a living being is actuated by the material conception of life. The mundane qualities do not allow a living entity to understand his real position. The qualities of both ignorance and passion strongly bind one to the illusory bodily conception of the self. The best among the fools who are thus deluded are those who engage in altruistic activities under the spell of the material mode of passion. Bhagavad-gita, which is direct krsna-katha, gives humanity the elementary lesson that the body is perishable and that the consciousness which is spread throughout the body is imperishable. The conscious being, the imperishable self, is eternally existent and cannot be killed under any circumstances, even after the dissolution of the body. Anyone who misunderstands this perishable body to be the self and who works for it in the name of sociology, politics, philanthropy, altruism, nationalism or internationalism, under the false plea of the bodily conception of life, is certainly a fool and does not know the implications of reality and unreality. Some of them are above the modes of ignorance and passion and are situated in the mode of goodness, but mundane goodness is always contaminated by tinges of ignorance and passion. Mundane goodness can enlighten one that the body and the self are different, and one in goodness is concerned with the self and not the body. But due to being contaminated, those in mundane goodness cannot understand the real nature of the self as a person. Their impersonal conception of the self as distinct from the body keeps them in the mode of goodness within material nature, and unless they are attracted by krsna-katha, they will never be liberated from the bondage of material existence. Krsna-katha is the only remedy for all people of the world because it can situate one in pure consciousness of the self and liberate one from material bondage. To preach krsna-katha all over the world, as recommended by Lord Caitanya, is the greatest missionary activity, and all sensible men and women of the world may join in this great movement started by Lord Caitanya.
TEXT 12
TEXT
munir vivaksur bhagavad-gunanam
sakhapi te bharatam aha krsnah
yasmin nrnam gramya-sukhanuvadair
matir grhita nu hareh kathayam
SYNONYMS
munih--the sage; vivaksuh--described; bhagavat--of the Personality of Godhead; gunanam--transcendental qualities; sakha--friend; api--also; te--your; bharatam--the Mahabharata; aha--has described; krsnah--Krsna-dvaipayana Vyasa; yasmin--in which; nrnam--of the people; gramya--worldly; sukha-anuvadaih--pleasure derived from mundane topics; matih--attention; grhita nu--just to draw towards; hareh--of the Lord; kathayam--speeches of (Bhagavad-gita).
TRANSLATION
Your friend the great sage Krsna-dvaipayana Vyasa has already described the transcendental qualities of the Lord in his great work the Mahabharata. But the whole idea is to draw the attention of the mass of people to krsna-katha [Bhagavad-gita] through their strong affinity for hearing mundane topics.
PURPORT
The great sage Krsna-dvaipayana Vyasa is the author of all Vedic literature, of which his works Vedanta-sutra, Srimad-Bhagavatam and Mahabharata are very popular readings. As stated in Bhagavatam (1.4.25), Srila Vyasadeva compiled the Mahabharata for the less intelligent class of men, who take more interest in mundane topics than in the philosophy of life. The Vedanta-sutra was compiled for persons already above the mundane topics, who might already have tasted the bitterness of the so-called happiness of mundane affairs. The first aphorism of Vedanta-sutra is athato brahma jijnasa, i.e., only when one has finished the business of mundane inquiries in the marketplace of sense gratification can one make relevant inquiries regarding Brahman, the Transcendence. Those persons who are busy with the mundane inquiries which fill the newspapers and other such literatures are classified as stri-sudra-dvija-bandhus, or women, the laborer class and unworthy sons of the higher classes (brahmana, ksatriya and vaisya). Such less intelligent men cannot understand the purpose of Vedanta-sutra, although they may make a show of studying the sutras in a perverted way. The real purpose of Vedanta-sutra is explained by the author himself in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, and anyone trying to understand Vedanta-sutra without reference to Srimad-Bhagavatam is certainly misguided. Such misguided persons, who are interested in the mundane affairs of philanthropic and altruistic work under the misconception of the body as the self, could better take advantage of the Mahabharata, which was specifically compiled by Srila Vyasadeva for their benefit. The great author has compiled the Mahabharata in such a way that the less intelligent class of men, who are more interested in mundane topics, may read the Mahabharata with great relish and in the course of such mundane happiness can also take advantage of Bhagavad-gita, the preliminary study of Srimad-Bhagavatam or the Vedanta-sutra. Srila Vyasadeva had no interest in writing a history of mundane activities other than to give less intelligent persons a chance for transcendental realization through Bhagavad-gita. Vidura's reference to the Mahabharata indicates that he had heard of the Mahabharata from Vyasadeva, his real father, while he was away from home and was touring the places of pilgrimage.
TEXT 13
TEXT
sa sraddadhanasya vivardhamana
viraktim anyatra karoti pumsah
hareh padanusmrti-nirvrtasya
samasta-duhkhapyayam asu dhatte
SYNONYMS
sa--those topics of Krsna, or krsna-katha; sraddadhanasya--of one who is anxious to hear; vivardhamana--gradually increasing; viraktim--indifference; anyatra--in other things (than such topics); karoti--does; pumsah--of one who is so engaged; hareh--of the Lord; pada-anusmrti--constant remembrance of the lotus feet of the Lord; nirvrtasya--one who has achieved such transcendental bliss; samasta-duhkha--all miseries; apyayam--vanquished; asu--without delay; dhatte--executes.
TRANSLATION
For one who is anxious to engage constantly in hearing such topics, krsna-katha gradually increases his indifference towards all other things. Such constant remembrance of the lotus feet of Lord Krsna by the devotee who has achieved transcendental bliss vanquishes all his miseries without delay.
PURPORT
We must certainly know that on the absolute plane krsna-katha and Krsna are one and the same. The Lord is the Absolute Truth, and therefore His name, form, quality, etc., which are all understood to be krsna-katha, are nondifferent from Him. Bhagavad-gita, being spoken by the Lord, is as good as the Lord Himself. When a sincere devotee reads Bhagavad-gita, this is as good as seeing the Lord face to face in his personal presence, but this is not so for the mundane wrangler. All the potencies of the Lord are there when one reads Bhagavad-gita, provided it is read in the way recommended in the Gita by the Lord Himself. One cannot foolishly manufacture an interpretation of Bhagavad-gita and still bring about transcendental benefit. Anyone who tries to squeeze some artificial meaning or interpretation from Bhagavad-gita for an ulterior motive is not sraddadhana-pumsah (one engaged anxiously in bona fide hearing of krsna-katha). Such a person cannot derive any benefit from reading Bhagavad-gita, however great a scholar he may be in the estimation of a layman. The sraddadhana, or faithful devotee, can actually derive all the benefits of Bhagavad-gita because by the omnipotency of the Lord he achieves the transcendental bliss which vanquishes attachment and nullifies all concomitant material miseries. Only the devotee, by his factual experience, can understand the import of this verse spoken by Vidura. The pure devotee of the Lord enjoys life by constantly remembering the lotus feet of the Lord by hearing krsna-katha. For such a devotee there is no such thing as material existence, and the much advertised bliss of brahmananda is like a fig for the devotee who is in the midst of the transcendental ocean of bliss.
TEXT 14
TEXT
tan chocya-socyan avido 'nusoce
hareh kathayam vimukhan aghena
ksinoti devo 'nimisas tu yesam
ayur vrtha-vada-gati-smrtinam
SYNONYMS
tan--all those; socya--pitiable; socyan--of the pitiable; avidah--ignorant; anusoce--I pity; hareh--of the Lord; kathayam--to the topics of; vimukhan--averse; aghena--because of sinful activities; ksinoti--decaying; devah--the Lord; animisah--eternal time; tu--but; yesam--of whom; ayuh--duration of life; vrtha--uselessly; vada--philosophical speculations; gati--ultimate goal; smrtinam--of those following different rituals.
TRANSLATION
O sage, persons who because of their sinful activities are averse to the topics of Transcendence and thus ignorant of the purpose of the Mahabharata [Bhagavad-gita] are pitied by the pitiable. I also pity them because I see how their duration of life is spoiled by eternal time while they involve themselves in presentations of philosophical speculation, theoretical ultimate goals of life, and different modes of ritual.
PURPORT
According to the modes of material nature, there are three kinds of relationships between human beings and the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Those who are in the modes of ignorance and passion are averse to the existence of God, or else they formally accept the existence of God in the capacity of an order supplier. Above them are those who are in the mode of goodness. This second class of men believe the Supreme Brahman to be impersonal. They accept the cult of bhakti, in which hearing of krsna-katha is the first item, as a means and not the end. Above them are those who are pure devotees. They are situated in the transcendental stage above the mode of material goodness. Such persons are decidedly convinced that the name, form, fame, qualities, etc., of the Personality of Godhead are nondifferent from one another on the absolute plane. For them, hearing of the topics of Krsna is equal to meeting with Him face to face. According to this class of men, who are situated in pure devotional service to the Lord, the highest goal of human life is purusartha, devotional service to the Lord, the real mission of life. The impersonalists, because they engage in mental speculation and have no faith in the Personality of Godhead, have no business hearing the topics of Krsna. Such persons are pitiable for the first-class pure devotees of the Lord. The pitiable impersonalists pity those who are influenced by the modes of ignorance and passion, but the pure devotees of the Lord take pity on them both because both waste their most valuable time in the human form of life in false pursuits, sense enjoyment and mental speculative presentations of different theories and goals of life.
TEXT 15
TEXT
tad asya kausarava sarma-datur
hareh katham eva kathasu saram
uddhrtya puspebhya ivarta-bandho
sivaya nah kirtaya tirtha-kirteh
SYNONYMS
tat--therefore; asya--His; kausarava--O Maitreya; sarma-datuh--of one who awards good fortune; hareh--of the Lord; katham--topics; eva--only; kathasu--of all topics; saram--the essence; uddhrtya--by quoting; puspebhyah--from the flowers; iva--like that; arta-bandho--O friend of the distressed; sivaya--for welfare; nah--of us; kirtaya--kindly describe; tirtha--pilgrimage; kirteh--of glorious.
TRANSLATION
O Maitreya, O friend of the distressed, the glories of the Supreme Lord can alone do good for people all over the world. Therefore, just as bees collect honey from flowers, kindly describe the essence of all topics--the topics of the Lord.
PURPORT
There are many topics for different persons in different modes of material nature, but the essential topics are those in relationship with the Supreme Lord. Unfortunately, materially affected conditioned souls are all more or less averse to topics of the Supreme Lord because some of them do not believe in the existence of Cod and some of them believe only in the impersonal feature of the Lord. In both cases there is nothing for them to say of God. Both the nonbelievers and the impersonalists deny the essence of all topics; therefore, they engage in topics of relativity in various ways, either in sense gratification or in mental speculation. For the pure devotees like Vidura, the topics of both the mundaners and the mental speculators are useless in all respects. Thus Vidura requested Maitreya to talk of the essence only, the talks of Krsna, and nothing else.
TEXT 16
TEXT
sa visva-janma-sthiti-samyamarthe
krtavatarah pragrhita-saktih
cakara karmany atipurusani
yanisvarah kirtaya tani mahyam
SYNONYMS
sah--the Personality of Godhead; visva--universe; janma--creation; sthiti--maintenance; samyama-arthe--with a view to perfect control; krta--accepted; avatarah--incarnation; pragrhita--accomplished with; saktih--potency; cakara--performed; karmani--transcendental activities; ati-purusani--superhuman; yani--all those; isvarah--the Lord; kirtaya--please chant; tani--all those; mahyam--unto me.
TRANSLATION
Kindly chant all those superhuman transcendental activities of the supreme controller, the Personality of Godhead, who accepted incarnations fully equipped with all potency for the full manifestation and maintenance of the cosmic creation.
PURPORT
Vidura was undoubtedly very eager to hear about Lord Krsna in particular, but he was overwhelmed because Lord Krsna had just passed away from the visible world. He therefore wanted to hear about Him in His purusa incarnations, which He manifests with full potencies for the creation and maintenance of the cosmic world. The activities of the purusa incarnations are but an extension of the activities of the Lord. This hint was given by Vidura to Maitreya because Maitreya could not decide which part of the activities of Lord Krsna should he chanted.
TEXT 17
TEXT
sri-suka uvaca
sa evam bhagavan prstah
ksattra kausaravo munih
pumsam nihsreyasarthena
tam aha bahu-manayan
SYNONYMS
sri-sukah uvaca--Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said; sah--he; evam--thus; bhagavan--the great sage; prstah--being requested; ksattra--by Vidura; kausaravah--Maitreya; munih--the great sage; pumsam--for all people; nihsreyasa--for the greatest welfare; arthena--for that; tam--unto him; aha--narrated; bahu--greatly; manayan--honoring.
TRANSLATION
Sukadeva Gosvami said: The great sage Maitreya Muni, after honoring Vidura very greatly, began to speak, at Vidura's request, for the greatest welfare of all people.
PURPORT
The great sage Maitreya Muni is described here as bhagavan because he surpassed all ordinary human beings in learning and experience. Thus his selection of the greatest welfare service for the world is considered authoritative. The all-inclusive welfare service for the entire human society is devotional service to the Lord, and, as requested by Vidura, the sage described the same very appropriately.
TEXT 18
TEXT
maitreya uvaca
sadhu prstam tvaya sadho
lokan sadhv anugrhnata
kirtim vitanvata loke
atmano 'dhoksajatmanah
SYNONYMS
maitreyah uvaca--Sri Maitreya said; sadhu--all good; prstam--I am asked; tvaya--by you; sadho--O good one; lokan--all the people; sadhu anugrhnata--showing mercy in goodness; kirtim--glories; vitanvata--broadcasting; loke--in the world; atmanah--of the self; adhoksaja--the Transcendence; atmanah--mind.
TRANSLATION
Sri Maitreya said: O Vidura, all glory unto you. You have inquired from me of the greatest of all goodness, and thus you have shown your mercy both to the world and to me because your mind is always absorbed in thoughts of the Transcendence.
PURPORT
Maitreya Muni, who was experienced in the science of Transcendence, could understand that Vidura's mind was fully absorbed in Transcendence. Adhoksaja means that which transcends the limits of sense perception or sensuous experience. The Lord is transcendental to our sense experience, but He reveals Himself to the sincere devotee. Because Vidura was always absorbed in thought of the Lord, Maitreya could estimate Vidura's transcendental value. He appreciated the valuable inquiries of Vidura and thus thanked him with great honor.
TEXT 19
TEXT
naitac citram tvayi ksattar
badarayana-viryaje
grhito 'nanya-bhavena
yat tvaya harir isvarah
SYNONYMS
na--never; etat--such inquiries; citram--very wonderful; tvayi--in you; ksattah--O Vidura; badarayana--of Vyasadeva; virya-je--born from the semen; grhitah--accepted; ananya-bhavena--without deviation from the thought; yat--because; tvaya--by you; harih--the Personality of Godhead; isvarah--the Lord.
TRANSLATION
O Vidura, it is not at all wonderful that you have so accepted the Lord without deviation of thought, for you were born from the semen of Vyasadeva.
PURPORT
The value of great parentage and noble birth is evaluated here in connection with the birth of Vidura. The culture of a human being begins when the father invests his semen in the womb of the mother. According to his status of work, a living entity is placed in a particular father's semen, and because Vidura was not an ordinary living entity, he was given the chance to be born from the semen of Vyasa. The birth of a human being is a great science, and therefore reformation of the act of impregnation according to the Vedic ritual called Garbhadhana-samskara is very important for generating good population. The problem is not to check the growth of the population, but to generate good population on the level of Vidura, Vyasa and Maitreya. There is no need to check the growth of population if the children are born as human beings with all precautions regarding their birth. So-called birth control is not only vicious but also useless.
TEXT 20
TEXT
mandavya-sapad bhagavan
praja-samyamano yamah
bhratuh ksetre bhujisyayam
jatah satyavati-sutat
SYNONYMS
mandavya--the great rsi Mandavya Muni; sapat--by his curse; bhagavan--the greatly powerful; praja--one who is born; samyamanah--controller of death; yamah--known as Yamaraja; bhratuh--of the brother; ksetre--in the wife; bhujisyayam--kept; jatah--born; satyavati--Satyavati (the mother of both Vicitravirya and Vyasadeva); sutat--by the son (Vyasadeva).
TRANSLATION
I know that you are now Vidura due to the cursing of Mandavya Muni and that formerly you were King Yamaraja, the great controller of living entities after their death. You were begotten by the son of Satyavati, Vyasadeva, in the kept wife of his brother.
PURPORT
Mandavya Muni was a great sage (cf. Bhag. 1.13.1), and Vidura was formerly the controller Yamaraja, who takes charge of the living entities after death. Birth, maintenance and death are three conditional states of the living entities who are within the material world. As the appointed controller after death, Yamaraja once tried Mandavya Muni for his childhood profligacy and ordered him to be pierced with a lance. Mandavya, being angry at Yamaraja for awarding him undue punishment, cursed him to become a sudra (member of the less intelligent laborer class). Thus Yamaraja took birth in the womb of the kept wife of Vicitravirya from the semen of Vicitravirya's brother, Vyasadeva. Vyasadeva is the son of Satyavati by the great King Santanu, the father of Bhismadeva. This mysterious history of Vidura was known to Maitreya Muni because he happened to be a contemporary friend of Vyasadeva's. In spite of Vidura's birth from the womb of a kept wife, because he had otherwise high parentage and great connection he inherited the highest talent of becoming a great devotee of the Lord. To take birth in such a great family is understood to be an advantage for attaining devotional life. Vidura was given this chance due to his previous greatness.
TEXT 21
TEXT
bhavan bhagavato nityam
sammatah sanugasya ha
yasya jnanopadesaya
madisad bhagavan vrajan
SYNONYMS
bhavan--your good self; bhagavatah--of the Personality of Godhead; nityam--eternal; sammatah--recognized; sa-anugasya--one of the associates; ha--have been; yasya--of whom; jnana--knowledge; upadesaya--for instructing; ma--unto me; adisat--so ordered; bhagavan--the Personality of Godhead; vrajan--while returning to His abode.
TRANSLATION
Your good self is one of the eternal associates of the Supreme Personality of Godhead for whose sake the Lord, while going back to His abode, left instructions with me.
PURPORT
Yamaraja, the great controller of life after death, decides the living entities' destinies in their next lives. He is surely among the most confidential representatives of the Lord. Such confidential posts are offered to great devotees of the Lord who are as good as His eternal associates in the spiritual sky. And because Vidura happened to be among them, the Lord, while returning to Vaikuntha, left instructions for Vidura with Maitreya Muni. Generally the eternal associates of the Lord in the spiritual sky do not come to the material world. Sometimes they come, however, by the order of the Lord--not to hold any administrative post, but to associate with the Lord in person or to propagate the message of God in human society. Such empowered representatives are called saktyavesa-avataras, or incarnations invested with transcendental power of attorney.
TEXT 22
TEXT
atha te bhagaval-lila
yoga-mayorubrmhitah
visva-sthity-udbhavantartha
varnayamy anupurvasah
SYNONYMS
atha--therefore; te--unto you; bhagavat--pertaining to the Personality of Godhead; lilah--pastimes; yoga-maya--energy of the Lord; uru--greatly; brmhitah--extended by; visva--of the cosmic world; sthiti--maintenance; udbhava--creation; anta--dissolution; arthah--purpose; varnayami--I shall describe; anupurvasah--systematically.
TRANSLATION
I shall therefore describe to you the pastimes by which the Personality of Godhead extends His transcendental potency for the creation, maintenance and dissolution of the cosmic world as they occur one after another.
PURPORT
The omnipotent Lord, by His different energies, can perform anything and everything He likes. The creation of the cosmic world is done by His yogamaya energy.
TEXT 23
TEXT
bhagavan eka asedam
agra atmatmanam vibhuh
atmecchanugatav atma
nana-maty-upalaksanah
SYNONYMS
bhagavan--the Personality of Godhead; ekah--one without a second; asa--was there; idam--this creation; agre--prior to the creation; atma--in His own form; atmanam--of the living entities; vibhuh--master; atma--Self; iccha--desire; anugatau--being merged in; atma--Self; nana-mati--different vision; upalaksanah--symptoms.
TRANSLATION
The Personality of Godhead, the master of all living entities, existed prior to the creation as one without a second. It is by His will only that creation is made possible and again everything merges in Him. This Supreme Self is symptomized by different names.
PURPORT
The great sage here begins to explain the purpose of the four original verses of the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Although they have no access to the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the followers of the Mayavada (impersonalist) school sometimes screw out an imaginary explanation of the original four verses, but we must accept the actual explanation given herein by Maitreya Muni because he, along with Uddhava, personally heard it directly from the Lord. The first line of the original four verses runs, aham evasam evagre. The word aham is misinterpreted by the Mayavada school into meanings which no one but the interpreter can understand. Here aham is explained as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, not the individual living entities. Before the creation, there was only the Personality of Godhead; there were no purusa incarnations and certainly no living entities, nor was there the material energy, by which the manifested creation is effected. The purusa incarnations and all the different energies of the Supreme Lord were merged in Him only.
The Personality of Godhead is described herein as the master of all other living entities. He is like the sun disc, and the living entities are like the molecules of the sun's rays. This existence of the Lord before the creation is confirmed by the srutis: vasudevo va idam agra asit na brahma na ca sankarah, eko vai narayana asin na brahma nesanah. Because everything that be is an emanation from the Personality of Godhead, He always exists alone without a second. He can so exist because He is all-perfect and omnipotent. Everything other than Him, including His plenary expansions, the visnu-tattvas, is His part and parcel. Before the creation there were no Karanarnavasayi or Garbhodakasayi or Ksirodakasayi Visnus, or was there Brahma nor Sankara. The Visnu plenary expansion and the living entities beginning from Brahma are separated parts and parcels. Although the spiritual existence was there with the Lord, the material existence was dormant in Him. By His will only is the material manifestation done and undone. The diversity of the Vaikunthaloka is one with the Lord, just as the diversity of soldiers is one with and the same as the king. As explained in Bhagavad-gita (9.7), the material creation takes place at intervals by the will of the Lord, and in the periods between dissolution and creation, the living entities and the material energy remain dormant in Him.
TEXT 24
TEXT
sa va esa tada drasta
napasyad drsyam ekarat
mene 'santam ivatmanam
supta-saktir asupta-drk
SYNONYMS
sah--the Personality of Godhead; va--either; esah--all these; tada--at that time; drasta--the seer; na--did not; apasyat--see; drsyam--the cosmic creation; eka-rat--undisputed proprietor; mene--thought like this; asantam--nonexistent; iva--like that; atmanam--plenary manifestations; supta--unmanifested; saktih--material energy; asupta--manifested; drk--internal potency.
TRANSLATION
The Lord, the undisputed proprietor of everything, was the only seer. The cosmic manifestation was not present at that time, and thus He felt imperfect without His plenary and separated parts and parcels. The material energy was dormant, whereas the internal potency was manifested.
PURPORT
The Lord is the supreme seer because only by His glance did the material energy become active for cosmic manifestation. At that time the seer was there, but the external energy, over which the glance of the Lord is cast, was not present. He felt somewhat insufficient, like a husband feeling lonely in the absence of his wife. This is a poetic simile. The Lord wanted to create the cosmic manifestation to give another chance to the conditioned souls who were dormant in forgetfulness. The cosmic manifestation gives the conditioned souls a chance to go back home, back to Godhead, and that is its main purpose. The Lord is so kind that in the absence of such a manifestation He feels something wanting, and thus the creation takes place. Although the creation of the internal potency was manifested, the other potency appeared to be sleeping, and the Lord wanted to awaken her to activity, just as a husband wants to awaken his wife from the sleeping state for enjoyment. It is the compassion of the Lord for the sleeping energy that He wants to see her awaken for enjoyment like the other wives who are awake. The whole process is to enliven the sleeping conditioned souls to the real life of spiritual consciousness so that they may thus become as perfect as the ever-liberated souls in the Vaikunthalokas. Since the Lord is sac-cid-ananda-vigraha, He likes every part and parcel of His different potencies to take part in the blissful rasa because participation with the Lord in His eternal rasa-lila is the highest living condition, perfect in spiritual bliss and eternal knowledge.
TEXT 25
TEXT
sa va etasya samdrastuh
saktih sad-asad-atmika
maya nama maha-bhaga
yayedam nirmame vibhuh
SYNONYMS
sa--that external energy; va--is either; etasya--of the Lord; samdrastuh--of the perfect seer; saktih--energy; sat-asat-atmika--as both the cause and the effect; maya nama--called by the name maya; maha-bhaga--O fortunate one; yaya--by which; idam--this material world; nirmame--constructed; vibhuh--the Almighty.
TRANSLATION
The Lord is the seer, and the external energy, which is seen, works as both cause and effect in the cosmic manifestation. O greatly fortunate Vidura, this external energy is known as maya or illusion, and through her agency only is the entire material manifestation made possible.
PURPORT
The material nature, known as maya, is both the material and efficient cause of the cosmos, but in the background the Lord is the consciousness for all activities. As in the individual body the consciousness is the source of all energies of the body, so the supreme consciousness of the Lord is the source of all energies in material nature. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (9.10) as follows:
mayadhyaksena prakrtih
suyate sa-caracaram
hetunanena kaunteya
jagad viparivartate
"Throughout all the energies of material nature there is the hand of the Supreme Lord as the final superintendent. Due to this supreme cause only, the activities of material nature appear planned and systematic, and all thing regularly evolve."
TEXT 26
TEXT
kala-vrttya tu mayayam
guna-mayyam adhoksajah
purusenatma-bhutena
viryam adhatta viryavan
SYNONYMS
kala--the eternal time; vrttya--by the influence of; tu--but; mayayam--in the external energy; guna-mayyam--in the qualitative modes of nature; adhoksajah--the Transcendence; purusena--by the purusa incarnation; atma-bhutena--who is the plenary expansion of the Lord; viryam--the seeds of the living entities; adhatta--impregnated; viryavan--the Supreme Living Being.
TRANSLATION
The Supreme Living Being in His feature as the transcendental purusa incarnation, who is the Lord's plenary expansion, impregnates the material nature of three modes, and thus by the influence of eternal time the living entities appear.
PURPORT
The offspring of any living being is born after the father impregnates the mother with semen, and the living entity floating in the semen of the father takes the shape of the mother's form. Similarly, mother material nature cannot produce any living entity from her material elements unless and until she is impregnated with living entities by the Lord Himself. That is the mystery of the generation of the living entities. This impregnating process is performed by the first purusa incarnation, Karanarnavasayi Visnu. Simply by His glance over material nature, the whole matter is accomplished.
We should not understand the process of impregnation by the Personality of Godhead in terms of our conception of sex. The omnipotent Lord can impregnate just by His eyes, and therefore He is called all-potent. Each and every part of His transcendental body can perform each and every function of the other parts. This is confirmed in the Brahma-samhita (5.32): angani yasya sakalendriya-vrttimanti. In Bhagavad-gita (14.3) also, the same principle is confirmed: mama yonir mahad-brahma tasmin garbham dadhamy aham. When the cosmic creation is manifested, the living entities are directly supplied from the Lord; they are never products of material nature. Thus, no scientific advancement of material science can ever produce a living being. That is the whole mystery of the material creation. The living entities are foreign to matter, and thus they cannot be happy unless they are situated in the same spiritual life as the Lord. The mistaken living being, out of forgetfulness of this original condition of life, unnecessarily wastes time trying to become happy in the material world. The whole Vedic process is to remind one of this essential feature of life. The Lord offers the conditioned soul a material body for his so-called enjoyment, but if one does not come to his senses and enter into spiritual consciousness, the Lord again puts him in the unmanifested condition as it existed in the beginning of the creation. The Lord is described here as viryavan, or the greatest potent being, because He impregnates material nature with innumerable living entities who are conditioned from time immemorial.
TEXT 27
TEXT
tato 'bhavan mahat-tattvam
avyaktat kala-coditat
vijnanatmatma-deha-stham
visvam vyanjams tamo-nudah
SYNONYMS
tatah--thereafter; abhavat--came into existence; mahat--supreme; tattvam--sum total; avyaktat--from the unmanifested; kala-coditat--by the interaction of time; vijnana-atma--unalloyed goodness; atma-deha-stham--situated on the bodily self; visvam--complete universes; vyanjan--manifesting; tamah-nudah--the supreme light.
TRANSLATION
Thereafter, influenced by the interactions of eternal time, the supreme sum total of matter called the mahat-tattva became manifested, and in this mahat-tattva the unalloyed goodness, the Supreme Lord, sowed the seeds of universal manifestation out of His own body.
PURPORT
In due course of time, the impregnated material energy was manifested first as the total material ingredients. Everything takes its own time to fructify, and therefore the word kala-coditat, "influenced by time," is used herein. The mahat-tattva is the total consciousness because a portion of it is represented in everyone as the intellect. The mahat-tattva is directly connected with the supreme consciousness of the Supreme Being, but still it appears as matter. The mahat-tattva, or shadow of pure consciousness, is the germinating place of all creation. It is pure goodness with the slight addition of the material mode of passion, and therefore activity is generated from this point.
TEXT 28
TEXT
so 'py amsa-guna-kalatma
bhagavad-drsti-gocarah
atmanam vyakarod atma
visvasyasya sisrksaya
SYNONYMS
sah--mahat-tattva; api--also; amsa--purusa plenary expansion; guna--chiefly the quality of ignorance; kala--the duration of time; atma--full consciousness; bhagavat--the Personality of Godhead; drsti-gocarah--range of sight; atmanam--many different forms; vyakarot--differentiated; atma--reservoir; visvasya--the would-be entities; asya--of this; sisrksaya--generates the false ego.
TRANSLATION
Thereafter the mahat-tattva differentiated itself into many different forms as the reservoir of the would-be entities. The mahat-tattva is chiefly in the mode of ignorance, and it generates the false ego. It is a plenary expansion of the Personality of Godhead, with full consciousness of creative principles and time for fructification.
PURPORT
The mahat-tattva is the via medium between pure spirit and material existence. It is the junction of matter and spirit wherefrom the false ego of the living entity is generated. All living entities are differentiated parts and parcels of the Personality of Godhead. Under the pressure of false ego, the conditioned souls, although parts and parcels of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, claim to be the enjoyers of material nature. This false ego is the binding force of material existence. The Lord again and again gives a chance to the bewildered conditioned souls to get free from this false ego, and that is why the material creation takes place at intervals. He gives the conditioned souls all facilities for rectifying the activities of the false ego, but He does not interfere with their small independence as parts and parcels of the Lord.
TEXT 29
TEXT
mahat-tattvad vikurvanad
aham-tattvam vyajayata
karya-karana-kartratma
bhutendriya-mano-mayah
vaikarikas taijasas ca
tamasas cety aham tridha
SYNONYMS
mahat--the great; tattvat--from the causal truth; vikurvanat--being transformed; aham--false ego; tattvam--material truth; vyajayata--became manifested; karya--effects; karana--cause; kartr--doer; atma--soul or source; bhuta--material ingredients; indriya--senses; manah-mayah--hovering on the mental plane; vaikarikah--the mode of goodness; taijasah--the mode of passion; ca--and; tamasah--the mode of ignorance; ca--and; iti--thus; aham--false ego; tridha--three kinds.
TRANSLATION
Mahat-tattva, or the great causal truth, transforms into false ego, which is manifested in three phases--cause, effect and the doer. All such activities are on the mental plane and are based on the material elements, gross senses and mental speculation. The false ego is represented in three different modes--goodness, passion and ignorance.
PURPORT
A pure living entity in his original spiritual existence is fully conscious of his constitutional position as an eternal servitor of the Lord. All souls who are situated in such pure consciousness are liberated, and therefore they eternally live in bliss and knowledge in the various Vaikuntha planets in the spiritual sky. When the material creation is manifested, it is not meant for them. The eternally liberated souls are called nitya-muktas, and they have nothing to do with the material creation. The material creation is meant for rebellious souls who are not prepared to accept subordination under the Supreme Lord. This spirit of false lordship is called false ego. It is manifested in three modes of material nature, and it exists in mental speculation only. Those who are in the mode of goodness think that each and every person is God, and thus they laugh at the pure devotees, who try to engage in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Those who are puffed up by the mode of passion try to lord it over material nature in various ways. Some of them engage in altruistic activities as if they were agents appointed to do good to others by their mental speculative plans. Such men accept the standard ways of mundane altruism, but their plans are made on the basis of false ego. This false ego extends to the limit of becoming one with the Lord. The last class of egoistic conditioned souls--those in the mode of ignorance--are misguided by identification of the gross body with the self. Thus, all their activities are centered around the body only. All these persons are given the chance to play with false egoistic ideas, but at the same time the Lord is kind enough to give them a chance to take help from scriptures like Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam so that they may understand the science of Krsna and thus make their lives successful. The entire material creation, therefore, is meant for the falsely egoistic living entities hovering on the mental plane under different illusions in the modes of material nature.
TEXT 30
TEXT
aham-tattvad vikurvanan
mano vaikarikad abhut
vaikarikas ca ye deva
arthabhivyanjanam yatah
SYNONYMS
aham-tattvat--from the principle of false ego; vikurvanat--by transformation; manah--the mind; vaikarikat--by interaction with the mode of goodness; abhut--generated; vaikarikah--by interaction with goodness; ca--also; ye--all these; devah--demigods; artha--the phenomenon; abhivyanjanam--physical knowledge; yatah--the source.
TRANSLATION
The false ego is transformed into mind by interaction with the mode of goodness. All the demigods who control the phenomenal world are also products of the same principle, namely the interaction of false ego and the mode of goodness.
PURPORT
False ego interacting with the different modes of material nature is the source of all materials in the phenomenal world.
TEXT 31
TEXT
taijasanindriyany eva
jnana-karma-mayani ca
SYNONYMS
taijasani--the mode of passion; indriyani--the senses; eva--certainly; jnana--knowledge, philosophical speculations; karma--fruitive activities; mayani--predominating; ca--also.
TRANSLATION
The senses are certainly products of the mode of passion in false ego, and therefore philosophical speculative knowledge and fruitive activities are predominantly products of the mode of passion.
PURPORT
The chief function of the false ego is godlessness. When a person forgets his constitutional position as an eternally subordinate part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and wants to be happy independently, he functions mainly in two ways. He first attempts to act fruitively for personal gain or sense gratification, and after attempting such fruitive activities for a considerable time, when he is frustrated he becomes a philosophical speculator and thinks himself to be on the same level as God. This false idea of becoming one with the Lord is the last snare of the illusory energy, which traps a living entity into the bondage of forgetfulness under the spell of false ego.
The best means of liberation from the clutches of false ego is to give up the habit of philosophical speculation regarding the Absolute Truth. One should know definitely that the Absolute Truth is never realized by the philosophical speculations of the imperfect egoistic person. The Absolute Truth, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is realized by hearing about Him in all submission and love from a bona fide authority who is a representative of the twelve great authorities mentioned in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. By such an attempt only can one conquer the illusory energy of the Lord, although for others she is unsurpassable, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (7.14).
TEXT 32
TEXT
tamaso bhuta-suksmadir
yatah kham lingam atmanah
SYNONYMS
tamasah--from the mode of passion; bhuta-suksma-adih--subtle sense objects; yatah--from which; kham--the sky; lingam--symbolic representation; atmanah--of the Supreme Soul.
TRANSLATION
The sky is a product of sound, and sound is the transformation of egoistic passion. In other words, the sky is the symbolic representation of the Supreme Soul.
PURPORT
In the Vedic hymns it is said, etasmad atmanah akasah sambhutah. The sky is the symbolic representation of the Supreme Soul. Those who are egoistic in passion and ignorance cannot conceive of the Personality of Godhead. For them the sky is the symbolic representation of the Supreme Soul.
TEXT 33
TEXT
kala-mayamsa-yogena
bhagavad-viksitam nabhah
nabhaso 'nusrtam sparsam
vikurvan nirmame 'nilam
SYNONYMS
kala--time; maya--external energy; amsa-yogena--partly mixed; bhagavat--the Personality of Godhead; viksitam--glanced over; nabhah--the sky; nabhasah--from the sky; anusrtam--being so contacted; sparsam--touch; vikurvat--being transformed; nirmame--was created; anilam--the air.
TRANSLATION
Thereafter the Personality of Godhead glanced over the sky, partly mixed with eternal time and external energy, and thus developed the touch sensation, from which the air in the sky was produced.
PURPORT
All material creations take place from subtle to gross. The entire universe has developed in that manner. From the sky developed the touch sensation, which is a mixture of eternal time, the external energy and the glance of the Personality of Godhead. The touch sensation developed into the air in the sky. Similarly, all other gross matter also developed from subtle to gross: sound developed into sky, touch developed into air, form developed into fire, taste developed into water, and smell developed into earth.
TEXT 34
TEXT
anilo 'pi vikurvano
nabhasoru-balanvitah
sasarja rupa-tanmatram
jyotir lokasya locanam
SYNONYMS
anilah--air; api--also; vikurvanah--being transformed; nabhasa--sky; uru-bala-anvitah--extremely powerful; sasarja--created; rupa--form; tat-matram--sense perception; jyotih--electricity; lokasya--of the world; locanam--light to see.
TRANSLATION
Thereafter the extremely powerful air, interacting with the sky, generated the form of sense perception, and the perception of form transformed into electricity, the light to see the world.
TEXT 35
TEXT
anilenanvitam jyotir
vikurvat paraviksitam
adhattambho rasa-mayam
kala-mayamsa-yogatah
SYNONYMS
anilena--by the air; anvitam--interacted; jyotih--electricity; vikurvat--being transformed; paraviksitam--being glanced over by the Supreme; adhatta--created; ambhah rasa-mayam--water with taste; kala--of eternal time; maya-amsa--and external energy; yogatah--by a mixture.
TRANSLATION
When electricity was surcharged in the air and was glanced over by the Supreme, at that time, by a mixture of eternal time and external energy, there occurred the creation of water and taste.
TEXT 36
TEXT
jyotisambho 'nusamsrstam
vikurvad brahma-viksitam
mahim gandha-gunam adhat
kala-mayamsa-yogatah
SYNONYMS
jyotisa--electricity; ambhah--water; anusamsrstam--thus created; vikurvat--due to transformation; brahma--the Supreme; viksitam--so glanced over; mahim--the earth; gandha--smell; gunam--qualification; adhat--was created; kala--eternal time; maya--external energy; amsa--partially; yogatah--by intermixture.
TRANSLATION
Thereafter the water produced from electricity was glanced over by the Supreme Personality of Godhead and mixed with eternal time and external energy. Thus it was transformed into the earth, which is qualified primarily by smell.
PURPORT
From the descriptions of the physical elements in the above verses it is clear that in all stages the glance of the Supreme is needed with the other additions and alterations. In every transformation, the last finishing touch is the glance of the Lord, who acts as a painter does when he mixes different colors to transform them into a particular color. When one element mixes with another, the number of its qualities increases. For example, the sky is the cause of air. The sky has only one quality, namely sound, but by the interaction of the sky with the glance of the Lord, mixed with eternal time and external nature, the air is produced, which has two qualities--sound and touch. Similarly after the air is created, interaction of sky and air, touched by time and the external energy of the Lord, produces electricity. And after the interaction of electricity with air and sky, mixed with time, external energy and the Lord's glance over them, the water is produced. In the final stage of sky there is one quality, namely sound; in the air two qualities, sound and touch; in the electricity three qualities, namely sound, touch and form; in the water four qualities, sound, touch, form and taste; and in the last stage of physical development the result is earth, which has all five qualities--sound, touch, form, taste and smell. Although they are different mixtures of different materials, such mixtures do not take place automatically, just as a mixture of colors does not take place automatically without the touch of the living painter. The automatic system is factually activated by the glancing touch of the Lord. Living consciousness is the final word in all physical changes. This fact is mentioned in Bhagavad-gita (9.10) as follows:
mayadhyaksena prakrtih
suyate sa-caracaram
hetunanena kaunteya
jagad viparivartate
The conclusion is that the physical elements may work very wonderfully to the laymen's eyes, but their workings actually take place under the supervision of the Lord. Those who can mark only the changes of the physical elements and cannot perceive the hidden hands of the Lord behind them are certainly less intelligent persons, although they may be advertised as great material scientists.
TEXT 37
TEXT
bhutanam nabha-adinam
yad yad bhavyavaravaram
tesam paranusamsargad
yatha sankhyam gunan viduh
SYNONYMS
bhutanam--of all the physical elements; nabhah--the sky; adinam--beginning from; yat--as; yat--and as; bhavya--O gentle one; avara--inferior; varam--superior; tesam--all of them; para--the Supreme; anusamsargat--last touch; yatha--as many; sankhyam--number; gunan--qualities; viduh--you may understand.
TRANSLATION
O gentle one, of all the physical elements, beginning from the sky down to the earth, all the inferior and superior qualities are due only to the final touch of the glance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
TEXT 38
TEXT
ete devah kala visnoh
kala-mayamsa-linginah
nanatvat sva-kriyanisah
procuh pranjalayo vibhum
SYNONYMS
ete--of all these physical elements; devah--the controlling demigods; kalah--parts and parcels; visnoh--of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; kala--time; maya--external energy; amsa--part and parcel; linginah--so embodied; nanatvat--because of various; sva-kriya--personal duties; anisah--not being able to perform; procuh--uttered; pranjalayah--fascinating; vibhum--unto the Lord.
TRANSLATION
The controlling deities of all the above-mentioned physical elements are empowered expansions of Lord Visnu. They are embodied by eternal time under the external energy, and they are His parts and parcels. Because they were entrusted with different functions of universal duties and were unable to perform them, they offered fascinating prayers to the Lord as follows.
PURPORT
The conception of various controlling demigods who inhabit the higher planetary systems for the management of universal affairs is not imaginary, as proposed by persons with a poor fund of knowledge. The demigods are expanded parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord Visnu, and they are embodied by time, external energy and partial consciousness of the Supreme. Human beings, animals, birds, etc., are also parts and parcels of the Lord and have different material bodies, but they are not the controlling deities of material affairs. They are, rather, controlled by such demigods. Such control is not superfluous; it is as necessary as the controlling departments in the affairs of a modern state. The demigods should not be despised by the controlled living beings. They are all great devotees of the Lord entrusted to execute certain functions of universal affairs. One may be angry with Yamaraja for his thankless task of punishing sinful souls, but Yamaraja is one of the authorized devotees of the Lord, and so are all the other demigods. A devotee of the Lord is never controlled by such deputed demigods, who function as assistants of the Lord, but he shows them all respects on account of the responsible positions to which they have been appointed by the Lord. At the same time, a devotee of the Lord does not foolishly mistake them to be the Supreme Lord. Only foolish persons accept the demigods as being on the same level as Visnu; actually they are all appointed as servants of Visnu.
Anyone who places the Lord and the demigods on the same level is called a pasandi, or atheist. The demigods are worshiped by persons who are more or less adherents of the processes of jnana, yoga and karma, i.e., the impersonalists, meditators and fruitive workers. The devotees, however, worship only the Supreme Lord Visnu. This worship is not for any material benefit, as desired by all the materialists, even up to the salvationists, mystics and fruitive workers. Devotees worship the Supreme Lord to attain unalloyed devotion to the Lord. The Lord, however, is not worshiped by others, who have no program for attaining love of God, which is the essential aim of human life. Persons averse to a loving relationship with God are more or less condemned by their own actions.
The Lord is equal to every living entity, just like the flowing Ganges. The Ganges water is meant for the purification of everyone, yet the trees on the banks of the Ganges have different values. A mango tree on the bank of the Ganges drinks the water, and the nimba tree also drinks the same water. But the fruits of both trees are different. One is celestially sweet, and the other is hellishly bitter. The condemned bitterness of the nimba is due to its own past work, just as the sweetness of the mango is also due to its own karma. The Lord says in Bhagavad-gita (16.19):
tan aham dvisatah kruran
samsaresu naradhaman
ksipamy ajasram asubhan
asurisv eva yonisu
"The envious, the mischievous, the lowest of mankind, these do I ever put back into the ocean of material existence, into various demoniac species of life." Demigods like Yamaraja and other controllers are there for the unwanted conditioned souls who always engage in threatening the tranquillity of the kingdom of God. Since all the demigods are confidential devotee-servitors of the Lord, they are never to be condemned.
TEXT 39
TEXT
deva ucuh
namama te deva padaravindam
prapanna-tapopasamatapatram
yan-mula-keta yatayo 'njasoru-
samsara-duhkham bahir utksipanti
SYNONYMS
devah ucuh--the demigods said; namama--we offer our respectful obeisances; te--Your; deva--O Lord; pada-aravindam--lotus feet; prapanna--surrendered; tapa--distress; upasama--suppresses; atapatram--umbrella; yat-mula-ketah--shelter of the lotus feet; yatayah--great sages; anjasa--totally; uru--great; samsara-duhkham--miseries of material existence; bahih--out; utksipanti--forcibly throw.
TRANSLATION
The demigods said: O Lord, Your lotus feet are like an umbrella for the surrendered souls, protecting them from all the miseries of material existence. All the sages under that shelter throw off all material miseries. We therefore offer our respectful obeisances unto Your lotus feet.
PURPORT
There are many sages and saints who engage in trying to conquer rebirth and all other material miseries. But of all of them, those who take shelter under the lotus feet of the Lord can completely throw off all such miseries without difficulty. Others, who are engaged in transcendental activities in different ways, cannot do so. For them it is very difficult. They may artificially think of becoming liberated without accepting the shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord, but that is not possible. One is sure to fall again to material existence from such false liberation, even though one may have undergone severe penances and austerities. This is the opinion of the demigods, who are not only well versed in Vedic knowledge but are also seers of the past, present and future. The opinions of the demigods are valuable because the demigods are authorized to hold positions in the affairs of universal management. They are appointed by the Lord as His confidential servants.
TEXT 40
TEXT
dhatar yad asmin bhava isa jivas
tapa-trayenabhihata na sarma
atman labhante bhagavams tavanghri-
cchayam sa-vidyam ata asrayema
SYNONYMS
dhatah--O father; yat--because; asmin--in this; bhave--material world; isa--O Lord; jivah--the living entities; tapa--miseries; trayena--by the three; abhihatah--always embarrassed; na--never; sarma--in happiness; atman--self; labhante--do gain; bhagavan--O Personality of Godhead; tava--Your; anghri-chayam--shade of Your feet; sa-vidyam--full of knowledge; atah--obtain; asrayema--shelter.
TRANSLATION
O Father, O Lord, O Personality of Godhead, the living entities in the material world can never have any happiness because they are overwhelmed by the three kinds of miseries. Therefore they take shelter of the shade of Your lotus feet, which are full of knowledge, and we also thus take shelter of them.
PURPORT
The way of devotional service is neither sentimental nor mundane. It is the path of reality by which the living entity can attain the transcendental happiness of being freed from the three kinds of material miseries--miseries arising from the body and mind, from other living entities and from natural disturbances. Everyone who is conditioned by material existence--whether he be a man or beast or demigod or bird--must suffer from adhyatmika (bodily or mental) pains, adhibhautika pains (those offered by living creatures), and adhidaivika pains (those due to supernatural disturbances). His happiness is nothing but a hard struggle to get free from the miseries of conditional life. But there is only one way he can be rescued, and that is by accepting the shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The argument that unless one has proper knowledge one cannot be freed from material miseries is undoubtedly true. But because the lotus feet of the Lord are full of transcendental knowledge, acceptance of His lotus feet completes that necessity. We have already discussed this point in the First Canto (1.2.7):
vasudeve bhagavati
bhakti-yogah prayojitah
janayaty asu vairagyam
jnanam ca yad ahaitukam
There is no want of knowledge in the devotional service of Vasudeva, the Personality of Godhead. He, the Lord, personally takes charge of dissipating the darkness of ignorance from the heart of a devotee. He confirms this in Bhagavad-gita (10.10):
tesam satata-yuktanam
bhajatam priti-purvakam
dadami buddhi-yogam tam
yena mam upayanti te
Empiric philosophical speculation cannot give one relief from the threefold miseries of material existence. Simply to endeavor for knowledge without devoting oneself to the Lord is a waste of valuable time.
TEXT 41
TEXT
marganti yat te mukha-padma-nidais
chandah-suparnair rsayo vivikte
yasyagha-marsoda-sarid-varayah
padam padam tirtha-padah prapannah
SYNONYMS
marganti--searching after; yat--as; te--Your; mukha-padma--lotuslike face; nidaih--by those who have taken shelter of such a lotus flower; chandah--Vedic hymns; suparnaih--by the wings; rsayah--the sages; vivikte--in clear mind; yasya--whose; agha-marsa-uda--that which offers freedom from all reactions to sin; sarit--rivers; varayah--in the best; padam padam--in every step; tirtha-padah--one whose lotus feet are as good as a place of pilgrimage; prapannah--taking shelter.
TRANSLATION
The lotus feet of the Lord are by themselves the shelter of all places of pilgrimage. The great clear-minded sages, carried by the wings of the Vedas, always search after the nest of Your lotuslike face. Some of them surrender to Your lotus feet at every step by taking shelter of the best of rivers [the Ganges], which can deliver one from all sinful reactions.
PURPORT
The paramahamsas are compared to royal swans who make their nests on the petals of the lotus flower. The Lord's transcendental bodily parts are always compared to the lotus flower because in the material world the lotus flower is the last word in beauty. The most beautiful thing in the world is the Vedas, or Bhagavad-gita, because therein knowledge is imparted by the Personality of Godhead Himself. The paramahamsa makes his nest in the lotuslike face of the Lord and always seeks shelter at His lotus feet, which are reached by the wings of Vedic wisdom. Since the Lord is the original source of all emanations, intelligent persons, enlightened by Vedic knowledge, seek the shelter of the Lord, just as birds who leave the nest again search out the nest to take complete rest. All Vedic knowledge is meant for understanding the Supreme Lord, as stated by the Lord in Bhagavad-gita (15.15): vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyah. Intelligent persons, who are like swans, take shelter of the Lord by all means and do not hover on the mental plane by fruitlessly speculating on different philosophies.
The Lord is so kind that He has spread the River Ganges throughout the universe so that by taking bath in that holy river everyone can get release from the reactions of sins, which occur at every step. There are many rivers in the world which are able to evoke one's sense of God consciousness simply by one's bathing in them, and the River Ganges is chief amongst them. In India there are five sacred rivers, but the Ganges is the most sacred. The River Ganges and Bhagavad-gita are chief sources of transcendental happiness for mankind, and intelligent persons can take shelter of them to go back home, back to Godhead. Even Sripada Sankaracarya recommends that a little knowledge in Bhagavad-gita and the drinking of a little quantity of Ganges water can save one from the punishment of Yamaraja.
TEXT 42
TEXT
yac chraddhaya srutavatya ca bhaktya
sammrjyamane hrdaye 'vadhaya
jnanena vairagya-balena dhira
vrajema tat te 'nghri-saroja-pitham
SYNONYMS
yat--that which; sraddhaya--by eagerness; srutavatya--simply by hearing; ca--also; bhaktya--in devotion; sammrjyamane--being cleansed; hrdaye--in the heart; avadhaya--meditation; jnanena--by knowledge; vairagya--detachment; balena--by the strength of; dhirah--the pacified; vrajema--must go to; tat--that; te--Your; anghri--feet; saroja-pitham--lotus sanctuary.
TRANSLATION
Simply by hearing about Your lotus feet with eagerness and devotion and by meditating upon them within the heart, one at once becomes enlightened with knowledge, and on the strength of detachment one becomes pacified. We must therefore take shelter of the sanctuary of Your lotus feet.
PURPORT
The miracles of meditating on the lotus feet of the Lord with eagerness and devotion are so great that no other process can compare to it. The minds of materialistic persons are so disturbed that it is almost impossible for them to search after the Supreme Truth by personal regulative endeavors. But even such materialistic men, with a little eagerness for hearing about the transcendental name, fame, qualities, etc., can surpass all other methods of attaining knowledge and detachment. The conditioned soul is attached to the bodily conception of the self, and therefore he is in ignorance. Culture of self-knowledge can bring about detachment from material affection, and without such detachment there is no meaning to knowledge. The most stubborn attachment for material enjoyment is sex life. One who is attached to sex life is to be understood as devoid of knowledge. Knowledge must be followed by detachment. That is the way of self-realization. These two essentials for self-realization--knowledge and detachment--become manifest very quickly if one performs devotional service to the lotus feet of the Lord. The word dhira is very significant in this connection. A person who is not disturbed even in the presence of cause of disturbance is called dhira. Sri Yamunacarya says, "Since my heart has been overwhelmed by the devotional service of Lord Krsna, I cannot even think of sex life, and if thoughts of sex come upon me I at once feel disgust." A devotee of the Lord becomes an elevated dhira by the simple process of meditating in eagerness on the lotus feet of the Lord.
Devotional service entails being initiated by a bona fide spiritual master and following his instruction in regard to hearing about the Lord. Such a bona fide spiritual master is accepted by regularly hearing from him about the Lord. The improvement in knowledge and detachment can be perceived by devotees as an actual experience. Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu strongly recommended this process of hearing from a bona fide devotee, and by following this process one can achieve the highest result, conquering all other methods.
TEXT 43
TEXT
visvasya janma-sthiti-samyamarthe
krtavatarasya padambujam te
vrajema sarve saranam yad isa
smrtam prayacchaty abhayam sva-pumsam
SYNONYMS
visvasya--of the cosmic universe; janma--creation; sthiti--maintenance; samyama-arthe--for the dissolution also; krta--accepted or assumed; avatarasya--of the incarnations; pada-ambujam--lotus feet; te--Your; vrajema--let us take shelter of; sarve--all of us; saranam--shelter; yat--that which; isa--O Lord; smrtam--remembrance; prayacchati--awarding; abhayam--courage; sva-pumsam--of the devotees.
TRANSLATION
O Lord, You assume incarnations for the creation, maintenance and dissolution of the cosmic manifestation, and therefore we all take shelter of Your lotus feet because they always award remembrance and courage to Your devotees.
PURPORT
For the creation, maintenance and dissolution of the cosmic manifestations there are three incarnations: Brahma, Visnu and Mahesvara (Lord Siva). They are the controllers or masters of the three modes of material nature, which cause the phenomenal manifestation. Visnu is the master of the mode of goodness, Brahma is the master of the mode of passion, and Mahesvara is the master of the mode of ignorance. There are different kinds of devotees according to the modes of nature. Persons in the mode of goodness worship Lord Visnu, those in the mode of passion worship Lord Brahma, and those in the mode of ignorance worship Lord Siva. All three of these deities are incarnations of the Supreme Lord Krsna because He is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead. The demigods directly refer to the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord and not to the different incarnations. The incarnation of Visnu in the material world is, however, directly worshiped by the demigods. It is learned from various scriptures that the demigods approach Lord Visnu in the ocean of milk and submit their grievances whenever there is some difficulty in the administration of universal affairs. Although they are incarnations of the Lord, Lord Brahma and Lord Siva worship Lord Visnu, and thus they are also counted amongst the demigods and not as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Persons who worship Lord Visnu are called demigods, and persons who do not do so are called asuras, or demons. Visnu always takes the part of the demigods, but Brahma and Siva sometimes take the side of the demons; it is not that they become one in interest with them, but sometimes they do something in order to gain control over the demons.
TEXT 44
TEXT
yat sanubandhe 'sati deha-gehe
mamaham ity udha-duragrahanam
pumsam suduram vasato 'pi puryam
bhajema tat te bhagavan padabjam
SYNONYMS
yat--because; sa-anubandhe--due to becoming entangled; asati--thus being; deha--the gross material body; gehe--in the home; mama--mine; aham--I; iti--thus; udha--great, deep; duragrahanam--undesirable eagerness; pumsam--of persons; su-duram--far away; vasatah--dwelling; api--although; puryam--within the body; bhajema--let us worship; tat--therefore; te--Your; bhagavan--O Lord; pada-abjam--lotus feet.
TRANSLATION
O Lord, persons who are entangled by undesirable eagerness for the temporary body and kinsmen, and who are bound by thoughts of "mine" and "I," are unable to see Your lotus feet, although Your lotus feet are situated within their own bodies. But let us take shelter of Your lotus feet.
PURPORT
The whole Vedic philosophy of life is that one should get rid of the material encagement of gross and subtle bodies, which only cause one to continue in a condemned life of miseries. This material body continues as long as one is not detached from the false conception of lording it over material nature. The impetus for lording it over material nature is the sense of "mine" and "I." "I am the lord of all that I survey. So many things I possess, and I shall possess more and more. Who can be richer than I in wealth and education? I am the master, and I am God. Who else is there but me?" All these ideas reflect the philosophy of aham mama, the conception that "I am everything." Persons conducted by such a conception of life can never get liberation from material bondage. But even a person perpetually condemned to the miseries of material existence can get relief from bondage if he simply agrees to hear only krsna-katha. In this age of Kali, the process of hearing krsna-katha is the most effective means to gain release from unwanted family affection and thus find permanent freedom in life. The age of Kali is full of sinful reactions, and people are more and more addicted to the qualities of this age, but simply by hearing and chanting of krsna-katha one is sure to go back to Godhead. Therefore, people should be trained to hear only krsna-katha--by all means--in order to get relief from all miseries.
TEXT 45
TEXT
tan vai hy asad-vrttibhir aksibhir ye
parahrtantar-manasah paresa
atho na pasyanty urugaya nunam
ye te padanyasa-vilasa-laksyah
SYNONYMS
tan--the lotus feet of the Lord; vai--certainly; hi--for; asat--materialistic; vrttibhih--by those who are influenced by external energy; aksibhih--by the senses; ye--those; parahrta--missing at a distance; antah-manasah--of the internal mind; paresa--O Supreme; atho--therefore; na--never; pasyanti--can see; urugaya--O great; nunam--but; ye--those who; te--Your; padanyasa--activities; vilasa--transcendental enjoyment; laksyah--those who see.
TRANSLATION
O great Supreme Lord, offensive persons whose internal vision has been too affected by external materialistic activities cannot see Your lotus feet, but they are seen by Your pure devotees, whose one and only aim is to transcendentally enjoy Your activities.
PURPORT
As stated in Bhagavad-gita (18.61), the Lord is situated in everyone's heart. It is natural that one should he able to see the Lord at least within himself. But that is not possible for those whose internal vision has been covered by external activities. The pure soul, which is symptomized by consciousness, can be easily perceived even by a common man because consciousness is spread all over the body. The yoga system as recommended in Bhagavad-gita is to concentrate the mental activities internally and thus see the lotus feet of the Lord within oneself. But there are many so-called yogis who have no concern with the Lord but are only concerned with consciousness, which they accept as the final realization. Such realization of consciousness is taught by Bhagavad-gita within only a few minutes, whereas the so-called yogis take continuous years to realize it because of their offenses at the lotus feet of the Lord. The greatest offense is to deny the existence of the Lord as separate from the individual souls or to accept the Lord and the individual soul as one and the same. The impersonalists misinterpret the theory a reflection, and thus they wrongly accept the individual consciousness as the supreme consciousness.
The theory of the reflection of the Supreme can be clearly understood without difficulty by any sincere common man. When there is a reflection of the sky on the water, both the sky and the stars are seen within the water, but it is understood that the sky and the stars are not to be accepted on the same level. The stars are parts of the sky, and therefore they cannot be equal to the whole. The sky is the whole, and the stars are parts. They cannot be one and the same. Transcendentalists who do not accept the supreme consciousness as separate from the individual consciousness are as offensive as the materialists who deny even the existence of the Lord.
Such offenders cannot actually see the lotus feet of the Lord within themselves, nor are they even able to see the devotees of the Lord. The devotees of the Lord are so kind that they roam to all places to enlighten people in God consciousness. The offenders, however, lose the chance to receive the Lord's devotees, although the offenseless common man is at once influenced by the devotees' presence. In this connection there is an interesting story of a hunter and Devarsi Narada. A hunter in the forest, although a great sinner, was not an intentional offender. He was at once influenced by the presence of Narada, and he agreed to take the path of devotion, leaving aside his hearth and home. But the offenders Nalakuvara and Manigriva, even though living amongst the demigods, had to undergo the punishment of becoming trees in their next lives, although by the grace of a devotee they were later delivered by the Lord. Offenders have to wait until they receive the mercy of devotees, and then they can become eligible to see the lotus feet of the Lord within themselves. But due to their offenses and their extreme materialism, they cannot see even the devotees of the Lord. Engaged in external activities, they kill the internal vision. The Lord's devotees, however, do not mind the offenses of the foolish in their many gross and subtle bodily endeavors. The Lord's devotees continue to bestow the blessings of devotion upon all such offenders without hesitation. That is the nature of devotees.
TEXT 46
TEXT
panena te deva katha-sudhayah
pravrddha-bhaktya visadasaya ye
vairagya-saram pratilabhya bodham
yathanjasanviyur akuntha-dhisnyam
SYNONYMS
panena--by drinking; te--of You; deva--O Lord; katha--topics; sudhayah--of the nectar; pravrddha--highly enlightened; bhaktya--by devotional service; visada-asayah--with a greatly serious attitude; ye--those who; vairagya-saram--the entire purport of renunciation; pratilabhya--achieving; bodham--intelligence; yatha--as much as; anjasa--quickly; anviyuh--achieve; akuntha-dhisnyam--Vaikunthaloka in the spiritual sky.
TRANSLATION
O Lord, persons who, because of their serious attitude, attain the stage of enlightened devotional service achieve the complete meaning of renunciation and knowledge and attain the Vaikunthaloka in the spiritual sky simply by drinking the nectar of Your topics.
PURPORT
The difference between the impersonalistic mental speculators and the pure devotees of the Lord is that the former pass through a miserable understanding of the Absolute Truth at every stage, whereas the devotees enter into the kingdom of all pleasures even from the beginning of their attempt. The devotee has only to hear about devotional activities, which are as simple as anything in ordinary life, and he also acts very simply, whereas the mental speculator has to pass through a jugglery of words, which are partially facts and partially a make-show for the maintenance of an artificial impersonal status. In spite of his strenuous efforts to attain perfect knowledge, the impersonalist attains merging into the impersonal oneness of the brahmajyoti of the Lord, which is also attained by the enemies of the Lord simply because of their being killed by Him. The devotees, however, attain to the highest stage of knowledge and renunciation and achieve the Vaikunthalokas, the planets in the spiritual sky. The impersonalist attains only the sky, and does not achieve any tangible transcendental bliss, whereas the devotee attains to the planets where real spiritual life prevails. With a serious attitude, the devotee throws away all achievements like so much dust, and he accepts only devotional service, the transcendental culmination.
TEXT 47
TEXT
tathapare catma-samadhi-yoga-
balena jitva prakrtim balistham
tvam eva dhirah purusam visanti
tesam sramah syan na tu sevaya te
SYNONYMS
tatha--as far as; apare--others; ca--also; atma-samadhi--transcendental self-realization; yoga--means; balena--by the strength of; jitva--conquering; prakrtim--acquired nature or modes of nature; balistham--very powerful; tvam--You; eva--only; dhirah--pacified; purusam--person; visanti--enters into; tesam--for them; sramah--much labor; syat--has to be taken; na--never; tu--but; sevaya--by serving; te--of You.
TRANSLATION
Others, who are pacified by means of transcendental self-realization and have conquered over the modes of nature by dint of strong power and knowledge, also enter into You, but for them there is much pain, whereas the devotee simply discharges devotional service and thus feels no such pain.
PURPORT
In terms of a labor of love and its returns, the bhaktas, or devotees of the Lord, always have priority over persons who are addicted to the association of jnanis, or impersonalists, and yogis, or mystics. The word apare (others) is very significant in this connection. "Others" refers to the jnanis and the yogis, whose only hope is to merge into the existence of the impersonal brahmajyoti. Although their destination is not so important in comparison to the destination of the devotees, the labor of the nondevotees is far greater than that of the bhaktas. One may suggest that there is sufficient labor for the devotees also in the matter of discharging devotional service. But that labor is compensated by the enhancement of transcendental pleasure. The devotees derive more transcendental pleasure while engaged continuously in the service of the Lord than when they have no such engagement. In the family combination of a man and a woman there is much labor and responsibility for both of them, yet when they are single they feel more trouble for want of their united activities.
The union of the impersonalists and the union of the devotees are not on a par. The impersonalists try to fully stop their individuality by attaining sayujya-mukti, or unification by merging into oneness, whereas the devotees keep their individuality to exchange feelings in relationship with the supreme individual Lord. Such reciprocation of feelings takes place in the transcendental Vaikuntha planets, and therefore the liberation sought by the impersonalists is already achieved in devotional service. The devotees attain mukti automatically, while continuing the transcendental pleasure of maintaining individuality. As explained in the previous verse, the destination of the devotees is Vaikuntha, or akuntha-dhisnya, the place where anxieties are completely eradicated. One should not mistake the destination of the devotees and that of the impersonalists to be one and the same. The destinations are distinctly different, and the transcendental pleasure derived by the devotee is also distinct from cin-matra, or spiritual feelings alone.
TEXT 48
TEXT
tat te vayam loka-sisrksayadya
tvayanusrstas tribhir atmabhih sma
sarve viyuktah sva-vihara-tantram
na saknumas tat pratihartave te
SYNONYMS
tat--therefore; te--Your; vayam--all of us; loka--world; sisrksaya--for the sake of creation; adya--O Original person; tvaya--by You; anusrstah--being created one after another; tribhih--by the three modes of nature; atmabhih--by one's own; sma--in the past; sarve--all; viyuktah--separated; sva-vihara-tantram--the network of activities for one's own pleasure; na--not; saknumah--could do it; tat--that; pratihartave--to award; te--unto Your.
TRANSLATION
O Original Person, we are therefore but Yours only. Although we are Your creatures, we are born one after another under the influence of the three modes of nature, and for this reason we are separated in action. Therefore, after the creation we could not act concertedly for Your transcendental pleasure.
PURPORT
The cosmic creation is working under the influence of the three modes of the external potency of the Lord. Different creatures are also under the same influence, and therefore they cannot act concertedly in satisfying the Lord. Because of this diverse activity, there cannot be any harmony in the material world. The best policy, therefore, is to act for the sake of the Lord. That will bring about the desired harmony.
TEXT 49
TEXT
yavad balim te 'ja harama kale
yatha vayam cannam adama yatra
yathobhayesam ta ime hi loka
balim haranto 'nnam adanty anuhah
SYNONYMS
yavat--as it may be; balim--offerings; te--Your; aja--O unborn one; harama--shall offer; kale--at the right time; yatha--as much as; vayam--we; ca--also; annam--food grains; adama--shall partake; yatra--whereupon; yatha--as much as; ubhayesam--both for You and for us; te--all; ime--these; hi--certainly; lokah--living entities; balim--offerings; harantah--while offering; annam--grains; adanti--eat; anuhah--without disturbance.
TRANSLATION
O unborn one, please enlighten us regarding the ways and means by which we can offer You all enjoyable grains and commodities so that both we and all other living entities in this world can maintain ourselves without disturbance and can easily accumulate the necessities of life both for You and for ourselves.
PURPORT
Developed consciousness begins from the human form of life and further increases in the forms of the demigods living in higher planets. The earth is situated almost in the middle of the universe, and the human form of life is the via medium between the life of the demigods and that of the demons. The planetary systems above the earth are especially meant for the higher intellectuals, called demigods. They are called demigods because although their standard of life is far more advanced in culture, enjoyment, luxury, beauty, education and duration of life, they are always fully God conscious. Such demigods are always ready to render service to the Supreme Lord because they are perfectly aware of the fact that every living entity is constitutionally an eternal subordinate servitor of the Lord. They also know that it is the Lord only who can maintain all living entities with all the necessities of life. The Vedic hymns, eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman, ta enam abruvann ayatanam nah prajanihi yasmin pratisthita annam adame, etc., confirm this truth. In Bhagavad-gita also, the Lord is mentioned as bhuta-bhrt, or the maintainer of all living creatures.
The modern theory that starvation is due to an increase in population is not accepted by the demigods or the devotees of the Lord. The devotees or demigods are fully aware that the Lord can maintain any number of living entities, provided they are conscious of how to eat. If they want to eat like ordinary animals, who have no God consciousness, then they must live in starvation, poverty and want, like the jungle animals in the forest. The jungle animals are also maintained by the Lord with their respective foodstuffs, but they are not advanced in God consciousness. Similarly, human beings are provided with food grains, vegetables, fruits and milk by the grace of the Lord, but it is the duty of human beings to acknowledge the mercy of the Lord. As a matter of gratitude, they should feel obliged to the Lord for their supply of foodstuff, and they must first offer Him food in sacrifice and then partake of the remnants.
In Bhagavad-gita (3.13) it is confirmed that one who takes foodstuff after a performance of sacrifice eats real food for proper maintenance of the body and soul, but one who cooks for himself and does not perform any sacrifice eats only lumps of sin in the shape of foodstuffs. Such sinful eating can never make one happy or free from scarcity. Famine is not due to an increase in population, as less intelligent economists think. When human society is grateful to the Lord for all His gifts for the maintenance of the living entities, then there is certainly no scarcity or want in society. But when men are unaware of the intrinsic value of such gifts from the Lord, surely they are in want. A person who has no God consciousness may live in opulence for the time being due to his past virtuous acts, but if one forgets his relationship with the Lord, certainly he must await the stage of starvation by the law of the powerful material nature. One cannot escape the vigilance of the powerful material nature unless he leads a God conscious or devotional life.
TEXT 50
TEXT
tvam nah suranam asi sanvayanam
kuta-stha adyah purusah puranah
tvam deva saktyam guna-karma-yonau
retas tv ajayam kavim adadhe 'jah
SYNONYMS
tvam--Your Lordship; nah--of us; suranam--of the demigods; asi--You are; sa-anvayanam--with different gradations; kuta-sthah--one who is unchanged; adyah--without any superior; purusah--the founder person; puranah--the oldest, who has no other founder; tvam--You; deva--O Lord; saktyam--unto the energy; guna-karma-yonau--unto the cause of the material modes and activities; retah--semen of birth; tu--indeed; ajayam--for begetting; kavim--the total living entities; adadhe--initiated; ajah--one who is unborn.
TRANSLATION
You are the original personal founder of all the demigods and the orders of different gradations, yet You are the oldest and are unchanged. O Lord, You have no source or superior. You have impregnated the external energy with the semen of the total living entities, yet You are unborn.
PURPORT
The Lord, the Original Person, is the father of all other living entities, beginning from Brahma, the personality from whom all other living entities in different gradations of species are generated. Yet the supreme father has no other father. Every one of the living entities of all grades, up to Brahma, the original creature of the universe, is begotten by a father, but He, the Lord, has no father. When He descends on the material plane, out of Mis causeless mercy He accepts one of His great devotees as His father to keep pace with the rules of the material world. But since He is the Lord, He is always independent in choosing who will become His father. For example, the Lord came out of a pillar in His incarnation as Nrsimhadeva, and by the Lord's causeless mercy, Ahalya came out of a stone by the touch of the lotus feet of His incarnation as Lord Sri Rama. He is also the companion of every living entity as the Supersoul, but He is unchanged. The living entity changes his body in the material world, but even when the Lord is in the material world, He is ever unchanged. That is His prerogative.
As confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (14.3), the Lord impregnates the external or material energy, and thus the total living entities later come out in different gradations, beginning from Brahma, the first demigod, down to the insignificant ant. All gradations of living entities are manifested by Brahma and the external energy, but the Lord is the original father of everyone. The relationship of every living being with the Supreme Lord is certainly one of son and father and not one of equality. Sometimes in love the son is more than the father, but the relationship of father and son is one of the superior and the subordinate. Every living entity, however great he may be, even up to demigods like Brahma and Indra, is an eternally subordinate servitor of the supreme father. The mahat-tattva principle is the generating source of all the modes of material nature, and the living entities take birth in the material world in bodies supplied by the mother, material nature, in terms of their previous work. The body is a gift of material nature, but the soul is originally part and parcel of the Supreme Lord.
TEXT 51
TEXT
tato vayam mat-pramukha yad-arthe
babhuvimatman karavama kim te
tvam nah sva-caksuh paridehi saktya
deva kriyarthe yad-anugrahanam
SYNONYMS
tatah--therefore; vayam--all of us; mat-pramukhah--coming from the total cosmos, the mahat-tattva; yat-arthe--for the purpose of which; babhuvima--created; atman--O Supreme Self; karavama--shall do; kim--what; te--Your service; tvam--Yourself; nah--to us; sva-caksuh--personal plan; paridehi--specifically grant us; saktya--with potency to work; deva--O Lord; kriya-arthe--for acting; yat--from which; anugrahanam--of those who are specifically favored.
TRANSLATION
O Supreme Self, please give us, who are created in the beginning from the mahat-tattva, the total cosmic energy, Your kind directions on how we shall act. Kindly award us Your perfect knowledge and potency so that we can render You service in the different departments of subsequent creation.
PURPORT
The Lord creates this material world and impregnates the material energy with the living entities who will act in the material world. All these actions have a divine plan behind them. The plan is to give the conditioned souls who so desire a chance to enjoy sense gratification. But there is another plan behind the creation: to help the living entities realize that they are created for the transcendental sense gratification of the Lord and not for their individual sense gratification. This is the constitutional position of the living entities. The Lord is one without a second, and He expands Himself into many for His transcendental pleasure. All the expansions--the visnu-tattvas, the jiva-tattvas and the sakti-tattvas (the Personalities of Godhead, the living entities and the different potential energies)-- are different offshoots from the same one Supreme Lord. The jiva-tattvas are separated expansions of the visnu-tattvas, and although there are potential differences between them, they are all meant for the transcendental sense gratification of the Supreme Lord. Some of the jivas, however, wanted to lord it over material nature in imitation of the lordship of the Personality of Godhead. Regarding when and why such propensities overcame the pure living entities, it can only be explained that the jiva-tattvas have infinitesimal independence and that due to misuse of this independence some of the living entities have become implicated in the conditions of cosmic creation and are therefore called nitya-baddhas, or eternally conditioned souls.
The expansions of Vedic wisdom also give the nitya-baddhas, the conditioned living entities, a chance to improve, and those who take advantage of such transcendental knowledge gradually regain their lost consciousness of rendering transcendental loving service to the Lord. The demigods are amongst the conditioned souls who have developed this pure consciousness of service to the Lord but who at the same time continue to desire to lord it over the material energy. Such mixed consciousness puts a conditioned soul in the position of managing the affairs of this creation. The demigods are entrusted leaders of the conditioned souls. As some of the old prisoners in government jails are entrusted with some responsible work of prison management, so the demigods are improved conditioned souls acting as representatives of the Lord in the material creation. Such demigods are devotees of the Lord in the material world, and when completely free from all material desire to lord it over the material energy they become pure devotees and have no desire but to serve the Lord. Therefore any living entity who desires a position in the material world may desire so in the service of the Lord and may seek power and intelligence from the Lord, as exemplified by the demigods in this particular verse. One cannot do anything unless he is enlightened and empowered by the Lord. The Lord says in Bhagavad-gita (15.15), mattah smrtir jnanam apohanam ca. All recollections, knowledge, etc., as well as all forgetfulness, are engineered by the Lord, who is sitting within the heart of everyone. The intelligent man seeks the help of the Lord, and the Lord helps the sincere devotees engaged in His multifarious services.
The demigods are entrusted by the Lord to create different species of living entities according to their past deeds. They are herein asking the favor of the Lord for the intelligence and power to carry out their task. Similarly, any conditioned soul may also engage in the service of the Lord under the guidance of an expert spiritual master and thus gradually become freed from the entanglement of material existence. The spiritual master is the manifested representative of the Lord, and anyone who puts himself under the guidance of a spiritual master and acts accordingly is said to be acting in terms of buddhi-yoga, as explained in Bhagavad-gita (2.41):
vyavasayatmika buddhir
ekeha kuru-nandana
bahu-sakha hy anantas ca
buddhayo 'vyavasayinam
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Third Canto, Fifth Chapter, of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, entitled "Vidura's Talks with Maitreya."