Go to Vanipedia | Go to Vanisource | Go to Vanimedia


Vaniquotes - the compiled essence of Vedic knowledge


In order to... (SB cantos 4 - 6)

Expressions researched:
"in order for" |"in order that" |"in order to"

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Canto 4

SB 4.1.57, Purport:

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the origin of the cosmic manifestation, is covered by the wonderful activities of material nature, just as outer space or the illumination of the sun and moon is sometimes covered by clouds or dust. It is very difficult to find the origin of the cosmic manifestation; therefore material scientists conclude that nature is the ultimate cause of all manifestations. But from śāstra, or authentic literature like Bhagavad-gītā and other Vedic scriptures, we understand that behind this wonderful cosmic manifestation is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and in order to maintain the regular procedures of the cosmic manifestation and to be visible to the eyes of persons who are in the mode of goodness, the Lord appears. He is the cause of the creation and dissolution of the cosmic manifestation. The demigods therefore prayed for His merciful glance upon them in order to be blessed.

SB 4.2.22, Purport:

Persons who identify with bodily existence are attached to the fruitive activities described in the Vedic literature. For example, in the Vedas it is said that one who observes the cāturmāsya vow will attain eternal happiness in the heavenly kingdom. In Bhagavad-gītā, it is said that this flowery language of the Vedas mostly attracts persons who identify with the body. To them such happiness as that of the heavenly kingdom is everything; they do not know that beyond that is the spiritual kingdom, or kingdom of God, and they have no knowledge that one can go there. Thus they are bereft of transcendental knowledge. Such persons are very careful in observing the rules and regulations of household life in order to be promoted in the next life to the moon or other heavenly planets. It is stated here that such persons are attached to grāmya-sukha, which means "material happiness," without knowledge of eternal, blissful spiritual life.

SB 4.2.30, Purport:

The exact word used in Sanskrit is nāstika, which refers to one who does not believe in the Vedas but manufactures some concocted system of religion. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has said that the followers of the Buddhist system of religion are nāstikas. In order to establish his doctrine of nonviolence, Lord Buddha flatly refused to believe in the Vedas, and thus, later on, Śaṅkarācārya stopped this system of religion in India and forced it to go outside India. Here it is stated, brahma ca brāhmaṇān. Brahma means the Vedas. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi means "I am in full knowledge." The Vedic assertion is that one should think that he is Brahman, for actually he is Brahman. If brahma, or the Vedic spiritual science, is condemned, and the masters of the spiritual science, the brāhmaṇas, are condemned, then where does human civilization stand? Bhṛgu Muni said, "It is not due to my cursing that you shall become atheists; you are already situated in the principle of atheism. Therefore you are condemned."

SB 4.2.33, Purport:

Here Lord Śiva's excellent character is described. In spite of the cursing and countercursing between the parties of Dakṣa and Śiva, because he is the greatest Vaiṣṇava he was so sober that he did not say anything. A Vaiṣṇava is always tolerant, and Lord Śiva is considered the topmost Vaiṣṇava, so his character, as shown in this scene, is excellent. He became morose because he knew that these people, both his men and Dakṣa's, were unnecessarily cursing and countercursing one another, without any interest in spiritual life. From his point of view, he did not see anyone as lower or higher, because he is a Vaiṣṇava. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (5.18), paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ: one who is perfectly learned does not see anyone as lesser or greater, because he sees everyone from the spiritual platform. Thus the only alternative left to Lord Śiva was to leave in order to stop his follower, Nandīśvara, as well as Bhṛgu Muni, from cursing and countercursing in that way.

SB 4.2.35, Purport:

After Lord Śiva and, previously, Dakṣa, left the arena of sacrifice, the sacrifice was not stopped; the sages went on for many years in order to satisfy the Supreme Lord. The sacrifice was not destroyed for want of Śiva and Dakṣa, and the sages went on with their activities. In other words, it may be assumed that if one does not worship the demigods, even up to Lord Śiva and Brahmā, one can nevertheless satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (7.20). Kāmais tais tair hṛta jñānāḥ prapadyante 'nya-devatāḥ. Persons who are impelled by lust and desire go to the demigods to derive some material benefit. In his commentary on this Bhagavad-gītā verse, Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura uses the very specific words naṣṭa-buddhayaḥ, meaning "persons who have lost their sense or intelligence." Only such persons care for demigods and want to derive material benefit from them.

SB 4.4.17, Purport:

In other words, since Lord Śiva is the protector of religion, a person who vilifies him should be killed at once, and after killing such a person, one should give up one's life. That is the process, but because Dakṣa happened to be the father of Satī, she decided not to kill him but to give up her own life in order to compensate for the great sin she had committed by hearing blasphemy of Lord Śiva. The instruction set forth here in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is that one should not tolerate at any cost the activities of a person who vilifies or blasphemes an authority. If one is a brāhmaṇa he should not give up his body because by doing so he would be responsible for killing a brāhmaṇa; therefore a brāhmaṇa should leave the place or block his ears so that he will not hear the blasphemy. If one happens to be a kṣatriya he has the power to punish any man; therefore a kṣatriya should at once cut out the tongue of the vilifier and kill him. But as far as the vaiśyas and śūdras are concerned, they should immediately give up their bodies. Satī decided to give up her body because she thought herself to be among the śūdras and vaiśyas. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (9.32), striyo vaiśyās tathā śūdrāḥ. Women, laborers and the mercantile class are on the same level. Thus since it is recommended that vaiśyas and śūdras should immediately give up their bodies upon hearing blasphemy of an exalted person like Lord Śiva, she decided to give up her life.

SB 4.4.18, Purport:

Since Satī was the representation of the external potency of the Lord, it was in her power to vanquish many universes, including many Dakṣas, but in order to save her husband from the charge that he employed his wife, Satī, to kill Dakṣa because he could not do so due to his inferior position, she decided to give up her body.

SB 4.4.21, Purport:

Whether or not King Dakṣa and his flatterers could understand the position of Lord Śiva, Satī wanted to impress upon her father that he should not think her husband to be without opulence. Satī, being the devoted wife of Lord Śiva, offers all kinds of material opulences to the worshipers of Lord Śiva. This fact is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, in the Tenth Canto. Lord Śiva's worshipers sometimes appear more opulent than the worshipers of Lord Viṣṇu because Durgā, or Satī, being the superintendent in charge of material affairs, can offer all material opulences to the worshipers of Lord Śiva in order to glorify her husband, whereas the worshipers of Viṣṇu are meant for spiritual elevation, and therefore their material opulence is sometimes found to decrease. These points are very nicely discussed in the Tenth Canto.

SB 4.4.26, Translation:

Thus, in order to give up her body, which had been so respectfully and affectionately seated on the lap of Lord Śiva, who is worshiped by great sages and saints, Satī, due to anger towards her father, began to meditate on the fiery air within the body.

SB 4.5.10, Purport:

Prasūti, who appreciated the power and strength of her son-in-law, Lord Śiva, is describing what he does at the time of dissolution. This description indicates that the strength of Lord Śiva is so great that Dakṣa's power could not be set in comparison to it. At the time of dissolution, Lord Śiva, with his trident in hand, dances over the rulers of the different planets, and his hair is scattered, just as the clouds are scattered over all directions in order to plunge the different planets into incessant torrents of rain. In the last phase of dissolution, all the planets become inundated with water, and that inundation is caused by the dancing of Lord Śiva. This dance is called the pralaya dance, or dance of dissolution. Prasūti could understand that the dangers ahead resulted not only from Dakṣa's having neglected her daughter, but also because of his neglecting the prestige and honor of Lord Śiva.

SB 4.6.34, Purport:

The personalities sitting with Lord Śiva are significant because the four Kumāras were liberated from birth. It may be remembered that after their birth these Kumāras were requested by their father to get married and beget children in order to increase the population of the newly created universe. But they refused, and at that time Lord Brahmā was angry. In that angry mood, Rudra, or Lord Śiva, was born. Thus they were intimately related. Kuvera, the treasurer of the demigods, is fabulously rich. Thus Lord Śiva's association with the Kumāras and Kuvera indicates that he has all transcendental and material opulences. Actually, he is the qualitative incarnation of the Supreme Lord; therefore his position is very exalted.

SB 4.6.41, Purport:

Lord Brahmā was smiling because he knew that Lord Śiva is not only easily satisfied but easily irritated as well. He was afraid that Lord Śiva might be in an angry mood because he had lost his wife and had been insulted by Dakṣa. In order to conceal this fear, he smiled and addressed Lord Śiva as follows.

SB 4.6.53, Purport:

The performance of yajña is a very difficult task because all the demigods must be invited to participate in the yajña. In this Kali-yuga it is not possible to perform such costly sacrifices, nor is it possible to invite the demigods to participate. Therefore in this age it is recommended, yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ (SB 11.5.32). Those who are intelligent should know that in the Kali-yuga there is no possibility of performing the Vedic sacrifices. But unless one pleases the demigods, there will be no regulated seasonal activities or rainfall. Everything is controlled by the demigods. Under the circumstances, in this age, in order to keep the balance of social peace and prosperity, all intelligent men should execute the performance of saṅkīrtana-yajña by chanting the holy names Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. One should invite people, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, and then distribute prasāda. This yajña will satisfy all the demigods, and thus there will be peace and prosperity in the world. Another difficulty in performing the Vedic rituals is that if one fails to satisfy even one demigod out of the many hundreds of thousands of demigods, just as Dakṣa failed to satisfy Lord Śiva, there will be disaster. But in this age the performance of sacrifice has been simplified. One can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, and by pleasing Kṛṣṇa one can satisfy all the demigods automatically.

SB 4.7.2, Translation:

Lord Śiva said: My dear father, Brahmā, I do not mind the offenses created by the demigods. Because these demigods are childish and less intelligent, I do not take a serious view of their offenses, and I have punished them only in order to right them.

SB 4.7.14, Translation:

My dear great and powerful Lord Śiva, you were created first from the mouth of Lord Brahmā in order to protect the brāhmaṇas in pursuing education, austerities, vows and self-realization. As protector of the brāhmaṇas, you always protect the regulative principles they follow, just as a cowherd boy keeps a stick in his hand to give protection to the cows.

SB 4.7.14, Purport:

The word paśu refers to the animal as well as to the human entity. It is stated here that Lord Śiva is always interested in protecting the animals and the animalistic living entities, who are not very advanced in the spiritual sense. It is also stated that the brāhmaṇas are produced from the mouth of the Supreme Lord. We should always remember that Lord Śiva is being addressed as the representative of the Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu. In the Vedic literature it is described that the brāhmaṇas are born from the mouth of the universal form of Viṣṇu, the kṣatriyas are born from His arms, the vaiśyas from His abdomen or waist, and the śūdras from His legs. In the formation of a body, the head is the principal factor. The brāhmaṇas are born from the mouth of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in order to accept charity for worship of Viṣṇu and to spread Vedic knowledge. Lord Śiva is known as paśupati, the protector of the brāhmaṇas and other living entities. He protects them from the attacks of non-brāhmaṇas, or uncultured persons who are against the self-realization process.

SB 4.7.17, Translation:

Thereafter, in order to resume the activities of sacrifice, the brāhmaṇas first arranged to purify the sacrificial arena of the contamination caused by the touch of Vīrabhadra and the other ghostly followers of Lord Śiva. Then they arranged to offer into the fire the oblations known as puroḍāśa.

SB 4.7.17, Purport:

All these regulative principles are described in The Nectar of Devotion. There are thirty-two kinds of offenses in discharging arcanā service. It is required, therefore, that one be extremely careful not to be unclean. Generally, whenever any ritualistic ceremony is begun, the holy name of Lord Viṣṇu is first chanted in order to purify the situation. Whether one is in a pure or impure condition, internally or externally, if one chants or even remembers the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Viṣṇu, one immediately becomes purified. The yajña arena was desecrated by the presence of Lord Śiva's followers, headed by Vīrabhadra, and therefore the entire arena had to be sanctified. Although Lord Śiva was present and he is all-auspicious, it was still necessary to sanctify the place because his followers had broken into the arena and committed so many obnoxious acts.

SB 4.7.29, Purport:

This fact is also corroborated in Bhagavad-gītā: anyone who is fixed in the transcendental service of the Lord has surpassed all the material qualities and is situated in the status of Brahman realization, in which one is not afflicted by hankering for material objects. The recommendation of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is that one should always be Kṛṣṇa conscious and should never forget his transcendental relationship with the Lord. This program has to be followed strictly by everyone. From the statement of Lord Śiva it is understood that he was always in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and thus he remained free from material affliction. The only remedy, therefore, is to continue Kṛṣṇa consciousness rigidly, in order to get out of the contamination of the material modes.

SB 4.7.33, Purport:

Animals were offered in sacrifice in order to give them renewed life; that was the purpose of having animals there. Offering an animal in sacrifice and giving him renewed life was the evidence of the strength of chanting mantras. Unfortunately, when Dakṣa's sacrifice was devastated by Lord Śiva, some of the animals were killed. (One was killed just to replace the head of Dakṣa.) Their bodies were lying about, and the sacrificial arena was turned into a crematorium. Thus the real purpose of yajña was lost.

SB 4.7.34, Purport:

In Bhagavad-gītā it is said that the Lord has no desire to achieve any result from His wonderful activities, nor has He any need to perform them. But still, in order to give an example to people in general, He sometimes acts, and those activities are very wonderful. He is not attached to anything. Na māṁ karmāṇi limpanti: although He acts very wonderfully, He is not at all attached to anything (BG 4.14). He is self-sufficient. The example is given here that the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī, is always engaged in the service of the Lord, but still He is not attached to her. Even great demigods like Brahmā worship the goddess of fortune in order to win her favor, but although the Lord is worshiped by many hundreds and thousands of goddesses of fortune, He is not at all attached to any one of them. This distinction concerning the exalted transcendental position of the Lord is specifically mentioned by the great sages; He is not like the ordinary living entity, who is attached to the results of pious activities.

SB 4.7.39, Translation:

We offer our respectful obeisances unto the Supreme, who has created varieties of manifestations and put them under the spell of the three qualities of the material world in order to create, maintain and annihilate them. He Himself is not under the control of the external energy; in His personal feature He is completely devoid of the variegated manifestation of material qualities, and He is under no illusion of false identification.

SB 4.7.39, Purport:

Both the internal and external potencies are under the control of the Supreme, so He does not come under the control of either of these potencies. Rather, everything is under His control. In order to manifest His transcendental name, form, quality, pastimes and paraphernalia, He brings into action His internal energy. On account of the variegatedness of the external potency, there are manifestations of many qualitative demigods, beginning with Brahmā and Lord Śiva, and people are attracted to these demigods according to their own material quality. But when one is transcendental or surpasses the material qualities, he is simply fixed in the worship of the Supreme Personality. This fact is explained in Bhagavad-gītā: anyone engaged in the service of the Lord is already transcendental to the variegatedness and interaction of the three material qualities. The summary is that the conditioned souls are being pulled by the action and reaction of the material qualities, which create a differentiation of energies. But in the spiritual world the worshipable one is the Supreme Lord and no one else.

SB 4.7.51, Translation:

The Lord continued: My dear Dakṣa Dvija, I am the original Personality of Godhead, but in order to create, maintain and annihilate this cosmic manifestation, I act through My material energy, and according to the different grades of activity, My representations are differently named.

SB 4.7.54, Purport:

Two words are very significant in this verse. Trayāṇām indicates "three," namely Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva and Lord Viṣṇu. Bhidām means "different." They are three, and therefore they are separate, but at the same time they are one. This is the philosophy of simultaneous oneness and difference, which is called acintya-bhedābheda-tattva. The example given in the Brahma-saṁhitā is that milk and yogurt are simultaneously one and different; both are milk, but the yogurt has become changed. In order to achieve real peace, one should see everything and every living entity, including Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva, as nondifferent from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. No one is independent. Every one of us is an expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This accounts for unity in diversity. There are diverse manifestations, but, at the same time, they are one in Viṣṇu. Everything is an expansion of Viṣṇu's energy.

SB 4.8.36, Purport:

That the boys do not have the kṣatriya spirit does not mean that they are trained in brahminical qualities; they are trained as śūdras, and thus in frustration they are becoming hippies. However, as soon as they enter the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement being started in America, they are trained to meet the brahminical qualifications, even though they have fallen to the lowest conditions as śūdras. In other words, since the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is open for everyone, people in general can attain the brahminical qualifications. This is the greatest need at the present moment, for now there are actually no brāhmaṇas or kṣatriyas but only some vaiśyas and, for the most part, śūdras. The classification of society into brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras is very scientific. In the human social body, the brāhmaṇas are considered the head, the kṣatriyas are the arms, the vaiśyas are the belly, and the śūdras are the legs. At the present moment the body has legs and a belly, but there are no arms or head, and therefore society is topsy-turvy. It is necessary to reestablish the brahminical qualifications in order to raise the fallen human society to the highest standard of spiritual consciousness.

SB 4.8.39, Translation:

The sage Maitreya continued: The great personality Nārada Muni, upon hearing the words of Dhruva Mahārāja, became very compassionate toward him, and in order to show him his causeless mercy, he gave him the following expert advice.

SB 4.8.40, Purport:

Nārada Muni is referred to here as bhagavān because he can bless any person just as the Supreme Personality of Godhead can. He was very pleased with Dhruva Mahārāja, and he could have at once personally given whatever he wanted, but that is not the duty of the spiritual master. His duty is to engage the disciple in proper devotional service as prescribed in the śāstras. Kṛṣṇa was similarly present before Arjuna, and even though He could have given him all facilities for victory over the opposing party without a fight, He did not do so; instead He asked Arjuna to fight. In the same way, Nārada Muni asked Dhruva Mahārāja to undergo devotional discipline in order to achieve the desired result.

SB 4.8.81, Purport:

The demigods approached the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the controller of both kinds of entities, in order to know why their breathing was choked. The Supreme Lord is the ultimate goal for the solution to all problems within this material world. In the spiritual world there are no problems, but the material world is always problematic. Since the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the master of both the material and spiritual worlds, it is better to approach Him in all problematic situations. Those who are devotees, therefore, have no problems in this material world. Viśvaṁ pūrṇa-sukhāyate (Caitanya-candrāmṛta): devotees are free from all problems because they are fully surrendered unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. For a devotee, everything in the world is very pleasing because he knows how to use everything in the transcendental loving service of the Lord.

SB 4.8.82, Purport:

Here one word, saṅgatātmā, is misinterpreted by the Māyāvādī philosophers, who say that the self of Dhruva Mahārāja became one with the Supreme Self, the Personality of Godhead. The Māyāvādī philosophers want to prove by this word that the Supersoul and the individual soul become united in this way and that after such unification the individual soul has no separate existence. But here it is clearly said by the Supreme Lord that Dhruva Mahārāja was so absorbed in meditation on the thought of the Supreme Personality of Godhead that He Himself, the universal consciousness, was attracted to Dhruva. In order to please the demigods, He wanted to go Himself to Dhruva Mahārāja to stop him from this severe austerity. The Māyāvādī philosophers' conclusion that the Supersoul and the individual soul become united is not supported by this statement. Rather, the Supersoul, the Personality of Godhead, wanted to stop Dhruva Mahārāja from this severe austerity.

SB 4.9.4, Purport:

It is therefore understood that when a devotee writes or speaks about the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his words are dictated by the Lord from within. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā, Tenth Chapter: to those who constantly engage in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, the Lord, from within, dictates what to do next in order to serve Him. When Dhruva Mahārāja felt hesitant, not knowing how to describe the Lord for want of sufficient experience, the Lord, out of His causeless mercy, touched His conchshell to Dhruva's forehead, and he was transcendentally inspired. This transcendental inspiration is called brahma-maya because when one is thus inspired, the sound he produces exactly corresponds to the sound vibration of the Vedas. This is not the ordinary sound vibration of this material world. Therefore the sound vibration of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, although presented in the ordinary alphabet, should not be taken as mundane or material.

SB 4.9.5, Purport:

Therefore, it is clearly said here, bhakti-bhāva. The only prayers worth offering are those offered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose reputation is spread far and wide. Dhruva Mahārāja wanted to have the kingdom of his father, but his father refused even to allow him to get on his lap. In order to fulfill his desire, the Lord had already created a planet known as the polestar, Dhruvaloka, which was never to be annihilated even at the time of the dissolution of the universe. Dhruva Mahārāja attained this perfection not by acting hastily, but by patiently executing the order of his spiritual master, and therefore he became so successful that he saw the Lord face to face. Now he was further enabled, by the causeless mercy of the Lord, to offer fitting prayers to the Lord. To glorify or offer prayers unto the Supreme, one needs the Lord's mercy. One cannot write to glorify the Lord unless one is endowed with His causeless mercy.

SB 4.9.17, Purport:

The Lord is addressed herein by Dhruva Mahārāja as puruṣārtha-mūrti, the ultimate goal of life. Generally puruṣārtha is taken to mean execution of a type of religious principle or worship of God in order to get material benediction. Prayers for material benediction are intended for satisfying the senses. And when one is frustrated and cannot fully satisfy the senses in spite of all endeavor, he desires liberation, or freedom from material existence. These activities are generally called puruṣārtha. But actually the ultimate goal is to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is called pañcama-puruṣārtha, the ultimate goal of life. Lord Caitanya therefore taught us not to ask from the Supreme Personality any benediction such as material wealth, popularity or a good wife. One should simply pray to the Lord to be constantly engaged in His transcendental loving service. Dhruva Mahārāja, being cognizant of his desire for material benefit, wanted protection from the Lord so that he might not be misled or deviated from the path of devotional service by material desires.

SB 4.9.36, Purport:

In the Bhagavad-gītā the Lord says that He is the supreme enjoyer, the supreme proprietor of everything and anything within this creation, and the supreme friend of everyone. When one knows these things perfectly, he is always satisfied. The pure devotee never hankers after any kind of material prosperity. The karmīs, however, or jñānīs or yogīs endeavor always for their own personal happiness. Karmīs work day and night to improve their economic condition, jñānīs undergo severe austerities in order to get liberation, and yogīs also undergo severe austerities by practicing the yoga system for attainment of wonderful mystic powers. A devotee, however, is not interested in such activities; he does not want mystic powers or liberation or material prosperity. He is satisfied in any condition of life, as long as he is constantly engaged in the service of the Lord. The Lord's feet are compared to the lotus, wherein there is saffron dust. A devotee is always engaged in drinking the honey from the lotus feet of the Lord. Unless one is freed from all material desires, he cannot actually taste the honey from the Lord's lotus feet.

SB 4.11.14, Purport:

In the previous verse it has been explained that one should treat all living entities with tolerance, mercy, friendship and equality. By such behavior one satisfies the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and upon His satisfaction the devotee immediately becomes free from all material conditions. The Lord also confirms this in the Bhagavad-gītā: "Anyone who sincerely and seriously engages in My service immediately becomes situated in the transcendental stage wherein he can enjoy unlimited spiritual bliss." Everyone in this material world is struggling hard in order to achieve blissful life. Unfortunately, people do not know how to achieve it. Atheists do not believe in God, and certainly they do not please Him. Here it is clearly said that upon pleasing the Supreme Personality of Godhead one immediately attains to the spiritual platform and enjoys unlimited blissful life. To become free from material existence means to become free from the influence of material nature.

SB 4.11.18, Purport:

The word durvibhāvyā means "inconceivable by our tiny brain," and vibhakta-vīryaḥ means "divided in varieties of potencies." This is the right explanation of the display of creative energies in the material world. We can better understand the mercy of God by an example: a government state is always supposed to be merciful, but sometimes, in order to keep law and order, the government employs its police force, and thus punishment is meted out to the rebellious citizens. Similarly, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is always merciful and full of transcendental qualities, but certain individual souls have forgotten their relationship with Kṛṣṇa and have endeavored to lord it over material nature. As a result of their endeavor, they are involved in varieties of material interaction. It is incorrect to argue, however, that because energy issues from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is the actor. In the previous verse, the word nimitta-mātram indicates that the Supreme Lord is completely aloof from the action and reaction of this material world.

SB 4.11.31, Purport:

Dhruva Mahārāja was a liberated soul, and actually he was not angry with anyone. But because he was the ruler, it was his duty to become angry for some time in order to keep law and order in the state. His brother, Uttama, was without fault, yet he was killed by one of the Yakṣas. It was the duty of Dhruva Mahārāja to kill the offender (life for life) because Dhruva was the king. When the challenge came, Dhruva Mahārāja fought vehemently and punished the Yakṣas sufficiently. But anger is such that if one increases it, it increases unlimitedly. In order that Dhruva Mahārāja's kingly anger not exceed the limit, Manu was kind enough to check his grandson. Dhruva Mahārāja could understand the purpose of his grandfather, and he immediately stopped the fighting. The words śrutena bhūyasā, "by constantly hearing," are very important in this verse. By constantly hearing about devotional service, one can check the force of anger, which is detrimental to the process of devotional service. Śrīla Parīkṣit Mahārāja said that the constant hearing of the pastimes of the Lord is the panacea for all material diseases. Everyone, therefore, should hear about the Supreme Personality of Godhead constantly. By hearing one can always remain in equilibrium, and thus his progress in spiritual life will not be hampered.

SB 4.11.31, Purport:

Dhruva Mahārāja's becoming angry with the miscreants was quite appropriate. There is a short story in this connection about a snake who became a devotee upon instruction by Nārada, who instructed him not to bite anymore. Since ordinarily a snake's business is to fatally bite other living entities, as a devotee he was forbidden to do so. Unfortunately, people took advantage of this nonviolence on the part of the snake, especially the children, who began to throw stones at him. He did not bite anyone, however, because it was the instruction of his spiritual master. After a while, when the snake met his spiritual master, Nārada, he complained, "I have given up the bad habit of biting innocent living entities, but they are mistreating me by throwing stones at me." Upon hearing this, Nārada Muni instructed him, "Don't bite, but do not forget to expand your hood as if you were going to bite. Then they will go away." Similarly, a devotee is always nonviolent; he is qualified with all good characteristics. But, in the common world, when there is mischief made by others, he should not forget to become angry, at least for the time being, in order to drive away the miscreants.

SB 4.12.6, Purport:

When the Supreme Lord is served, the hands and legs of the Supreme Lord are automatically served. There is no need of separate service. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (12.7), teṣām ahaṁ samuddhartā mṛtyu-saṁsāra-sāgarāt. This means that the Lord, in order to show specific favor to the devotee, directs the devotee from within in such a way that ultimately he is delivered from the entanglement of material existence. No one but the Supreme Lord can help the living entity be delivered from the entanglement of this material world. The material energy is a manifestation of one of the Supreme Personality of Godhead's varieties of potencies (parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport)). This material energy is one of the Lord's potencies, as much as heat and light are potencies of fire. The material energy is not different from the Supreme Godhead, but at the same time He has nothing to do with the material energy. The living entity, who is of the marginal energy, is entrapped by the material energy on the basis of his desire to lord it over the material world.

SB 4.12.10, Translation:

As long as he remained at home, Dhruva Mahārāja performed many great ceremonial sacrifices in order to please the enjoyer of all sacrifices, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Prescribed ceremonial sacrifices are especially meant to please Lord Viṣṇu, who is the objective of all such sacrifices and who awards the resultant benedictions.

SB 4.12.10, Purport:

In Bhagavad-gītā (3.9) it is said, yajñārthāt karmaṇo 'nyatra loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ: one should act or work only in order to please the Supreme Lord, otherwise one becomes entangled in the resultant reactions. According to the four divisions of varṇa and āśrama, kṣatriyas and vaiśyas are especially advised to perform great ceremonial sacrifices and to distribute their accumulated money very liberally. Dhruva Mahārāja, as a king and ideal kṣatriya, performed many such sacrifices, giving very liberally in charity. Kṣatriyas and vaiśyas are supposed to earn their money and accumulate great riches. Sometimes they do it by acting sinfully. Kṣatriyas are meant to rule over a country; Dhruva Mahārāja, for example, in the course of ruling, had to fight and kill many Yakṣas. Such action is necessary for kṣatriyas. A kṣatriya should not be a coward, and he should not be nonviolent; to rule over the country he has to act violently.

SB 4.12.11, Purport:

Not only did Dhruva Mahārāja perform many sacrifices, but he carried on his transcendental occupation of engagement in the devotional service of the Lord. The ordinary karmīs, who want to enjoy the results of fruitive activities, are concerned only with sacrifices and ritualistic ceremonies as enjoined in the Vedic śāstras. Although Dhruva Mahārāja performed many sacrifices in order to be an exemplary king, he was constantly engaged in devotional service. The Lord always protects His surrendered devotee. A devotee can see that the Lord is situated in everyone's heart, as stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61)). Ordinary persons cannot understand how the Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, but a devotee can actually see Him.

SB 4.12.16, Purport:

In the beginning of his life, when he went to the forest in search of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Dhruva Mahārāja realized that all bodily conceptions of pleasure are products of the illusory energy. In the very beginning, of course, he was after the kingdom of his father, and in order to get it he went to search for the Supreme Lord. But he later realized that everything is the creation of the illusory energy. From the acts of Śrīla Dhruva Mahārāja we can understand that somehow or other if one becomes Kṛṣṇa conscious—it does not matter what his motivation is in the beginning—he will eventually realize the real truth by the grace of the Lord. In the beginning, Dhruva Mahārāja was interested in the kingdom of his father, but later he became a great devotee, mahā-bhāgavata, and had no interest in material enjoyment. The perfection of life can be achieved only by devotees. Even if one completes only a minute percentage of devotional service and then falls down from his immature position, he is better than a person who fully engages in the fruitive activities of this material world.

SB 4.12.30, Purport:

Material scientists are not even perfect in manufacturing a material airplane. In order to compare to the plane used by Kardama or the plane sent from Viṣṇuloka, they must manufacture an airplane equipped like a big city, with all the comforts of life—lakes, gardens, parks, etc. Their plane must be able to fly in outer space and hover, and visit all other planets. If they invent such a plane, they will not have to make different space stations for fuel to travel into outer space. Such a plane would have an unlimited supply of fuel, or, like the plane from Viṣṇuloka, would fly without it.

SB 4.12.51, Purport:

The dīna-nāthas, or devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa, who preach the path of devotional service, become the favorites of the demigods. Generally people are interested in worshiping the demigods, especially Lord Śiva, in order to obtain material benefits, but a pure devotee, who engages in preaching the principles of devotional service, as prescribed in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, does not need to separately worship the demigods; the demigods are automatically pleased with him and offer all the blessings within their capacity. As by watering the root of a tree the leaves and branches are automatically watered, so, by executing pure devotional service to the Lord, the branches, twigs and leaves of the Lord, known as demigods, are automatically pleased with the devotee, and they offer all benedictions.

SB 4.13.10, Purport:

In order to avoid contradiction, botheration and unfavorable situations created by materialistic persons, a great saintly person like Jaḍa Bharata or Utkala remains silent. The less intelligent consider such saintly persons to be mad, deaf or dumb. Factually, an advanced devotee avoids speaking with persons who are not in devotional life, but to those who are in devotional life he speaks in friendship, and he speaks to the innocent for their enlightenment. For all practical purposes, the whole world is full of nondevotees, and so one kind of very advanced devotee is called bhajanānandī. Those who are goṣṭhy-ānandī, however, preach to increase the number of devotees. But even such preachers also avoid opposing elements who are unfavorably disposed towards spiritual life.

SB 4.13.25, Purport:

A Vedic sacrifice is not an ordinary performance. The demigods used to participate in such sacrifices, and the animals sacrificed in such performances were reincarnated with new life. In this age of Kali there are no powerful brāhmaṇas who can invite the demigods or give renewed life to animals. Formerly, the brāhmaṇas well conversant in Vedic mantras could show the potency of the mantras, but in this age, because there are no such brāhmaṇas, all such sacrifices are forbidden. The sacrifice in which horses were offered was called aśvamedha. Sometimes cows were sacrificed (gavālambha), not for eating purposes, but to give them new life in order to show the potency of the mantra. In this age, therefore, the only practical yajña is saṅkīrtana-yajña, or chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra twenty-four hours a day.

SB 4.13.37, Purport:

The word udāra-dhīḥ is significant in this connection. The wife of the King, Sunīthā, was not fit to accept this benediction, yet the King was so liberal that without hesitation he offered to his wife the boiled rice in milk prasāda received from the yajña-puruṣa. Of course, everything is designed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As will be explained in later verses, this incident was not very favorable for the King. Since the King was very liberal, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in order to increase his detachment from this material world, willed that a cruel son be born of the Queen so that the King would have to leave home. As stated above, Lord Viṣṇu fulfills the desires of the karmīs as they desire, but the Lord fulfills the desire of a devotee in a different way so that the devotee may gradually come to Him. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ yena mām upayānti te). The Lord gives the devotee the opportunity to make progress further and further so that he may come back home, back to Godhead.

SB 4.14.11, Translation:

We appointed this Vena king of the state in order to give protection to the citizens, but now he has become the enemy of the citizens. Despite all these discrepancies, we should at once try to pacify him. By doing so, we may not be touched by the sinful results caused by him.

SB 4.14.20, Purport:

People do not know that the ultimate goal of life is to approach Lord Viṣṇu and satisfy Him. They have taken this materialistic way of life as everything and have become captivated by materialistic activities. Indeed, their leaders are always encouraging them to follow this path, and the general populace, being ignorant of the laws of God, are following their blind leaders down the path of unhappiness. In order to rectify this world situation, all people should be trained in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and act in accordance with the varṇāśrama system. The state should also see that the people are engaged in satisfying the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is the primary duty of the state. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement was started to convince the general populace to adopt the best process by which to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead and thus solve all problems.

SB 4.14.38, Purport:

Thieves and rogues simply await some political upset in order to take the opportunity to plunder the people in general. To keep thieves and rogues inactive in their profession, a strong government is always required.

SB 4.14.39-40, Purport:

The saintly persons and great sages killed King Vena out of emergency, but they did not choose to take part in the government in order to subdue the uprising of thieves and rogues, which took place after the death of King Vena. It is not the duty of brāhmaṇas and saintly persons to kill, although they may sometimes do so in the case of an emergency. They could kill all the thieves and rogues by the prowess of their mantras, but they thought it the duty of kṣatriya kings to do so. Thus they reluctantly did not take part in the killing business.

SB 4.16.2, Purport:

By glorifying the Lord with exalted verses, one becomes purified. Although we are unable to offer prayers to the Lord in an adequate fashion, our duty is to make the attempt in order to purify ourselves. It is not that we should stop our glorification because demigods like Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva cannot adequately glorify the Lord. Rather, as stated by Prahlāda Mahārāja, everyone should glorify the Lord according to his own ability. If we are serious and sincere devotees, the Lord will give us the intelligence to offer prayers properly.

SB 4.16.5, Purport:

Thus in order to counteract this unfortunate situation in government, the general populace is advised to chant the mahā-mantra: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.

SB 4.16.13, Purport:

These are the characteristics of an impartial ruler. It is the duty of a ruler to punish the criminal and give protection to the innocent. King Pṛthu was so neutral that if his own son were punishable, he would not hesitate to punish him. On the other hand, if the son of his enemy were innocent, he would not engage in some intrigue in order to punish him.

SB 4.17.14, Purport:

Just as a mother produces various children, both male and female, the womb of mother earth produces all kinds of living entities in various shapes. Thus it is possible for mother earth to take on innumerable shapes. At this time, in order to avoid the wrath of King Pṛthu, she took the shape of a cow. Since a cow is never to be killed, mother earth thought it wise to take the shape of a cow in order to avoid King Pṛthu's arrows. King Pṛthu, however, could understand this fact, and therefore he did not stop chasing the cow-shaped earth.

SB 4.17.27, Purport:

The earth informed King Pṛthu that if he destroyed her, he and his subjects would all fall down into the waters of the garbha ocean. King Pṛthu now replies to that point. Although the earth assumed the shape of a cow by her mystic powers in order to be saved from being killed by the King, the King was aware of this fact and would not hesitate to cut her to pieces, just like small bits of grain. As far as the destruction of the citizens is concerned, Mahārāja Pṛthu maintained that he could uphold everyone by his own mystic powers. He did not need the help of the earthly planet. Being the incarnation of Lord Viṣṇu, Pṛthu Mahārāja possessed the power of Saṅkarṣaṇa, which is explained by the scientists as the power of gravitation. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is holding millions of planets in space without any support; similarly, Pṛthu Mahārāja would not have had any difficulty supporting all his citizens and himself in space without the help of the planet earth. The Lord is known as Yogeśvara, master of all mystic powers. Consequently the planet earth was informed by the King that she need not worry about his standing without her help.

SB 4.18.1, Translation:

The great saint Maitreya continued to address Vidura: My dear Vidura, at that time, after the planet earth finished her prayers, King Pṛthu was still not pacified, and his lips trembled in great anger. Although the planet earth was frightened, she made up her mind and began to speak as follows in order to convince the King.

SB 4.18.3, Purport:

Two significant words used in this verse are asmin and amuṣmin. Asmin means "in this life," and amuṣmin means "in the next life." Unfortunately in this age, even exalted professors and learned men believe that there is no next life and that everything is finished in this life. Since they are rascals and fools, what advice can they give? Still they are passing as learned scholars and professors. In this verse the word amuṣmin is very explicit. It is the duty of everyone to mold his life in such a way that he will have a profitable next life. Just as a boy is educated in order to become happy later, one should be educated in this life in order to attain an eternal and prosperous life after death. It is therefore essential that people follow what is given in the śrutis and smṛtis to make sure that the human mission is successful.

SB 4.18.4, Purport:

The Vedic principles (mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186)) urge us to follow in the footsteps of great liberated souls. In this way we can receive benefit in both this life and the next, and we can also improve our material life. By following the principles laid down by great sages and saints of the past, we can very easily understand the aim of all life. The word avaraḥ, meaning "inexperienced," is very significant in this verse. Every conditioned soul is inexperienced. Everyone is abodha jāta—born a fool and rascal. In democratic government at the present moment all kinds of fools and rascals are making decisions. But what can they do? What is the result of their legislation? They enact something today just to whimsically repeal it tomorrow. One political party utilizes a country for one purpose, and the next moment another political party forms a different type of government and nullifies all the laws and regulations. This process of chewing the chewed (punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām (SB 7.5.30)) will never make human society happy. In order to make all human society happy and prosperous, we should accept the standard methods given by liberated persons.

SB 4.18.6, Purport:

Lord Brahmā created this material world for the use of the living entities, but it was created according to a plan that all living entities who might come into it to dominate it for sense gratification would be given directions by Lord Brahmā in the Vedas in order that they might ultimately leave it and return home, back to Godhead. All necessities grown on earth—namely fruits, flowers, trees, grains, animals and animal by-products—were created for use in sacrifice for the satisfaction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu. However, the planet earth in the shape of a cow herein submits that all these utilities are being used by nondevotees, who have no plans for spiritual understanding. Although there are immense potencies within the earth for the production of grains, fruits and flowers, this production is checked by the earth itself when it is misused by nondevotees, who have no spiritual goals. Everything belongs to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and everything can be used for His satisfaction. Things should not be used for the sense gratification of the living entities. This is the whole plan of material nature according to the directions of this material nature.

SB 4.18.11, Purport:

King Indra of the heavenly planets is in charge of throwing thunderbolts and giving rainfall. Generally thunderbolts are thrown on the tops of hills in order to break them to pieces. As these pieces are spread asunder in due course of time, the surface of the globe gradually becomes fit for agriculture. Level land is especially conducive to the production of grain. Thus the planet earth requested Mahārāja Pṛthu to level the surface of the earth, breaking up the high land and mountains.

SB 4.19.24-25, Translation:

In this way, King Indra, in order to steal the horse from King Pṛthu's sacrifice, adopted several orders of sannyāsa. Some sannyāsīs go naked, and sometimes they wear red garments and pass under the name of kāpālika. These are simply symbolic representations of their sinful activities. These so-called sannyāsīs are very much appreciated by sinful men because they are all godless atheists and very expert in putting forward arguments and reasons to support their case. We must know, however, that they are only passing as adherents of religion and are not so in fact. Unfortunately, bewildered persons accept them as religious, and being attracted to them, they spoil their life.

SB 4.19.31, Translation:

In order to make trouble and impede the performance of King Pṛthu's great sacrifice, King Indra has adopted some means that in the future will destroy the clear path of religious life. I draw your attention to this fact. If you oppose him any further, he will further misuse his power and introduce many other irreligious systems.

SB 4.19.37, Purport:

"In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium."

SB 4.20.34, Purport:

Thus when the King refused to accept any material benediction, the Lord appreciated that refusal very much. Another significant word in this verse is acyuta, which means "infallible." Although the Lord appears in this material world, He is never to be considered one of the conditioned souls, who are all fallible. When the Lord appears, He remains in His spiritual position, uncontaminated by the modes of material nature, and therefore in Bhagavad-gītā the Lord expresses the quality of His appearance as ātma-māyayā, "performed by internal potency." The Lord, being infallible, is not forced by material nature to take birth in this material world. He appears in order to reestablish the perfect order of religious principles and to vanquish the demoniac influence in human society.

SB 4.20.35-36, Purport:

Therefore the entire universe is known as caturdaśa-bhuvana, indicating that it has fourteen different planetary systems. Beyond the planetary systems in the material sky, there is another sky, which is known as paravyoma, or the spiritual sky, where there are spiritual planets. The inhabitants of those planets engage in varieties of loving service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, which include different rasas, or relationships, known as dāsya-rasa, sakhya-rasa, vātsalya-rasa, mādhurya-rasa and, above all, parakīya-rasa. This parakīya-rasa, or paramour love, is prevalent in Kṛṣṇaloka, where Lord Kṛṣṇa lives. This planet is also called Goloka Vṛndāvana, and although Lord Kṛṣṇa lives there perpetually, He also expands Himself in millions and trillions of forms. In one of such forms He appears on this material planet in a particular place known as Vṛndāvana-dhāma, where He displays His original pastimes of Goloka Vṛndāvana-dhāma in the spiritual sky in order to attract the conditioned souls back home, back to Godhead.

SB 4.21.10, Purport:

Saint Vidura's purpose in hearing about Pṛthu Mahārāja over and over again was to set an example for ordinary kings and executive heads, who should all be inclined to hear repeatedly about Pṛthu Mahārāja's activities in order to also be able to rule over their kingdoms or states very faithfully for the peace and prosperity of the people in general. Unfortunately, at the present moment no one cares to hear about Pṛthu Mahārāja or to follow in his footsteps; therefore no nation in the world is either happy or progressive in spiritual understanding, although that is the sole aim and objective of human life.

SB 4.21.11, Translation:

The great saintly sage Maitreya told Vidura: My dear Vidura, King Pṛthu lived in the tract of land between the two great rivers Ganges and Yamunā. Because he was very opulent, it appeared that he was enjoying his destined fortune in order to diminish the results of his past pious activities.

SB 4.21.20, Translation:

Mahārāja Pṛthu's speech was very beautiful, full of metaphorical language, clearly understandable and very pleasing to hear. His words were all grave and certain. It appears that when he spoke, he expressed his personal realization of the Absolute Truth in order to benefit all who were present.

SB 4.21.21, Purport:

In this verse the word sādhavaḥ ("all great souls") is very significant. When a person is very great and famous, many unscrupulous persons become his enemies, for envy is the nature of materialists. In any meeting there are different classes of men, and it is to be supposed, therefore, that because Pṛthu Mahārāja was very great, he must have had several enemies present in the assembly, although they could not express themselves. Mahārāja Pṛthu, however, was concerned with persons who were gentle, and therefore he first addressed all the honest persons, not caring for the envious. He did not, however, present himself as a royal authority empowered to command everyone, for he wanted to present his statement in humble submission before the assembly of great sages and saintly persons. As a great king of the entire world, he could have given them orders, but he was so humble, meek and honest that he presented his statement for approval in order to clarify his mature decision. Everyone within this material world is conditioned by the modes of material nature and therefore has four defects. But although Pṛthu Mahārāja was above all these, still, like an ordinary conditioned soul, he presented his statements to the great souls, sages and saintly persons present there.

SB 4.21.27, Purport:

In order to regulate the activities of the living entities, God has given us codes, just as a king gives codes of law in a state, and whoever breaks the law is punished. Similarly, the Lord has given the infallible knowledge of the Vedas, which are not contaminated by the four defects of human life—namely the tendency to commit mistakes, to be illusioned, to cheat and to have imperfect senses. If we do not take direction from the Vedas but act whimsically according to our own choice, we are sure to be punished by the laws of the Lord, who offers different types of bodies in the 8,400,000 species of forms. Material existence, or the sense gratification process, is conducted according to the type of body we are given by prakṛti, or material nature. As such, there must be divisions of pious and impious activities (puṇya and pāpa).

SB 4.21.35, Purport:

The Vedas give the direction tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet: (MU 1.2.12) in order to reach the perfection of life or to understand the real constitutional position of the living entity, one must approach the spiritual master. Gurum evābhigacchet—one must; it is not optional. It is imperative that one approach the spiritual master, for by such association one proportionately develops his consciousness toward the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The highest perfection of such consciousness is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness. According to the body given by prakṛti, or nature, one's consciousness is present; according to the development of consciousness, one's activities are performed; and according to the purity of such activities, one realizes the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is present in everyone's heart. The example given herein is very appropriate. Fire is always the same, but according to the size of the fuel or burning wood, the fire appears to be straight, curved, small, big, etc.

SB 4.21.41, Purport:

According to Vedic injunctions, a fire sacrifice is held in order to give food to the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the names of the different demigods. While performing a fire sacrifice, one pronounces the word svāhā in mantras such as indrāya svāhā and ādityāya svāhā. These mantras are uttered to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead through demigods such as Indra and Āditya, for the Supreme Personality of Godhead says:

nāhaṁ tiṣṭhāmi vaikuṇṭhe
yogināṁ hṛdayeṣu vā
tatra tiṣṭhāmi nārada
yatra gāyanti mad-bhaktāḥ

"I am not in Vaikuṇṭha nor in the hearts of the yogīs. I remain where My devotees engage in glorifying My activities." It is to be understood that the Supreme Personality of Godhead does not leave the company of His devotees.

SB 4.21.42, Purport:

Since it is described in the previous verse that feeding a living brāhmaṇa is more effective than offering oblations in a fire sacrifice, in this verse it is now clearly described what brāhmaṇism is and who a brāhmaṇa is. In the age of Kali, taking advantage of the fact that by feeding a brāhmaṇa one obtains a more effective result than by performing sacrifices, a class of men with no brahminical qualifications claim the eating privilege known as brāhmaṇa-bhojana simply on the basis of their birth in brāhmaṇa families. In order to distinguish this class of men from the real brāhmaṇas, Mahārāja Pṛthu is giving an exact description of a brāhmaṇa and brahminical culture. One should not take advantage of his position simply to live like a fire without light. A brāhmaṇa must be fully conversant with the Vedic conclusion, which is described in Bhagavad-gītā. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). The Vedic conclusion—the ultimate understanding, or Vedānta understanding—is knowledge of Kṛṣṇa.

SB 4.22.21, Purport:

As confirmed in the Vedānta-sūtra (1.1.1), athāto brahma jijñāsā: without inquiry about the Supreme, or the Transcendence, one cannot give up attachment for this material world. By the evolutionary process in 8,400,000 species of life, one cannot understand the ultimate goal of life because in all those species of life, the bodily conception is very prominent. Athāto brahma jijñāsā means that in order to get out of the bodily conception, one has to increase attachment to or inquiry about Brahman. Then he can be situated in the transcendental devotional service—śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ (SB 7.5.23). To increase attachment for Brahman means to engage in devotional service. Those who are attached to the impersonal form of Brahman cannot remain attached for very long. Impersonalists, after rejecting this world as mithyā, or false (jagan mithyā), come down again to this jagan mithyā, although they take sannyāsa to increase their attachment for Brahman.

SB 4.22.24, Purport:

Trying to advance in spiritual life outside the disciplic succession is simply ludicrous. It is said, therefore, ācāryavān puruṣo veda: one who follows the disciplic succession of ācāryas knows things as they are (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.14.2). Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet: (MU 1.2.12) in order to understand the transcendental science, one must approach the bona fide spiritual master. The word smṛtyā is very important in spiritual life. Smṛtyā means remembering Kṛṣṇa always. Life should be molded in such a way that one cannot remain alone without thinking of Kṛṣṇa. We should live in Kṛṣṇa so that while eating, sleeping, walking and working we remain only in Kṛṣṇa. Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness society recommends that we arrange our living so that we can remember Kṛṣṇa. In our ISKCON society the devotees, while engaged in making Spiritual Sky incense, are also hearing about the glories of Kṛṣṇa or His devotees. The śāstra recommends, smartavyaḥ satataṁ viṣṇuḥ: Lord Viṣṇu should be remembered always, constantly. Vismartavyo na jātucit: Viṣṇu should never be forgotten.

SB 4.22.36, Purport:

It is said by the Lord: yasyāham anugṛhṇāmi hariṣye tad-dhanaṁ śanaiḥ. The Lord told Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja that His special favor is shown to His devotee when He takes away all the devotee's material opulences. Generally, therefore, it is experienced that Vaiṣṇavas are not very opulent in the material sense. When a Vaiṣṇava, pure devotee, tries to be materially opulent and at the same time desires to serve the Supreme Lord, his devotional service is checked. The Lord, in order to show him a special favor, destroys his so-called economic development and material opulences. Thus the devotee, being frustrated in his repeated attempts at economic development, ultimately takes solid shelter under the lotus feet of the Lord. This kind of action may also be accepted as īśa-vidhvaṁ-sitāśiṣām, whereby the Lord destroys one's material opulences but enriches one in spiritual understanding. In the course of our preaching work, we sometimes see that materialistic persons come to us and offer their obeisances to take blessings, which means they want more and more material opulences. If such material opulences are checked, such persons are no longer interested in offering obeisances to the devotees. Such materialistic persons are always concerned about their economic development. They offer obeisances to saintly persons or the Supreme Lord and give something in charity for preaching work with a view that they will be rewarded with further economic development.

SB 4.22.42, Purport:

Regarding His devotees, Lord Kṛṣṇa told Arjuna, kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati: "O son of Kuntī, declare it boldly that My devotee will never perish." (BG 9.31) The point is that the Lord Himself could declare such things, but it was His desire to make the declaration through Arjuna and thus doubly assure that His promise would never be broken. The Lord Himself promises, and His confidential devotees execute the promise. The Lord makes so many promises for the benefit of suffering humanity. Although the Lord is very compassionate upon suffering humanity, human beings are generally not very anxious to serve Him. The relationship is something like that between the father and the son; the father is always anxious for the welfare of the son, even though the son forgets or neglects the father. The word anukampinā is significant; the Lord is so compassionate upon the living entities that He comes Himself into this world in order to benefit fallen souls.

SB 4.22.50, Purport:

Mahārāja Pṛthu was a responsible monarch, and he had to execute the duties of a kṣatriya, a king and a devotee at the same time. Being perfect in the Lord's devotional service, he could execute his prescribed duties with complete perfection as befitted the time and circumstance and his financial strength and personal ability. In this regard, the word karmāṇi in this verse is significant. Pṛthu Mahārāja's activities were not ordinary, for they were in relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has advised that things which are favorable to devotional service should not be rejected, nor should activity favorable for devotional service be considered ordinary work or fruitive activity. For example, an ordinary worker conducts business in order to earn money for his sense gratification. A devotee may perform the same work in exactly the same way, but his aim is to satisfy the Supreme Lord. Consequently his activities are not ordinary.

Pṛthu Mahārāja's activities were therefore not ordinary but were all spiritual and transcendental, for his aim was to satisfy the Lord. Just as Arjuna, who was a warrior, had to fight to satisfy Kṛṣṇa, Pṛthu Mahārāja performed his royal duties as king for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa. Indeed, whatever he did as emperor of the whole world was perfectly befitting a pure devotee. It is therefore said by a Vaiṣṇava poet, vaiṣṇavera kriyāmudrā vijñe nā bujhāya: no one can understand the activities of a pure devotee. A pure devotee's activities may appear like ordinary activities, but behind them there is profound significance—the satisfaction of the Lord. In order to understand the activities of a Vaiṣṇava, one has to become very expert. Mahārāja Pṛthu did not allow himself to function outside the institution of four varṇas and four āśramas, although as a Vaiṣṇava he was a paramahaṁsa, transcendental to all material activities. He remained at his position as a kṣatriya to rule the world and at the same time remained transcendental to such activities by satisfying the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Concealing himself as a pure devotee, he externally manifested himself as a very powerful and dutiful king. In other words, none of his activities were carried out for his own sense gratification; everything he did was meant for the satisfaction of the senses of the Lord. This is clearly explained in the next verse.

SB 4.23.1-3, Purport:

He had been exemplary in his governmental administration, and now he was to become exemplary in his retirement. He divided all his property amongst his sons and appointed them to rule the world, and then he went to the forest with his wife. It is significant in this connection that it is said that Mahārāja Pṛthu retired alone and at the same time took his wife with him. According to Vedic principles, when retiring from family life, one can take his wife with him, for the husband and wife are considered to be one unit. Thus they can both combinedly perform austerities for liberation. This is the path that Mahārāja Pṛthu, who was an exemplary character, followed, and this is also the way of Vedic civilization. One should not simply remain at home until the time of death, but should separate from family life at a timely moment and prepare himself to go back to Godhead. As a śaktyāveśa incarnation of God who had actually come from Vaikuṇṭha as a representative of Kṛṣṇa, Mahārāja Pṛthu was certain to go back to Godhead. Nonetheless, in order to set the example in all ways, he also underwent severe austerities in the tapo-vana. It appears that in those days there were many tapo-vanas, or forests especially meant for retirement and the practice of austerities. Indeed, it was compulsory for everyone to go to the tapo-vana to fully accept the shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for it is very difficult to retire from family life and at the same time remain at home.

SB 4.23.4, Purport:

As it is necessary for one to become very active in family life, similarly, after retirement from family life, it is necessary to control the mind and senses. This is possible when one engages himself fully in the devotional service of the Lord. Actually the whole purpose of the Vedic system, the Vedic social order, is to enable one to ultimately return home, back to Godhead. The gṛhastha-āśrama is a sort of concession combining sense gratification with a regulative life. It is to enable one to easily retire in the middle of life and engage fully in austerities in order to transcend material sense gratification once and for all. Therefore in the vānaprastha stage of life, tapasya, or austerity, is strongly recommended. Mahārāja Pṛthu followed exactly all the rules of vānaprastha life, which is technically known as vaikhānasa-āśrama. The word vaikhānasa-susammate is significant because in vānaprastha life the regulative principles are also to be strictly followed. In other words, Mahārāja Pṛthu was an ideal character in every sphere of life. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ: (CC Madhya 17.186) one should follow in the footsteps of great personalities. Thus by following the exemplary character of Mahārāja Pṛthu, one can become perfect in all respects while living this life or while retiring from active life. Thus after giving up this body, one can become liberated and go back to Godhead.

SB 4.23.6, Purport:

These are some of the austerities executed by the jñānīs and yogīs, who cannot accept the process of bhakti-yoga. They must undergo such severe types of austerity in order to become purified from material contamination. pañca-tapāḥ refers to five kinds of heating processes. One is enjoined to sit within a circle of fire, with flames blazing from four sides and the sun blazing directly overhead. This is one kind of pañca-tapāḥ recommended for austerity. Similarly, in the rainy season one is enjoined to expose himself to torrents of rain and in winter to sit in cold water up to the neck. As far as bedding is concerned, the ascetic should be content with simply lying on the floor. The purpose for undergoing such severe austerities is to become a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, as explained in the next verse.

SB 4.23.7, Translation:

Mahārāja Pṛthu underwent all these severe austerities in order to control his words and his senses, to refrain from discharging his semen and to control the life air within his body. All this he did for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa. He had no other purpose.

SB 4.23.7, Purport:

In order to be recognized by Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one should chant the holy name of the Lord continuously, twenty-four hours a day. Unfortunate persons who cannot accept this formula prefer to execute some type of pseudomeditation, without accepting the other processes of austerity. The fact is, however, that one must accept either the severe method of austerity described above to become purified or take to the process of devotional service recommended for pleasing the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa. The person who is Kṛṣṇa conscious is most intelligent because in Kali-yuga it is not at all possible to undergo such severe austerities. We need only follow great personalities like Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. In His Śikṣāṣṭaka, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu wrote, paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam: all glories to the holy names of Lord Kṛṣṇa, which from the very beginning purify the heart and immediately liberate one. Bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpanam. If the real purpose of all yoga is to please Lord Kṛṣṇa, then this simple bhakti-yoga system recommended for this age is sufficient.

SB 4.23.8, Purport:

The minds of those who are addicted to fruitive activity are always filled with unclean desires. Fruitive activities are symptomatic of our polluted desire to dominate material nature. As long as one continues to be subject to polluted desires, he has to accept one material body after another. So-called yogīs, without knowledge of the real purpose of yoga, practice it in order to keep the body fit. Thus they engage themselves in fruitive activities, and thus they are bound by desire to accept another body. They are not aware that the ultimate goal of life is to approach Kṛṣṇa. In order to save such yogīs from wandering throughout the different species of life, the śāstras warn that in this age such yogic practice is simply a waste of time. The only means of elevation is the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.

SB 4.23.8, Purport:

Here the word prāṇāyāma does not refer to any ulterior motive. The actual aim is to strengthen the mind and senses in order to engage them in devotional service. In the present age this determination can be very easily acquired simply by chanting the holy names—Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.

SB 4.23.9, Purport:

Actually, one who is self-realized engages himself in the service of the Lord perpetually, both in this life and in the next. Indeed, for devotees there is no difference between this life and the next. In this life a neophyte devotee is trained to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and in the next life he approaches that Supreme Person in Vaikuṇṭha and renders the same devotional service. Even for the neophyte devotee, devotional service is considered brahma-bhūyāya kalpate (BG 14.26). Devotional service to the Lord is never considered a material activity. Since he is acting on the brahma-bhūta platform, a devotee is already liberated. He therefore has no need to practice any other type of yoga in order to approach the brahma-bhūta stage (SB 4.30.20). If the devotee adheres strictly to the orders of the spiritual master, follows the rules and regulations and chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, it should be concluded that he is already at the brahma-bhūta stage, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (14.26):

māṁ ca yo 'vyabhicāreṇa
bhakti-yogena sevate
sa guṇān samatītyaitān
brahma-bhūyāya kalpate

"One who is engaged in full devotional service, unfailing in all circumstances, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman."

SB 4.23.11, Purport:

The jñānī and yogīs may rise to the highest position, Brahman realization, but because of their lack of devotion unto the lotus feet of the Lord, they again fall down into material nature. Therefore jñāna and yoga should not be accepted as the real processes for liberation. By discharging devotional service, Mahārāja Pṛthu automatically transcended all these positions. Since Mahārāja Pṛthu was a śaktyāveśa incarnation of the Supreme Lord, he did not have to act in any way to attain liberation. He came from the Vaikuṇṭha world, or spiritual sky, in order to execute the will of the Supreme Lord on earth. Consequently he was to return home, back to Godhead, without having to execute jñāna, yoga or karma. Although Pṛthu Mahārāja was eternally a pure devotee of the Lord, he nonetheless adopted the process of devotional service in order to teach the people in general the proper process for executing the duties of life and ultimately returning home, back to Godhead.

SB 4.23.14, Purport:

From the description in this verse, it appears that Mahārāja Pṛthu had no desire to promote himself to the higher planetary systems. He wanted to return home immediately, back to Godhead. Although Mahārāja Pṛthu stopped all practice of mystic yoga after realizing Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he took advantage of his previous practice and immediately placed himself on the brahma-bhūta platform in order to accelerate his return to Godhead. The aim of this particular system of āsana, known as the sitting posture for liberation, or muktāsana, is to attain success in kuṇḍalinī-cakra and gradually raise the life from the mūlādhāra-cakra to the svādhiṣṭhāna-cakra, then to the maṇipūra-cakra, the anāhata-cakra, the viśuddha-cakra, and finally to the ājñā-cakra. When the yogī reaches the ājñā-cakra, between the two eyebrows, he is able to penetrate the brahma-randhra, or the hole in his skull, and go to any planet he desires, up to the spiritual kingdom of Vaikuṇṭha, or Kṛṣṇaloka. The conclusion is that one has to come to the brahma-bhūta stage (SB 4.30.20) for going back to Godhead. However, those who are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or who are practicing bhakti-yoga (śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam (SB 7.5.23)), can return to Godhead without even practicing the muktāsana process.

SB 4.23.15, Purport:

When a living entity gives up the material coverings, he remains a spirit soul. This spirit soul must enter into the spiritual sky to merge into the Brahman effulgence. Unfortunately, unless the living entity has information of the spiritual world and the Vaikuṇṭhas, there is a 99.9 percent chance of his falling down again into material existence. There is, however, a small chance of being promoted to a spiritual planet from the Brahman effulgence, or the brahma-jyotir. This brahma-jyotir is considered by impersonalists to be without variety, and the Buddhists consider it to be void. In either case, whether one accepts the spiritual sky as being without variety or void, there is none of the spiritual bliss which is enjoyed in the spiritual planets, the Vaikuṇṭhas or Kṛṣṇaloka. In the absence of varieties of enjoyment, the spirit soul gradually feels an attraction to enjoy a life of bliss, and not having any information of Kṛṣṇaloka or Vaikuṇṭhaloka, he naturally falls down to material activities in order to enjoy material varieties.

SB 4.23.18, Purport:

"The spiritual master is honored as much as the Supreme Lord because he is the most confidential servitor of the Lord." Thus Pṛthu Mahārāja can also be called Prabhupāda, or, as described herein, prabhu. Another question may be raised in this connection. Since Pṛthu Mahārāja was a power incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, śaktyāveśa-avatāra, why did he have to execute the regulative principles in order to become a prabhu? Because he appeared on this earth as an ideal king and because it is the duty of the king to instruct the citizens in the execution of devotional service, he followed all the regulative principles of devotional service in order to teach others. Similarly, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, although Kṛṣṇa Himself, taught us how to approach Kṛṣṇa as a devotee. It is said, āpani ācari' bhakti śikhāinu sabāre. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu instructed others in the process of devotional service by setting the example Himself through His own personal actions. Similarly, Pṛthu Mahārāja, although a śaktyāveśa-avatāra incarnation, still behaved exactly as a devotee in order to achieve the position of prabhu. Furthermore, svarūpa-sthaḥ means "complete liberation." As it is said (SB 2.10.6), hitvānyathā-rūpaṁ svarūpeṇa vyavasthitiḥ: when a living entity abandons the activities of māyā and attains the position from which he can execute devotional service, his state is called svarūpa-sthaḥ, or complete liberation.

SB 4.23.28, Purport:

In this material world people are engaged in different activities simply to achieve a little success in sense gratification. The karmīs are engaged in performing very difficult activities, and thus they open gigantic factories, build huge cities, make big scientific discoveries, etc. In other words, they are engaged in performing very costly sacrifices in order to be promoted to the higher planetary systems. Similarly, yogīs are engaged in achieving a similar goal by accepting the tedious practices of mystic yoga. Jñānīs are engaged in philosophical speculation in order to gain release from the clutches of material nature. In these ways everyone is engaged in performing very difficult tasks simply for the gratification of the senses. All of these are considered to be engaged in sense gratificatory activities (or viṣaya) because they all demand some facility for material existence. Actually the results of such activities are temporary. As Kṛṣṇa Himself proclaims in Bhagavad-gītā (7.23), antavat tu phalaṁ teṣām: "The fruits (of those who worship the demigods) are limited and temporary." Thus the fruits of the activities of the yogīs, karmīs and jñānīs are ephemeral. Moreover, Kṛṣṇa says, tad bhavaty alpa-medhasām: "They are simply meant for men of small intelligence." The word viṣaya denotes sense gratification.

SB 4.24.9, Purport:

In the beginning of the creation there were not many living entities, and consequently the very powerful living entities or demigods were appointed as Prajāpatis in order to beget children and increase the population. There are many Prajāpatis—Brahmā, Dakṣa and Manu are sometimes known as Prajāpatis—and Barhiṣat, the son of Havirdhāna, became one of them.

SB 4.24.14, Purport:

Sometimes great sages and ascetics enter the Himalaya Mountains in order to find seclusion from the turmoil of the world. It appears, however, that all the Pracetās, the sons of Prācīnabarhi, entered the depths of the ocean to perform austerity in a secluded place. Since they performed austerities for ten thousand years, this incident took place in the Satya-yuga, when people used to live for a hundred thousand years. It is also significant that by their austerity they worshiped the master of austerity, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If one wants to perform austerities and penances in order to attain the supreme goal, one must attain the favor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If one achieves the favor of the Supreme Lord, it is to be understood that he has finished all kinds of austerities and penances and has attained efficiency in their execution. On the other hand, if one does not attain the perfect stage of devotional service, all austerities and penances actually have no meaning, for without the Supreme Lord no one can attain the highest results derived from performing them. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (5.29), Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the master of all penances and sacrifices. Bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram. Thus the desired result of performing austerities may be derived from Lord Kṛṣṇa.

SB 4.24.16, Purport:

Whenever there are some important talks between a devotee and the Lord or between exalted devotees, one should be very much curious to hear them. At the meeting of Naimiṣāraṇya, where Sūta Gosvāmī spoke Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to all the great sages, Sūta Gosvāmī was also asked about the talks between Mahārāja Parīkṣit and Śukadeva Gosvāmī, for the sages believed that the talks between Śukadeva Gosvāmī and Mahārāja Parīkṣit must have been as important as the talks between Lord Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna. As everyone is still eager to learn the subject of Bhagavad-gītā in order to become perfectly enlightened, Vidura was similarly eager to learn from the great sage Maitreya about the talks between Lord Śiva and the Pracetās.

SB 4.24.17, Purport:

Lord Śiva, speaking to Pārvatī-devī, foretold that he would spread the Māyāvāda philosophy in the guise of a sannyāsī brāhmaṇa just to eradicate Buddhist philosophy. This sannyāsī was Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya. In order to overcome the effects of Buddhist philosophy and spread Vedānta philosophy, Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya had to make some compromise with the Buddhist philosophy, and as such he preached the philosophy of monism, for it was required at that time. Otherwise there was no need for his preaching Māyāvāda philosophy. At the present moment there is no need for Māyāvāda philosophy or Buddhist philosophy, and Lord Caitanya rejected both of them. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is spreading the philosophy of Lord Caitanya and rejecting the philosophy of both classes of Māyāvādī. Strictly speaking, both Buddhist philosophy and Śaṅkara's philosophy are but different types of Māyāvāda dealing on the platform of material existence. Neither of these philosophies has spiritual significance. There is spiritual significance only after one accepts the philosophy of Bhagavad-gītā, which culminates in surrendering unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Generally people worship Lord Śiva for some material benefit, and although they cannot see him personally, they derive great material profit by worshiping him.

SB 4.24.18, Purport:

Lord Śiva's duty is very dangerous because he has to employ the energy of goddess Kālī (or Durgā). In another popular picture the goddess Kālī is sometimes seen standing on the prostrate body of Lord Śiva, which indicates that sometimes Lord Śiva has to fall down flat in order to stop goddess Kālī from killing the asuras. Since Lord Śiva controls the great material energy (goddess Durgā), worshipers of Lord Śiva attain very opulent positions within this material world. Under Lord Śiva's direction, a worshiper of Lord Śiva gets all kinds of material facilities. In contrast, a Vaiṣṇava, or worshiper of Lord Viṣṇu, gradually becomes poorer in material possessions because Lord Viṣṇu does not trick His devotees into becoming materially entangled by possessions.

SB 4.24.29, Purport:

As indicated in Bhagavad-gītā (8.16), one does not escape material miseries even if he is elevated to Brahmaloka (ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino 'rjuna). Similarly, one is not very safe even if he is promoted to Śivaloka, because the planet of Śivaloka is marginal. However, if one attains Vaikuṇṭhaloka, he attains the highest perfection of life and the end of the evolutionary process (mām upetya tu kaunteya punar janma na vidyate). In other words, it is confirmed herein that a person in human society who has developed consciousness must take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness in order to be promoted to Vaikuṇṭhaloka or Kṛṣṇaloka immediately after leaving the body. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti so 'rjuna (BG 4.9). A devotee who is fully in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, who is not attracted by any other loka, or planet, including Brahmaloka and Śivaloka, is immediately transferred to Kṛṣṇaloka (mām eti). That is the highest perfection of life and the perfection of the evolutionary process.

SB 4.24.36, Purport:

Hṛṣīkeśendriyātmane. The mind is the director of the senses, and Lord Aniruddha is the director of the mind. In order to execute devotional service, one has to fix his mind on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa; therefore Lord Śiva prays to the controller of the mind, Lord Aniruddha, to be pleased to help him engage his mind on the lotus feet of the Lord. It is stated in Bhagavad-gītā (9.34): man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī mām. namaskuru. The mind has to be engaged in meditation on the lotus feet of the Lord in order to execute devotional service. It is also stated in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15), mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca: from the Lord come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. Thus if Lord Aniruddha is pleased, He can help the mind engage in the service of the Lord. It is also indicated in this verse that Lord Aniruddha is the sun-god by virtue of His expansions. Since the predominating deity of the sun is an expansion of Lord Aniruddha, Lord Śiva also prays to the sun-god in this verse.

SB 4.24.39, Purport:

Even though one may desire to engage in the service of the Lord, without sanction one cannot do so. Lord Śiva is offering his prayers in so many different ways in order to show living entities how to engage in the devotional service of the Lord.

SB 4.24.52, Purport:

In Bhagavad-gītā it is said that in order to make spiritual progress, one must become fearless. Abhayaṁ sattva-saṁśuddhiḥ (BG 16.1). Fearfulness is the result of material involvement. It is also said in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.2.37), bhayaṁ dvitīyābhiniveśataḥ syāt: fearfulness is a creation of the bodily conception of life. As long as one is absorbed in the thought that he is this material body, he is fearful, and as soon as one is freed from this material conception, he becomes brahma-bhūta (SB 4.30.20), or self-realized, and immediately becomes fearless. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā (BG 18.54). Without being fearless, one cannot be joyful. The bhaktas, the devotees, are fearless and always joyful because they are constantly engaged in the service of the lotus feet of the Lord.

SB 4.24.57, Purport:

A bhakta always wants to retain his individuality in order to render service to the Lord. Indeed, he considers promotion to the upper planetary systems to be no better than a will-o'-the-wisp. Temporary, material happiness holds no value for a devotee. The devotee is in such an exalted position that he is not interested in the actions of karma or jñāna. The resultant actions of karma and jñāna are so insignificant to a devotee situated on the transcendental platform that he is not in the least interested in them. Bhakti-yoga is sufficient to give the bhakta all happiness. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.6): yayātmā suprasīdati. One can be fully satisfied simply by devotional service, and that is the result of association with a devotee. Without being blessed by a pure devotee, no one can be fully satisfied, nor can anyone understand the transcendental position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB 4.24.64, Purport:

The materialistic scientists' contention that living entities other than human beings have no soul is nullified herein. Whether they are born through an embryo, eggs, perspiration or seeds, all living entities in the 8,400,000 species of life are parts and parcels of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and each therefore is an individual spiritual spark and soul. The Supreme Personality of Godhead also remains within the heart of the living entity, regardless of whether the living entity is a man, animal, tree, germ or microbe. The Lord resides in everyone's heart, and because all living entities who come to this material world do so in order to fulfill their desire for sense enjoyment, the Lord directs the living entities to enjoy their senses. Thus the Paramātmā, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, knows everyone's desires.

SB 4.24.64, Purport:

Although the Paramātmā is aloof from the living entities, He knows their intentions, and He gives them facilities by which they can enjoy or suffer the results of their actions. Human society is exactly like a beehive, for everyone is engaged in collecting honey from various flowers, or collecting money from various sources, and creating large empires for common enjoyment. However, after these empires are created, the bites of other nations have to be suffered. Sometimes nations declare war upon one another, and the human beehives become sources of misery. Although human beings are creating their beehives in order to enjoy the sweetness of their senses, they are at the same time suffering from the bites of other persons or nations. The Supreme Personality of Godhead as Paramātmā is simply witnessing all these activities. The conclusion is that both the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the jīvas enter into this material world. However, the Paramātmā, or Supreme Personality of Godhead, is worshipable because He has arranged for the happiness of the living entity in the material world. Because it is the material world, however, no one can enjoy any kind of happiness without inebriety. Material enjoyment means inebriety, whereas spiritual enjoyment means pure enjoyment under the protection of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB 4.24.66, Purport:

These are some of the faults of modern civilization. Without taking to God consciousness and accepting the authority of the Lord, the living entities become ultimately confused and frustrated in their planmaking attempts. Due to their unauthorized plans for economic development, the price of commodities is rising daily all over the world, so much so that is has become difficult for the poorer classes, and they are suffering the consequences. And due to lack of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, people are being fooled by so-called leaders and planmakers. Consequently, the sufferings of the people are increasing. According to the laws of nature, which are backed by the Lord, nothing can be permanent within this material world; therefore everyone should be allowed to take shelter of the Absolute in order to be saved.

SB 4.24.69, Purport:

One may remain situated in his own place or his own occupational duty and still lend his ear to receive the message of the Lord from realized souls. The Kṛṣṇa conscious movement is based on this principle, and we are opening centers all over the world to give everyone a chance to hear the message of Lord Kṛṣṇa in order to go back home, back to Godhead.

SB 4.24.71, Translation:

My dear princes, in the form of a prayer I have delineated the yoga system of chanting the holy name. All of you should take this important stotra within your minds and promise to keep it in order to become great sages. By acting silently like a great sage and by giving attention and reverence, you should practice this method.

SB 4.25.1, Purport:

This chapter contains a great lesson concerning the monarchical kingdom in the days of yore. When King Barhiṣat was considering retiring from the royal duties, he sent his sons to perform austerities in order to become perfect kings for the welfare of the citizens. At the same time, King Barhiṣat was being instructed by the great sage Nārada about the material world and the living entity who wants to enjoy it. It is therefore very clear how the kings and princes were trained to take charge of a kingdom. Welfare activities for the benefit of the citizens were aimed at understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The human form of life is especially meant for understanding God, our relationship with Him and our activities in His service. Because the kings took charge of the spiritual education of the citizens, both the king and the citizens were happy in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In this regard, we should remember that the monarchical hierarchy of Prācīnabarhiṣat comes from Mahārāja Dhruva, a great devotee of the Lord and the most celebrated disciple of Nārada Muni. King Prācīnabarhiṣat was then too much engaged in fruitive activities due to performing different types of yajñas.

SB 4.25.4, Purport:

In this material world there is a great illusion which covers real intelligence. A man in the mode of passion wants to work very hard to derive some benefit, but he does not know that time will never allow him to enjoy anything permanently. Compared with the work one expends, the gain is not so profitable. Even if it is profitable, it is not without its distresses. If a man is not born rich and he wants to purchase a house, cars and other material things, he has to work hard day and night for many years in order to possess them. Thus happiness is not attained without undergoing some distress.

SB 4.25.5, Purport:

King Prācīnabarhiṣat admitted this fact and frankly asked Nārada Muni how he could get out of this karma-bandha-phāṅsa, entanglement in fruitive activities. This is actually the stage of knowledge indicated in the first verse of Vedānta-sūtra: athāto brahma jijñāsā. When one actually reaches the platform of frustration in an attempt to discharge karma-bandha-phāṅsa, he inquires about the real value of life, which is called brahma jijñāsā. In order to inquire about the ultimate goal of life, the Vedas enjoin, tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet: (MU 1.2.12) "In order to understand the transcendental science, one must approach a bona fide spiritual master."

SB 4.25.8, Purport:

Nārada Muni wanted to draw King Prācīnabarhiṣat's attention to the excesses of killing animals in sacrifices. It is said in the śāstras that by killing animals in a sacrifice, one immediately promotes them to human birth. Similarly, by killing their enemies on a battlefield, the kṣatriyas who fight for a right cause are elevated to the heavenly planets after death. In Manu-saṁhitā it is stated that it is necessary for a king to execute a murderer so that the murderer will not suffer for his criminal actions in his next life. On the basis of such understanding, Nārada Muni warns the King that the animals killed in sacrifices by the King await him at his death in order to avenge themselves. Nārada Muni is not contradicting himself here. Nārada Muni wanted to convince the King that overindulgence in animal sacrifice is risky because as soon as there is a small discrepancy in the execution of such a sacrifice, the slaughtered animal may not be promoted to a human form of life. Consequently, the person performing sacrifice will be responsible for the death of the animal, just as much as a murderer is responsible for killing another man.

SB 4.25.9, Purport:

The great sage Nārada Muni turned toward another topic—the history of King Purañjana. This is nothing but the history of King Prācīnabarhiṣat told in a different way. In other words, this is an allegorical presentation. The word purañjana means "one who enjoys in a body." This is clearly explained in the next few chapters. Because a person entangled in material activities wants to hear stories of material activities, Nārada Muni turned to the topics of King Purañjana, who is none other than King Prācīnabarhiṣat. Nārada Muni did not directly deprecate the value of performing sacrifices in which animals are sacrificed. Lord Buddha, however, directly rejected all animal sacrifice. Śrīla Jayadeva Gosvāmī has stated: nindasi yajña-vidher ahaha śruti-jātam. The word śruti jātam indicates that in the Vedas animal sacrifice is recommended, but Lord Buddha directly denied Vedic authority in order to stop animal sacrifice. Consequently Lord Buddha is not accepted by the followers of the Vedas. Because he does not accept the authority of the Vedas, Lord Buddha is depicted as an agnostic or atheist. The great sage Nārada cannot decry the authority of the Vedas, but he wanted to indicate to King Prācīnabarhiṣat that the path of karma-kāṇḍa is very difficult and risky.

SB 4.25.9, Purport:

In the propagation of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, we actually see that many people are not attracted because they are mūḍhas engaged in fruitive activity. It is said: upadeśo hi mūrkhāṇāṁ prakopāya na śāntaye. If good instructions are given to a foolish rascal, he simply becomes angry and turns against the instructions instead of taking advantage of them. Because Nārada Muni knew this very well, he indirectly instructed the King by giving him the history of his entire life. In order to wear a gold or diamond nose pin or earring, one has to pierce the ear or nose. Such pain endured for the sake of sense gratification is endured on the path of karma-kāṇḍa, the path of fruitive activity. If one wishes to enjoy something in the future, he has to endure trouble in the present. If one wants to become a millionaire in the future and enjoy his riches, he has to work very hard at the present moment in order to accumulate money. This is karma-kāṇḍīya. Those who are too much attached to such a path undergo the risk anyway. Nārada Muni wanted to show King Prācīnabarhiṣat how one undergoes great troubles and miseries in order to engage in fruitive activity. A person who is very much attached to material activity is called viṣayī. A viṣayī is an enjoyer of viṣaya, which means eating, sleeping, mating and defending. Nārada Muni is indirectly indicating through the story of King Purañjana that eating, sleeping, mating and defending are troublesome and risky.

SB 4.25.13, Purport:

In India, the climatic condition is such that one can live very peacefully without being disturbed by material conditions. Indeed, during the time of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira or Lord Rāmacandra, people were free from all anxieties. There was not even extreme cold or extreme heat. The three kinds of miserable conditions-adhyātmika, adhibhautika and adhidaivika (miseries inflicted by the body and mind itself, those inflicted by other living entities, and natural disturbances)—were all absent during the reign of Lord Rāmacandra or Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira. But at present, compared to other countries on earth, India is artificially disturbed. Despite these material disturbances, however, the country's culture is such that one can easily attain the goal of life—namely salvation, or liberation from material bondage. Thus in order to take birth in India one must have performed many pious activities in a past life.

SB 4.25.27, Purport:

The hundreds of women under the jurisdiction of the senses are addressed here as lalanāḥ. The mind works under the intelligence, and under the mind are the ten senses, and under the ten senses are innumerable desires to be fulfilled. All these, however, depend on the vital life-force, which is here represented by the snake. As long as the vital life-force is there, the mind works, and under the mind the senses work, and the senses give rise to so many material desires. Actually the living entity, known as purañjana, is embarrassed by so much paraphernalia. All this paraphernalia simply constitutes different sources of anxiety, but one who is surrendered unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and who leaves all business to Him, is freed from such anxieties. Therefore Prahlāda Mahārāja advises a person who has taken to the materialistic way of life, which is never permanent but always temporary, to take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and leave aside all his so-called responsibilities in order to get free from all anxieties.

SB 4.25.28, Purport:

Everyone thinks that his intelligence is perfect. Sometimes one employs his intelligence in the worship of Umā, the wife of Lord Śiva, in order to obtain a beautiful wife. Sometimes, when one wants to become as learned as Lord Brahmā, he employs his intelligence in the worship of the goddess of learning, Sarasvatī. Sometimes, when one wishes to become as opulent as Lord Viṣṇu, he worships the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī. In this verse all these inquiries are made by King Purañjana, the living entity who is bewildered and does not know how to employ his intelligence. Intelligence should be employed in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As soon as one uses his intelligence in this way, the goddess of fortune automatically becomes favorable to him.

SB 4.25.36, Purport:

When a devotee is advancing toward spiritual realization, his only aim is the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He does not care for any other material or spiritual activity. King Purañjana represents the ordinary living entity, and the woman represents the ordinary living entity's intelligence. Combined, the living entity enjoys his material senses, and the intelligence supplies all paraphernalia for his enjoyment. As soon as he enters the human form, the living entity is entrapped by a family tradition, nationality, customs, etc. These are all supplied by the māyā of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus the living entity, under the bodily conception of life, utilizes his intelligence to his best capacity in order to satisfy his senses.

SB 4.25.51, Purport:

One who is interested in being happy on this planet as well as after death generally wants to be elevated to the Pitṛlokas. Such a person can use the right ear for hearing Vedic instructions. However, one who is interested in going to Tapoloka, Brahmaloka, the Vaikuṇṭha planets or Kṛṣṇaloka may take initiation from the spiritual master in order to be elevated to such lokas.

SB 4.26.7, Purport:

Just as a government may issue trade licenses in order for its citizens to act in a certain way, the Vedas contain injunctions that restrain and regulate all of our fruitive activities. All living entities have come into this material world to enjoy themselves. Consequently, the Vedas are given to regulate sense enjoyment. One who enjoys his senses under the Vedic regulative principles does not become entangled in the actions and reactions of his activities. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (3.9), yajñārthāt karmaṇaḥ: one should act only for the performance of yajña, or to satisfy Lord Viṣṇu. Anyatra loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ: otherwise any action will produce a reaction by which the living entity will be bound. A human being is especially meant to attain liberation from the bondage of birth, death, old age and disease. He is therefore directed by the Vedic regulative principles to work in such a way that he may fulfill his desires for sense gratification and at the same time gradually become freed from material bondage. Action according to such principles is called knowledge. Indeed, the word veda means "knowledge." The words jñānena na sa lipyate indicate that by following the Vedic principles, one does not become involved in the actions and reactions of his fruitive activities.

SB 4.26.15, Purport:

Actually, a woman is supposed to be the energy of the man. Historically, in the background of every great man there is either a mother or a wife. One's household life is very successful if he has both a good wife and mother. In such a case, everything about household affairs and all the paraphernalia in the house becomes very pleasing. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu had both a good mother and pleasing wife, and He was very happy at home. Nonetheless, for the benefit of the whole human race, He took sannyāsa and left both His mother and wife. In other words, it is essential that one have both a good mother and wife in order to become perfectly happy at home. Otherwise home life has no meaning. Unless one is religiously guided by intelligence and renders devotional service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his home can never become very pleasing to a saintly person. In other words, if a man has a good mother or a good wife, there is no need of his taking sannyāsa—that is, unless it is absolutely necessary, as it was for Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

SB 4.27.8, Translation:

After this, King Purañjana, King of the Pañcāla country, in order to increase the descendants of his paternal family, married his sons with qualified wives and married his daughters with qualified husbands.

SB 4.27.12, Purport:

The sage next met a saintly person and said to him, "You may either live or die." Eventually the sage met a brahmacārī devotee, and he blessed him, saying, "My dear devotee, you may die immediately." Finally the sage met a hunter, and he blessed him, saying, "Neither live nor die." The point is that those who are very sensual and are engaged in sense gratification do not wish to die. Generally a prince has enough money to enjoy his senses; therefore the great sage said that he should live forever, for as long as he lived he could enjoy life, but after his death he would go to hell. Since the brahmacārī devotee was leading a life of severe austerities and penances in order to be promoted back to Godhead, the sage said that he should die immediately so that he need not continue to labor hard and could instead go back home, back to Godhead. A saintly person may either live or die, for during his life he is engaged in serving the Lord and after his death he also serves the Lord. Thus this life and the next are the same for a saintly devotee, for in both he serves the Lord. Since the hunter lives a very ghastly life due to killing animals, and since he will go to hell when he dies, he is advised to neither live nor die.

SB 4.27.20, Purport:

When Śukrācārya's daughter was married to King Yayāti, one of her friends named Śarmiṣṭhā went with her. Later King Yayāti became very much attached to Śarmiṣṭhā, and Śukrācārya's daughter complained to her father. Consequently, Śukrācārya cursed King Yayāti to become prematurely old. King Yayāti had five youthful sons, and he begged all his sons to exchange their youth for his old age. No one agreed except the youngest son, whose name was Pūru. Upon accepting Yayāti's old age, Pūru was given the kingdom. It is said that two of Yayāti's other sons, being disobedient to their father, were given kingdoms outside of India, most probably Turkey and Greece. The purport is that one can accumulate wealth and all kinds of material opulences, but during old age one cannot enjoy them. Although Pūru attained his father's kingdom, he could not enjoy all the opulence, for he had sacrificed his youth. One should not wait for old age in order to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. Due to the invalidity of old age, one cannot make progress in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, however opulent he may be materially.

SB 4.28.20, Purport:

Such mental absorption with some sense object brings about the living entity's struggle for existence in this material world. Since King Purañjana is thinking of his wife, his struggle for existence in the material world will not be ended by death. As revealed in the following verses, King Purañjana had to accept the body of a woman in his next life due to his being overly absorbed in thoughts of his wife. Thus mental absorption in social, political, pseudoreligious, national and communal consciousness is cause for bondage. During one's lifetime one has to change his activities in order to attain release from bondage. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (3.9). Yajñārthāt karmaṇo 'nyatra loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ. If we do not change our consciousness in this life, whatever we do in the name of social, political, religious or communal and national welfare will be the cause of our bondage. This means we have to continue in material, conditional life. As explained in Bhagavad-gītā (15.7), manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati. When the mind and senses are engaged in material activities, one has to continue his material existence and struggle to attain happiness. In each and every life one is engaged in the struggle to become happy.

SB 4.28.33, Translation:

After this, the great saintly King Malayadhvaja divided his entire kingdom among his sons. Then, in order to worship Lord Kṛṣṇa with full attention, he went to a solitary place known as Kulācala.

SB 4.28.37, Purport:

The common man has to undergo much austerity to become equipoised before dualities. One who becomes agitated by the relativities of life has accepted a relative position and must therefore undergo the austerities prescribed in the śāstras to transcend the material body and put an end to material existence. King Malayadhvaja underwent severe austerities by leaving his home, going to Kulācala, taking his bath in the sacred rivers and eating only vegetables like stems, roots, seeds, flowers and leaves, avoiding any cooked food or grains. These are very, very austere practices. In this age it is very difficult to leave home and go to the forest or the Himalayas to adopt the processes of austerity. Indeed, it is almost impossible. If one is even advised to give up meat-eating, drinking, gambling and illicit sex, one will fail to do so. What, then, would a person do if he went to the Himalayas or Kulācala? Such acts of renunciation are not possible in this age; therefore Lord Kṛṣṇa has advised us to accept the bhakti-yoga process. Bhakti-yoga will automatically liberate a person from the dualities of life. In bhakti-yoga, Kṛṣṇa is the center, and Kṛṣṇa is always transcendental. Thus in order to transcend dualities, one must always engage in the service of the Lord, as confirmed by Bhagavad-gītā (14.26):

māṁ ca yo 'vyabhicāreṇa
bhakti-yogena sevate
sa guṇān samatītyaitān
brahma-bhūyāya kalpate

"One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman."

SB 4.28.48, Purport:

The main business of human society is to think of the Supreme Personality of Godhead at all times, to become His devotees, to worship the Supreme Lord and to bow down before Him. The ācārya, the authorized representative of the Supreme Lord, establishes these principles, but when he disappears, things once again become disordered. The perfect disciples of the ācārya try to relieve the situation by sincerely following the instructions of the spiritual master. At the present moment practically the entire world is afraid of rogues and nondevotees; therefore this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is started to save the world from irreligious principles. Everyone should cooperate with this movement in order to bring about actual peace and happiness in the world.

SB 4.28.53, Purport:

"O scion of Bharata (Arjuna), O conqueror of the foe, all living entities are born into delusion, overcome by the dualities of desire and hate." This is an explanation of how the living entity falls down into this material world. In the spiritual world there is no duality, nor is there hate. The Supreme Personality of Godhead expands Himself into many. In order to enjoy bliss more and more, the Supreme Lord expands Himself in different categories. As mentioned in the Varāha Purāṇa, He expands Himself in viṣṇu-tattva (the svāṁśa expansion) and in His marginal potency (the vibhinnāṁśa, or the living entity). These expanded living entities are innumerable, just as the minute molecules of sunshine are innumerable expansions of the sun. The vibhinnāṁśa expansions, the marginal potencies of the Lord, are the living entities. When the living entities desire to enjoy themselves, they develop a consciousness of duality and come to hate the service of the Lord. In this way the living entities fall into the material world.

SB 4.29.46, Purport:

When one is engaged in devotional service, he is no longer attracted to material activities. When a man is covered by different designations, he cannot engage in devotional service. One has to become freed from such designative activities (sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam (CC Madhya 19.170)) and become pure in order to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead through purified senses. Hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate: the service of the Lord through purified senses is called bhakti-yoga, or devotional service. The sincere devotee is always helped by the Supersoul, who resides within the heart of every living entity, as Lord Kṛṣṇa confirms in Bhagavad-gītā (10.10):

teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ
bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ
yena mām upayānti te

"To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me."

SB 4.30.44, Purport:

King Prācīnabarhiṣat left his kingdom before his sons arrived after their execution of penance and austerity. The sons, the Pracetās, were ordered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead to come out of the water and go to the kingdom of their father in order to take care of that kingdom. However, when they came out, they saw that everything had been neglected due to the King's absence. They first observed that food grains were not being produced and that there were no agricultural activities. Indeed, the surface of the world was practically covered by very tall trees. It seemed as though the trees were determined to stop people from going into outer space to reach the heavenly kingdoms. The Pracetās became very angry when they saw the surface of the globe covered in this way. They desired that the land be cleared for crops.

SB 4.31.1, Purport:

After the Pracetās had finished their penances, they were blessed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord blessed them by telling them that after finishing their family life they would return home, back to Godhead, in due course of time. After finishing their family life, which lasted thousands of years according to the calculations of the demigods, the Pracetās decided to leave home, putting their wife in the charge of a son named Dakṣa. This is the process of Vedic civilization. In the beginning of life, as a brahmacārī, one has to undergo severe penances and austerities in order to be educated in spiritual values. The brahmacārī, or student, is never allowed to mingle with women and learn from the beginning of life about sex enjoyment. The basic flaw in modern civilization is that boys and girls are given freedom during school and college to enjoy sex life. Most of the children are varṇa-saṅkara, meaning "born of undesirable fathers and mothers." Consequently, the whole world is in chaos. Actually, human civilization should be based on the Vedic principles. This means that in the beginning of life boys and girls should undergo penances and austerities. When they are grown, they should get married, live for some time at home and beget children. When the children are grown up, the man should leave home and search for Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In this way one can make one's life perfect by going home to the kingdom of God.

SB 4.31.7, Purport:

The Pracetās requested Nārada to enlighten them in transcendental knowledge. Generally when a common man meets a saintly person, he wishes to get some material benediction. However, the Pracetās were not interested in material benefit, for they had enjoyed all this sufficiently. Nor did they want the fulfillment of their material desires. They were simply interested in crossing the ocean of nescience. Everyone should be interested in getting out of these material clutches. Everyone should approach a saintly person in order to be enlightened in this connection. One should not bother a saintly person to get blessings for material enjoyment. Generally, householders receive saintly persons to get their blessings, but their real aim is to become happy in the material world. Asking such material benedictions is not recommended in the śāstras.

SB 4.31.14, Purport:

Sometimes people ask why this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement simply advocates worship of Kṛṣṇa to the exclusion of the demigods. The answer is given in this verse. The example of pouring water on the root of a tree is very appropriate. In Bhagavad-gītā (15.1) it is said, ūrdhva-mūlam adhaḥ-śākham: this cosmic manifestation has expanded downward, and the root is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As the Lord confirms in Bhagavad-gītā (10.8), ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ: "I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds." Kṛṣṇa is the root of everything; therefore rendering service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa (kṛṣṇa-sevā), means automatically serving all the demigods. Sometimes it is argued that karma and jñāna require a mixture of bhakti in order to be successfully executed, and sometimes it is argued that bhakti also requires karma and jñāna for its successful termination. The fact is, however, that although karma and jñāna cannot be successful without bhakti, bhakti does not require the help of karma and jñāna. Actually, as described by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam: (CC Madhya 19.167) pure devotional service should not be contaminated by the touch of karma and jñāna.

SB Canto 5

SB 5.1.29, Purport:

To maintain such a life of strict vigilance, one needs encouragement from his wife. In the varṇāśrama-dharma system, certain classes, such as the brāhmaṇas and sannyāsīs, do not need encouragement from the opposite sex. Kṣatriyas and gṛhasthas, however, actually need the encouragement of their wives in order to execute their duties. Indeed, a gṛhastha or kṣatriya cannot properly execute his responsibilities without the association of his wife. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu personally admitted that a gṛhastha must live with a wife. Kṣatriyas were even allowed to have many wives to encourage them in discharging the duties of government. The association of a good wife is necessary in a life of karma and political affairs. To execute his duties properly, therefore. Mahārāja Priyavrata took advantage of his good wife Barhiṣmatī, who was always very expert in pleasing her great husband by properly dressing herself, smiling, and exhibiting her feminine bodily features. Queen Barhiṣmatī always kept Mahārāja Priyavrata very encouraged, and thus he executed his governmental duty very properly. In this verse iva has twice been used to indicate that Mahārāja Priyavrata acted exactly like a henpecked husband and thereby seemed to have lost his sense of human responsibility. Actually, however, he was fully conscious of his position as a spirit soul, although he seemingly behaved like an acquiescent karmī husband. Mahārāja Priyavrata thus ruled the universe for eleven arbudas of years. One arbuda consists of 100,000,000 years, and Mahārāja Priyavrata ruled the universe for eleven such arbudas.

SB 5.2.21, Purport:

The ācāryas specifically mention that in this verse the words mātuḥ anugrahāt ("by the mercy of their mother") refer to the breast milk of their mother. In India it is a common belief that if a baby is fed his mother's milk for at least six months, his body will be very strong. Besides that, it is mentioned herein that all the sons of Āgnīdhra were endowed with the nature of their mother. Bhagavad-gītā (1.40) also declares, strīṣu duṣṭāsu vārṣṇeya jāyate varṇa-saṅkaraḥ: when women are polluted, varṇa-saṅkara, unqualified children, are generated, and when the varṇa-saṅkara population increases, the entire world becomes hellish. Therefore, according to Manu-saṁhitā, a woman needs a great deal of protection in order to remain pure and chaste so that her children can be fully engaged for the benefit of human society.

SB 5.3.9, Translation:

O Lord of lords, we are completely ignorant of the execution of dharma, artha, kāma and mokṣa, the process of liberation, because we do not actually know the goal of life. You have appeared personally before us like a person soliciting worship, but actually You are present here just so we can see You. You have come out of Your abundant and causeless mercy in order to serve our purpose, our interest, and give us the benefit of Your personal glory called apavarga, liberation. You have come, although You are not properly worshiped by us due to our ignorance.

SB 5.3.9, Purport:

Lord Viṣṇu was personally present at the sacrificial arena, but this does not mean that He had any interest in His own personal benefit. Similarly, the arcā-vigraha, the Deity in the temple, is present for the same purpose. Out of His causeless mercy, the Supreme Personality of Godhead presents Himself before us so that we can see Him. Since we have no transcendental vision, we cannot see the spiritual sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1) of the Lord; therefore, out of His causeless mercy He comes in a form we can see. We can only see material things like stone and wood, and therefore He accepts a form of stone and wood and thus accepts our service in the temple. This is an exhibition of the Lord's causeless mercy. Although He has no interest in such things, in order to receive our loving service, He agrees to act as He does. We cannot actually offer suitable paraphernalia for the Lord's worship because we are completely ignorant. It was out of His causeless mercy that the Lord appeared in the sacrificial arena of Mahārāja Nābhi.

SB 5.3.14, Purport:

If one is serious about escaping māyā's influence and returning home, back to Godhead, one must associate with a sādhu (devotee). That is the verdict of all scriptures. By the slight association of a devotee, one can be freed from the clutches of māyā. Without the mercy of the pure devotee, one cannot get freedom by any means. Certainly a pure devotee's association is necessary in order to obtain the loving service of the Lord. One cannot be freed from māyā's clutches without sādhu-saṅga (CC Madhya 22.83), the benediction of a great devotee. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (7.5.32) Prahlāda Mahārāja says:

naiṣāṁ matis tāvad urukramāṅghriṁ
spṛśaty anarthāpagamo yad arthaḥ
mahīyasāṁ pāda-rajo-'bhiṣekaṁ
niṣkiñcanānāṁ na vṛṇīta yāvat

One cannot become the Lord's pure devotee without taking the dust of a great devotee on his head (pāda-rajo-'bhiṣekam). A pure devotee is niṣkiñcana; he has no material desire to enjoy the material world. One has to take shelter of such a pure devotee in order to attain his qualities. The pure devotee is always free from the clutches of māyā and her influence.

SB 5.4.3, Purport:

When yajña-pati wants to, He can do anything without the help of any subordinate. Therefore the Supreme Lord is known as almighty. In the present age of Kali there will eventually be a great scarcity of water (anāvṛṣṭi), for the general populace, due to ignorance and the scarcity of yajñic ingredients, will neglect to perform yajñas. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam therefore advises: yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyaiḥ yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ. After all, yajña is meant to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this age of Kali. there is great scarcity and ignorance; nonetheless, everyone can perform saṅkīrtana-yajña. Every family in every society can conduct saṅkīrtana-yajña at least every evening. In this way there will be no disturbance or scarcity of rain. It is essential for the people in this age to perform the saṅkīrtana-yajña in order to be materially happy and to advance spiritually.

SB 5.4.8, Purport:

Being an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Ṛṣabhadeva had nothing to do with material affairs. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām: (BG 4.8) the purpose of an incarnation is to liberate His devotees and to stop the demoniac activities of nondevotees. These are the two functions of the Supreme Lord when He incarnates. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has said that in order to preach, one must live a practical life and show people how to do things. Āpani ācari' bhakti śikhāimu sabāre. One cannot teach others unless he behaves the same way himself. Ṛṣabhadeva was an ideal king, and He took His education in the gurukula, although He was already educated because the Supreme Lord is omniscient. Although Ṛṣabhadeva had nothing to learn from gurukula, He went there just to teach the people in general how to take an education from the right source, from Vedic teachers. He then entered householder life and lived according to the principles of Vedic knowledge—śruti and smṛti.

SB 5.4.14, Purport:

The varṇāśrama-dharma is meant for imperfect, conditioned souls. It trains them to become spiritually advanced in order to return home, back to Godhead. A civilization that does not know the highest aim of life is no better than an animal society. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum (SB 7.5.31). A human society is meant for elevation to spiritual knowledge so that all of the people can be freed from the clutches of birth, death, old age and disease. The varṇāśrama-dharma enables human society to become perfectly fit for getting out of the clutches of māyā, and by following the regulative principles of varṇāśrama-dharma, one can become successful. In this regard, see Bhagavad-gītā (3.21-24).

SB 5.4.16, Purport:

Although Ṛṣabhadeva knew all the Vedic instructions perfectly well, He nonetheless followed the instructions of the brāhmaṇas in order to perfectly maintain the social order. The brāhmaṇas would give advice according to the śāstras, and all the other castes would follow. The word brahma means "perfect knowledge of all activities," and this knowledge is very confidentially described in the Vedic literatures. Men trained perfectly as brāhmaṇas should know all Vedic literature, and the benefit derived from this literature should be distributed to the general populace. The general populace should follow the perfect brāhmaṇa. In this way, one can learn how to control the mind and senses and thus gradually advance to spiritual perfection.

SB 5.4.17, Purport:

It is said, kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha (SB 7.6.1). A ritual should be performed by young men, even boys, at a tender age in order for the ritual to be performed successfully. From childhood, people should be trained in Vedic culture, especially in devotional service. In this way, one can perfect one's life. A Vaiṣṇava does not disrespect the demigods, but on the other hand he is not so foolish that he accepts each and every demigod as the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord is master of all demigods; therefore the demigods are His servants. The Vaiṣṇava, accepting the demigods as servants of the Supreme Lord, worships them properly. In the Brahma-saṁhitā, the important demigods—Lord Śiva, Lord Brahmā and even the incarnations and expansions of Lord Kṛṣṇa like Mahā-viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu and all the other viṣṇu-tattvas, as well as the śakti-tattvas like Durgādevī—are all worshiped by the process of worshiping Govinda with the words govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi **. A Vaiṣṇava worships the demigods in relation to Govinda, not independently. Vaiṣṇavas are not so foolish that they consider the demigods independent of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is confirmed in Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa, āra saba bhṛtya: (CC Adi 5.142) the supreme master is Kṛṣṇa, and all others are His servants.

SB 5.5.1, Purport:

Animals like dogs and hogs enjoy sense gratification by eating stool. After undergoing severe hardships all day, human beings are trying to enjoy themselves at night by eating, drinking, having sex and sleeping. At the same time, they have to properly defend themselves. However, this is not human civilization. Human life means voluntarily practicing suffering for the advancement of spiritual life. There is, of course, suffering in the lives of animals and plants, which are suffering due to their past misdeeds. However, human beings should voluntarily accept suffering in the form of austerities and penances in order to attain the divine life. After attaining the divine life, one can enjoy happiness eternally. After all, every living entity is trying to enjoy happiness, but as long as one is encaged in the material body, he has to suffer different kinds of misery. A higher sense is present in the human form. We should act according to superior advice in order to attain eternal happiness and go back to Godhead.

SB 5.5.1, Purport:

Without Kṛṣṇa consciousness a person is no better than a hog or dog. The instructions of Ṛṣabhadeva are very essential at the present moment. People are being educated and trained to work very hard for sense gratification, and there is no sublime aim in life. A man travels to earn his livelihood, leaving home early in the morning, catching a local train and being packed in a compartment. He has to stand for an hour or two in order to reach his place of business. Then again he takes a bus to get to the office. At the office he works hard from nine to five; then he takes two or three hours to return home. After eating, he has sex and goes to sleep. For all this hardship, his only happiness is a little sex. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tuccham (SB 7.9.45). Ṛṣabhadeva clearly states that human life is not meant for this kind of existence, which is enjoyed even by dogs and hogs. Indeed, dogs and hogs do not have to work so hard for sex. A human being should try to live in a different way and should not try to imitate dogs and hogs. The alternative is mentioned. Human life is meant for tapasya, austerity and penance. By tapasya, one can get out of the material clutches. When one is situated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, devotional service, his happiness is guaranteed eternally. By taking to bhakti-yoga, devotional service, one's existence is purified.

SB 5.5.5, Purport:

Generally people think that one should act very piously in order to be relieved from misery, but this is not a fact. Even though one engages in pious activity and speculation, he is nonetheless defeated. His only aim should be emancipation from the clutches of māyā and all material activities. Speculative knowledge and pious activity do not solve the problems of material life. One should be inquisitive to understand his spiritual position. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (4.37):

yathaidhāṁsi samiddho 'gnir
bhasmasāt kurute 'rjuna
jñānāgniḥ sarva-karmāṇi
bhasmasāt kurute tathā

"As a blazing fire turns firewood to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge burn to ashes all reactions to material activities."

SB 5.5.21-22, Purport:

In this verse the brāhmaṇas are given a position superior to that of the Supreme Lord. The idea is that the government should be conducted under the guidance of the brāhmaṇas. Although Ṛṣabhadeva recommended His eldest son, Bharata, as emperor of the earth, he still had to follow the instructions of the brāhmaṇas in order to govern the world perfectly. The Lord is worshiped as brahmaṇya-deva. The Lord is very fond of devotees, or brāhmaṇas. This does not refer to so-called caste brāhmaṇas, but to qualified brāhmaṇas. A brāhmaṇa should be qualified with the eight qualities mentioned in text 24, such as śama, dama, satya and titikṣā. The brāhmaṇas should always be worshiped. and under their guidance the ruler should discharge his duty and rule the citizens. Unfortunately, in this age of Kali, the executive is not selected by very intelligent people, nor is he guided by qualified brāhmaṇas. Consequently, chaos results. The mass of people should be educated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness so that according to the democratic process they can select a first-class devotee like Bharata Mahārāja to head the government. If the head of the state is headed by qualified brāhmaṇas, everything is completely perfect.

SB 5.5.24, Purport:

One who actually assimilated the essence of the Vedas can preach the truth. He is compassionate to conditioned souls who are suffering the threefold miseries of this conditional world due to their not being Kṛṣṇa conscious. A brāhmaṇa should take pity on the people and preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness in order to elevate them. Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, personally descends into this universe from the spiritual kingdom to teach conditioned souls about the values of spiritual life. He tries to induce them to surrender unto Him. Similarly, the brāhmaṇas do the same thing. After assimilating the Vedic instructions, they assist the Supreme Lord in His endeavor to deliver conditioned souls. The brāhmaṇas are very dear to the Supreme Lord due to their high sattva-guṇa qualities, and they also engage in welfare activities for all conditioned souls in the material world.

SB 5.5.28, Translation:

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Thus the great well-wisher of everyone, the Supreme Lord Ṛṣabhadeva, instructed His own sons. Although they were perfectly educated and cultured, He instructed them just to set an example of how a father should instruct his sons before retiring from family life. Sannyāsīs, who are no longer bound by fruitive activity and who have taken to devotional service after all their material desires have been vanquished, also learn by these instructions. Lord Ṛṣabhadeva instructed His one hundred sons, of whom the eldest, Bharata, was a very advanced devotee and a follower of Vaiṣṇavas. In order to rule the whole world, the Lord enthroned His eldest son on the royal seat. Thereafter, although still at home, Lord Ṛṣabhadeva lived like a madman, naked and with disheveled hair. Then the Lord took the sacrificial fire within Himself, and He left Brahmāvarta to tour the whole world.

SB 5.5.32, Translation:

When Lord Ṛṣabhadeva saw that the general populace was very antagonistic to His execution of mystic yoga, He accepted the behavior of a python in order to counteract their opposition. Thus He stayed in one place and lay down. While lying down, He ate and drank, and He passed stool and urine and rolled in it. Indeed, He smeared His whole body with His own stool and urine so that opposing elements might not come and disturb Him.

SB 5.6.17, Translation:

Devotees always bathe themselves in devotional service in order to be relieved from the various tribulations of material existence. By doing this, the devotees enjoy supreme bliss, and liberation personified comes to serve them. Nonetheless, they do not accept that service, even if it is offered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. For the devotees, liberation (mukti) is very unimportant because, having attained the Lord's transcendental loving service, they have attained everything desirable and have transcended all material desires.

SB 5.7.11, Purport:

"The supreme occupation (dharma) for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted in order to completely satisfy the self. By rendering devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, one immediately acquires causeless knowledge and detachment from the world." (SB 1.2.6-7)

These are the instructions given in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the supreme Vedic literature. One may not be able to go to Pulaha-āśrama, but wherever one is one can happily render devotional service to the Lord by adopting the processes mentioned above.

SB 5.8.13, Purport:

Mahārāja Bharata left his home, wife, children, kingdom and everything else to advance his spiritual life in the forest, but again he fell victim to material affection due to his attachment to an insignificant pet deer. What, then, was the use of his renouncing his family? One who is serious in advancing his spiritual life should be very cautious not to become attached to anything but Kṛṣṇa. Sometimes, in order to preach, we have to accept many material activities, but we should remember that everything is for Kṛṣṇa. If we remember this, there is no chance of our being victimized by material activities.

SB 5.9 Summary:

In this chapter Bharata Mahārāja's attainment of the body of a brāhmaṇa is described. In this body he remained like one dull, deaf and dumb, so much so that when he was brought before the goddess Kālī to be killed as a sacrifice, he never protested but remained silent. After having given up the body of a deer, he took birth in the womb of the youngest wife of a brāhmaṇa. In this life he could also remember the activities of his past life, and in order to avoid the influence of society, he remained like a deaf and dumb person. He was very careful not to fall down again. He did not mix with anyone who was not a devotee. This process should be adopted by every devotee. As advised by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu: asat-saṅga-tyāga-ei vaiṣṇava-ācāra (CC Madhya 22.87). One should strictly avoid the company of nondevotees, even though they may be family members. When Bharata Mahārāja was in the body of a brāhmaṇa, the people in the neighborhood thought of him as a crazy, dull fellow, but within he was always chanting and remembering Vāsudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB 5.10.15, Purport:

Through the disciplic succession the royal order was on the same platform as great saintly persons (rāja-ṛṣis). Formerly they could understand the philosophy of life and knew how to train the citizens to come to the same standard. In other words, they knew how to deliver the citizens from the entanglement of birth and death. When Mahārāja Daśaratha ruled Ayodhyā, the great sage Viśvāmitra once came to him to take away Lord Rāmacandra and Lakṣmaṇa to the forest to kill a demon. When the saintly person Viśvāmitra came to the court of Mahārāja Daśaratha, the King, in order to receive the saintly person, asked him, aihiṣṭaṁ yat tat punar janma jayāya. He asked the sage whether everything was going on well in his endeavor to conquer the repetition of birth and death. The whole process of Vedic civilization is based on this point. We must know how to conquer the repetition of birth and death. Mahārāja Rahūgaṇa also knew the purpose of life; therefore when Jaḍa Bharata put the philosophy of life before him, he immediately appreciated it. This is the foundation of Vedic society. Learned scholars, brāhmaṇas, saintly persons and sages who were fully aware of the Vedic purpose advised the royal order how to benefit the general masses, and by their cooperation, the general masses were benefited. Therefore everything was successful. Mahārāja Rahūgaṇa attained this perfection of understanding the value of human life; therefore he regretted his insulting words to Jaḍa Bharata, and he immediately descended from his palanquin and fell down at the lotus feet of Jaḍa Bharata in order to be excused and to hear from him further about the values of life known as brahma jijñāsā (inquiry into the Absolute Truth). At the present moment, high government officials are ignorant of the values of life, and when saintly persons endeavor to broadcast the Vedic knowledge, the so-called executives do not offer their respectful obeisances but try to obstruct the spiritual propaganda. Thus one can say that the former kingly government was like heaven and that the present government is like hell.

SB 5.11.2, Purport:

The veda-vāda followers of the Vedas are generally inclined to karma-kāṇḍa, the performance of sacrifice according to the Vedic injunctions. They are thereby promoted to higher planetary systems. They generally practice the Cāturmāsya system. Akṣayyaṁ ha vai cāturmāsya-yājinaḥ sukṛtaṁ bhavati: one who performs the cāturmāsya-yajña becomes pious. By becoming pious, one may be promoted to the higher planetary systems (ūrdhvaṁ gacchanti sattva-sthāḥ (BG 14.18)). Some of the followers of the Vedas are attached to karma-kāṇḍa, the fruitive activities of the Vedas, in order to be promoted to a higher standard of life. Others argue that this is not the purpose of the Vedas. Tad yathaiveha karma jitaḥ lokaḥ kṣīyate evam evam utra puṇya jitaḥ lokaḥ kṣīyate. In this world someone may become very highly elevated by taking birth in an aristocratic family, by being well educated, beautiful or very rich. These are the gifts for pious activities enacted in the past life. However, these will be finished when the stock of pious activity is finished. If we become attached to pious activities, we may get these various worldly facilities in the next life and may take birth in the heavenly planets. But all this will eventually be finished. Kṣīṇe puṇye martya-lokaṁ viśanti (BG 9.21): when the stock of pious activity is finished, one again has to come to this martya-loka.

SB 5.12.3, Purport:

The Vedic literature instructs: tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam (SB 11.3.21). An intelligent man must be very inquisitive to know the transcendental science deeply. Therefore one must approach a guru, a spiritual master. Although Jaḍa Bharata explained everything to Mahārāja Rahūgaṇa, it appears that his intelligence was not perfect enough to understand clearly. He therefore requested a further explanation. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (4.34): tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā. The student must approach a spiritual master and surrender unto him fully (praṇipātena). He must also question him in order to understand his instructions (paripraśnena). One should not only surrender to the spiritual master but also render loving service unto him (sevayā) so that the spiritual master will be pleased with the student and explain the transcendental subject matter more clearly. A challenging spirit before the spiritual master should be avoided if one is at all interested in learning the Vedic instructions in depth.

SB 5.12.7, Purport:

It is stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that in Kali-yuga the heads of government will be plunderers and thieves. These thieves and plunderers take the money and property of the public by force or connivance. Therefore it is said in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, rājanyair nirghṛṇair dasyu-dharmabhiḥ. As Kali-yuga advances, we can see that these characteristics are already visible. We can certainly imagine how deteriorated human civilization will be by the end of Kali-yuga. Indeed, there will no longer be a sane man capable of understanding God and our relationship with Him. In other words, human beings will be just like animals. At that time, in order to reform human society, Lord Kṛṣṇa will come in the form of the Kalki avatāra. His business will be to kill all the atheists because ultimately the real protector is Viṣṇu, or Kṛṣṇa.

SB 5.13.10, Translation:

Sometimes, in order to have a little insignificant sex enjoyment, one searches after debauched women. In this attempt, one is insulted and chastised by the women's kinsmen. This is like going to take honey from a beehive and being attacked by the bees. Sometimes, after spending lots of money, one may acquire another woman for some extra sense enjoyment. Unfortunately, the object of sense enjoyment, the woman, is taken away or kidnapped by another debauchee.

SB 5.13.16, Purport:

Within the creepers there are many chirping birds; this indicates that he wants to satisfy himself by hearing the sweet voice of his wife. In old age, however, he sometimes becomes afraid of imminent death, which is compared to a roaring lion. To save himself from the lion's attack, he takes shelter of some bogus svāmīs, yogīs, incarnations, pretenders and cheaters. Being misled by the illusory energy in this way, he spoils his life. It is said, hariṁ vinā mṛtiṁ na taranti: no one can be saved from the imminent danger of death without taking shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The word hari indicates the lion as well as the Supreme Lord. To be saved from the hands of Hari, the lion of death, one must take shelter of the supreme Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. People with a poor fund of knowledge take shelter of nondevotee cheaters and pretenders in order to be saved from the clutches of death. In the forest of the material world, the living entity first of all wants to be very happy by taking shelter of the creeperlike arms of his wife and hearing her sweet voice. Later, he sometimes takes shelter of so-called gurus and sādhus who are like crane, herons and vultures. Thus he is cheated both ways by not taking shelter of the Supreme Lord.

SB 5.13.21, Purport:

Even on this earth those who are very opulent do not generally care to take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. An intelligent person actually interested in getting freed from the material clutches must associate with pure devotees. By such association, one can gradually become detached from the material attraction of money and women. Money and women are the basic principles of material attachment. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore advised those who are actually serious about returning back to Godhead to give up money and women in order to be fit to enter the kingdom of God. Money and women can be fully utilized in the service of the Lord, and one who can utilize them in this way can become freed from material bondage. Satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ kathāḥ (SB 3.25.25). Only in the association of devotees can one relish the glorification of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Just through a little association with a pure devotee, one can become successful in his journey back to Godhead.

SB 5.14.22, Purport:

Material life is such that due to indulgence in illicit sex, gambling, intoxication and meat-eating, the conditioned soul is always in a dangerous condition. Meat-eating and intoxication excite the senses more and more, and the conditioned soul falls victim to women. In order to keep women, money is required, and to acquire money, one begs, borrows or steals. Indeed, he commits abominable acts that cause him to suffer both in this life and in the next. Consequently illicit sex must be stopped by those who are spiritually inclined or who are on the path of spiritual realization. Many devotees fall down due to illicit sex. They may steal money and even fall down from the highly honored renounced order. Then for a livelihood they accept menial services and become beggars. It is therefore said in the śāstras, yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tuccham: (SB 7.9.45) materialism is based on sex, whether licit or illicit. Sex is full of dangers even for those who are addicted to household life. Whether one has a license for sex or not, there is great trouble. Bahu-duḥkha-bhāk: after one indulges in sex, many volumes of miseries ensue. One suffers more and more in material life. A miserly person cannot properly utilize the wealth he has, and similarly a materialistic person misuses the human form. Instead of using it for spiritual emancipation, he uses the body for sense gratification. Therefore he is called a miser.

SB 5.14.27, Purport:

Due to their foolishness, all these materialists are described in Bhagavad-gītā as narādhamas. They have attained the human form in order to get released from material bondage, but instead of doing so, they become further embarrassed amid the miserable material conditions. Therefore they are narādhamas, the lowest of men. One may ask whether scientists, philosophers, economists and mathematicians are also narādhamas, the lowest of men, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead replies that they are because they have no actual knowledge. They are simply proud of their false prestige and position. Actually they do not know how to get relief from the material condition and renovate their spiritual life of transcendental bliss and knowledge. Consequently they waste time and energy in the search for so-called happiness. These are the qualifications of the demons. In Bhagavad-gītā it says that when one has all these demonic qualities, he becomes a mūḍha (BG 9.11). Due to this, he envies the Supreme Personality of Godhead; therefore birth after birth he is born into a demonic family, and he transmigrates from one demonic body to another. Thus he forgets his relationship with Kṛṣṇa and remains a narādhama in an abominable condition life after life.

SB 5.14.35, Purport:

The monkeylike conditioned soul first becomes attached to sex, and when intercourse actually takes place he becomes more attached. He then requires some material comforts—apartment, house, food, friends, wealth and so on. In order to acquire these things he has to cheat others, and this creates enmity even among the most intimate friends. Sometimes this enmity is created between the conditioned soul and the father or spiritual master. Unless one is firmly fixed in the regulative principles, one may perform mischievous acts, even if one is a member of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. We therefore advise our disciples to strictly follow the regulative principles; otherwise the most important movement for the upliftment of humanity will be hampered due to dissension among its members. Those who are serious about pushing forward this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement should remember this and strictly follow the regulative principles so that their minds will not be disturbed.

SB 5.14.37, Translation:

Although people may be enemies, in order to fulfill their desires again and again, they sometimes get married. Unfortunately, these marriages do not last very long, and the people involved are separated again by divorce or other means.

SB 5.14.38, Translation:

The path of this material world is full of material miseries, and various troubles disturb the conditioned souls. Sometimes he loses, and sometimes he gains. In either case, the path is full of danger. Sometimes the conditioned soul is separated from his father by death or other circumstances. Leaving him aside he gradually becomes attached to others, such as his children. In this way, the conditioned soul is sometimes illusioned and afraid. Sometimes he cries loudly out of fear. Sometimes he is happy maintaining his family, and sometimes he is overjoyed and sings melodiously. In this way he becomes entangled and forgets his separation from the Supreme Personality of Godhead since time immemorial. Thus he traverses the dangerous path of material existence, and on this path he is not at all happy. Those who are self-realized simply take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in order to get out of this dangerous material existence. Without accepting the devotional path, one cannot get out of the clutches of material existence. The conclusion is that no one can be happy in material life. One must take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

SB 5.14.38, Purport:

Even by a little association with devotees, the conditioned soul can get out of this miserable material condition. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is therefore trying to give everyone a chance to associate with saintly people. Therefore all the members of this Kṛṣṇa consciousness society must themselves be perfect sādhus in order to give a chance to fallen conditioned souls. This is the best humanitarian work.

SB 5.17.20, Purport:

Anyone who remains unagitated, even in the presence of cause for agitation, is called dhīra, or equipoised. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, being always in a transcendental position, is never agitated by anything. Therefore someone who wants to become dhīra must take shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord. In Bhagavad-gītā (2.13) Kṛṣṇa says, dhīras tatra na muhyati: a person who is equipoised in all circumstances is never bewildered. Prahlāda Mahārāja is a perfect example of a dhīra. When the fierce form of Nṛsiṁha-deva appeared in order to kill Hiraṇyakaśipu, Prahlāda was unagitated. He remained calm and quiet, whereas others, including even Lord Brahmā, were frightened by the features of the Lord.

SB 5.19.10, Translation:

In his own book, known as Nārada Pañcarātra, Bhagavān Nārada has very vividly described how to work to achieve the ultimate goal of life—devotion—through knowledge and through execution of the mystic yoga system. He has also described the glories of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The great sage Nārada instructed the tenets of this transcendental literature to Sāvarṇi Manu in order to teach those inhabitants of Bhārata-varṣa who strictly follow the principles of varṇāśrama-dharma how to achieve the devotional service of the Lord. Thus Nārada Muni, along with the other inhabitants of Bhārata-varṣa, always engages in the service of Nara-Nārāyaṇa, and he chants as follows.

SB 5.19.13, Purport:

"For one who very seriously practices devotional service during his lifetime in order to understand the constitutional position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, liberation from this material world is guaranteed, even if he has previously been addicted to sinful habits." This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā:

api cet su-durācāro
bhajate mām ananya-bhāk
sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ
samyag vyavasito hi saḥ

"Even if one commits the most abominable actions, if he is engaged in devotional service he is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated." (BG 9.30) The only purpose of life is to be fully absorbed in thoughts of Kṛṣṇa and His form, pastimes, activities and qualities. If one is able to think of Kṛṣṇa in this way, twenty-four hours a day, he is already liberated (svarūpeṇa vyavasthitiḥ (SB 2.10.6)). Whereas materialists are absorbed in material thoughts and activities, devotees, on the contrary, are always absorbed in thoughts of Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's activities. Therefore they are already on the platform of liberation. One has to think of Kṛṣṇa with full absorption at the time of death. Then he will certainly return home, back to Godhead, without a doubt.

SB 5.19.28, Purport:

A human being born in the land of Bhārata-varṣa has the special prerogative to develop Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore those already born in Bhārata-varṣa should take lessons from the śāstras and guru and should fully take advantage of the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in order to be fully equipped with Kṛṣṇa consciousness. By taking full advantage of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one goes back home, back to Godhead (yānti mad-yājino 'pi mām (BG 9.25)). The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is therefore spreading this facility to human society by opening many, many centers all over the world so that people may associate with the pure devotees of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, understand the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and ultimately go back home, back to Godhead.

SB 5.20.28, Purport:

Through the mystic yoga practice called prāṇāyāma, the yogī controls the airs within the body to maintain the body in a healthy condition. In this way, the yogī comes to the point of trance and tries to see the Supersoul within the core of his heart. Prāṇāyāma is the means to attain samādhi, trance, in order to fully absorb oneself in seeing the Supreme Lord as antaryāmī, the Supersoul within the core of the heart.

SB 5.25.3, Translation:

At the time of devastation, when Lord Anantadeva desires to destroy the entire creation, He becomes slightly angry. Then from between His two eyebrows appears three-eyed Rudra, carrying a trident. This Rudra, who is known as Sāṅkarṣaṇa, is the embodiment of the eleven Rudras, or incarnations of Lord Śiva. He appears in order to devastate the entire creation.

SB Canto 6

SB 6.1.16, Purport:

"O son of Pṛthā, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible." Thus the symptom of a mahātmā is that he has no engagement other than service to Kṛṣṇa. One must render service to a Vaiṣṇava in order to get freed from sinful reactions, revive one's original Kṛṣṇa consciousness and be trained in how to love Kṛṣṇa. This is the result of mahātma-sevā. Of course, if one engages in the service of a pure devotee, the reactions of one's sinful life are vanquished automatically. Devotional service is necessary not to drive away an insignificant stock of sins, but to awaken our dormant love for Kṛṣṇa. As fog is vanquished at the first glimpse of sunlight, one's sinful reactions are automatically vanquished as soon as one begins serving a pure devotee; no separate endeavor is required.

SB 6.1.31, Purport:

The driver of the machine of the body is the individual soul, who is also its director or proprietor, but the supreme proprietor is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One's body is created through the agency of māyā (karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa (SB 3.31.1)), and according to one's activities in this life, another vehicle is created, again under the supervision of daivī māyā (daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī mama māyā duratyayā (BG 7.14)). At the appropriate time, one's next body is immediately chosen, and both the individual soul and the Supersoul transfer to that particular bodily machine. This is the process of transmigration. During transmigration from one body to the next, the soul is taken away by the order carriers of Yamarāja and put into a particular type of hellish life (naraka) in order to become accustomed to the condition in which he will live in his next body.

SB 6.1.49, Purport:

"Unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master, all the imports of Vedic knowledge are automatically revealed." The Vedas enjoin, tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet: (MU 1.2.12) one must approach a spiritual master who has full knowledge of the Vedas and be faithfully directed by him in order to become a devotee of the Lord. Then the knowledge of the Vedas will be revealed. When the Vedic knowledge is revealed, one need no longer remain in the darkness of material nature.

SB 6.2.12, Purport:

One's main purpose in human life should be to purify his existence and achieve liberation. As long as one has a material body, one is understood to be impure. In such an impure, material condition, one cannot enjoy a truly blissful life, although everyone seeks it. Therefore Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (5.5.1) says, tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena sattvaṁ śuddhyet: one must perform tapasya, austerity, to purify his existence in order to come to the spiritual platform. The tapasya of chanting and glorifying the name, fame and attributes of the Lord is a very easy purifying process by which everyone can be happy. Therefore everyone who desires the ultimate cleansing of his heart must adopt this process. Other processes, such as karma, jñāna and yoga, cannot cleanse the heart absolutely.

SB 6.2.39, Purport:

The word mukta-sarvānubandhanaḥ indicates that after this incident, Ajāmila, not caring for his wife and children, went straight to Hardwar for further advancement in his spiritual life. Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement now has centers in Vṛndāvana and Navadvīpa so that those who want to live a retired life, whether they be devotees or not, can go there and with determination give up the bodily concept of life. One is welcome to live in those holy places for the rest of his life in order to achieve the highest success by the very simple method of chanting the holy name of the Lord and taking prasāda. Thus one may return home, back to Godhead. We do not have a center in Hardwar, but Vṛndāvana and Śrīdhāma Māyāpur are better for devotees than any other places. The Caitanya Candrodaya temple offers one a good opportunity to associate with devotees. Let us all take advantage of this opportunity.

SB 6.3.20-21, Purport:

The disciplic succession from Lord Brahmā is called the Brahma-sampradāya, the succession from Lord Śiva (Śambhu) is called the Rudra-sampradāya, the one from the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmījī, is called the Śrī-sampradāya, and the one from the Kumāras is called the Kumāra-sampradāya. One must take shelter of one of these four sampradāyas in order to understand the most confidential religious system. In the Padma Purāṇa it is said, sampradāya-vihīnā ye mantrās te niṣphalā matāḥ: if one does not follow the four recognized disciplic successions, his mantra or initiation is useless. In the present day there are many apasampradāyas, or sampradāyas which are not bona fide, which have no link to authorities like Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, the Kumāras or Lakṣmī. People are misguided by such sampradāyas. The śāstras say that being initiated in such a sampradāya is a useless waste of time, for it will never enable one to understand the real religious principles.

SB 6.3.25, Purport:

Especially in this age of Kali, saṅkīrtana alone is sufficient. If the members of our temples in the different parts of the world simply continue saṅkīrtana before the Deity, especially before Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, they will remain perfect. There is no need of any other performances. Nevertheless, to keep oneself clean in habits and mind, Deity worship and other regulative principles are required. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says that although saṅkīrtana is sufficient for the perfection of life, the arcanā, or worship of the Deity in the temple, must continue in order that the devotees may stay clean and pure. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura therefore recommended that one follow both processes simultaneously. We strictly follow his principle of performing Deity worship and saṅkīrtana along parallel lines. This we should continue.

SB 6.5.14, Purport:

A woman who has no husband declares herself independent, which means that she becomes a prostitute. A prostitute generally dresses herself in various fashions intended to attract a man's attention to the lower part of her body. Today it has become a much advertised fashion for a woman to go almost naked, covering the lower part of her body only slightly, in order to draw the attention of a man to her private parts for sexual enjoyment. The intelligence engaged to attract a man to the lower part of the body is the intelligence of a professional prostitute. Similarly, the intelligence of a living entity who does not turn his attention toward Kṛṣṇa or the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement simply changes dresses like a prostitute. What is the benefit of such foolish intelligence? One should be intelligently conscious in such a way that he need no longer change from one body to another.

Karmīs change their professions at any moment, but a Kṛṣṇa conscious person does not change his profession, for his only profession is to attract the attention of Kṛṣṇa by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and living a very simple life, without following daily changes of fashion. In our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, fashionable persons are taught to adopt one fashion—the dress of a Vaiṣṇava with a shaved head and tilaka. They are taught to be always clean in mind, dress and eating in order to be fixed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. What is the use of changing one's dress, sometimes wearing long hair and a long beard and sometimes dressing otherwise? This is not good. One should not waste his time in such frivolous activities. One should always be fixed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and take the cure of devotional service with firm determination.

SB 6.8.12, Purport:

Thinking oneself one with the Supreme is called ahaṅgrahopāsanā. Through ahaṅgrahopāsanā one does not become God, but he thinks of himself as qualitatively one with the Supreme. Understanding that as a spirit soul he is equal in quality to the supreme soul the way the water of a river is of the same nature as the water of the sea, one should meditate upon the Supreme Lord, as described in this verse, and seek His protection. The living entities are always subordinate to the Supreme. Consequently their duty is to always seek the mercy of the Lord in order to be protected by Him in all circumstances.

SB 6.8.17, Purport:

Lusty desires are very strong in everyone, and they are the greatest impediment to the discharge of devotional service. Therefore those who are very much influenced by lusty desires are advised to take shelter of Sanat-kumāra, the great brahmacārī devotee. Nārada Muni, who is the guide for arcana, is the author of the Nārada Pañcarātra, which prescribes the regulative principles for worshiping the Deity. Everyone engaged in Deity worship, whether at home or in the temple, should always seek the mercy of Devarṣi Nārada in order to avoid the thirty-two offenses while worshiping the Deity. These offenses in Deity worship are mentioned in The Nectar of Devotion.

SB 6.16.40, Purport:

The supreme occupation (dharma) for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted in order to completely satisfy the self." (SB 1.2.6) Therefore Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the pure transcendental process of religion.

SB 6.17.17, Purport:

The Lord is very kind and affectionate toward His devotees, and therefore a devotee, in any condition, is not subjected to the results of karma. A devotee never aspires for the heavenly planets. The heavenly planets, liberation and hell are nondifferent for a devotee, for he does not discriminate between different positions in the material world. A devotee is always eager to return home, back to Godhead, and remain there as the Lord's associate. This ambition becomes increasingly fervent in his heart, and therefore he does not care about material changes in his life. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura comments that Mahārāja Citraketu's being cursed by Pārvatī should be considered the mercy of the Lord. The Lord wanted Citraketu to return to Godhead as soon as possible, and therefore he terminated all the reactions of his past deeds. Acting through the heart of Pārvatī, the Lord, who is situated in everyone's heart, cursed Citraketu in order to end all his material reactions. Thus Citraketu became Vṛtrāsura in his next life and returned home, back to Godhead.

SB 6.18 Summary:

After describing the dynasty of the Ādityas and the other demigods, Śukadeva Gosvāmī describes Diti's sons known as the Maruts and how they were elevated to the position of demigods. Just to help Indra, Lord Viṣṇu had killed Hiraṇyākṣa and Hiraṇyakaśipu. Because of this, Diti was very envious, and she was eager to have a son who could kill Indra. By her service, she enchanted Kaśyapa Muni in order to beg from him a greater son to do this. In corroboration of the Vedic injunction vidvāṁsam api karṣati, Kaśyapa Muni was attracted to his beautiful wife and promised to grant her any request. When, however, she requested a son who would kill Indra, he condemned himself, and he advised his wife Diti to follow the Vaiṣṇava ritualistic ceremonies to purify herself. When Diti, following the instructions of Kaśyapa, engaged in devotional service, Indra could understand her purpose, and he began observing all her activities. One day, Indra had the opportunity to see her deviating from devotional service. Thus he entered her womb and cut her son into forty-nine parts. In this way the forty-nine kinds of air known as the Maruts appeared, but because Diti had performed the Vaiṣṇava ritualistic ceremonies, all the sons became Vaiṣṇavas.

Page Title:In order to... (SB cantos 4 - 6)
Compiler:Visnu Murti, Mayapur
Created:26 of Mar, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=187, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:187