Throughout the universe there are two classes of men. One is called devatā and the other is called asura. Devata means visnu-bhakto bhaved daivaḥ. Those who are devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is known as Viṣṇu . . . Viṣṇu has got . . . sahasra viṣṇu names there are. Original is Viṣṇu. So those who are devotees of the Lord, they are called Vaiṣṇava or devatā, and those who are not devotees of Viṣṇu may be devotees of other demigods, but they are called the demons, or the asuras. There are many instances in the śāstra. There were Hiraṇyakaśipu, who was a devotee of Lord Brahmā. Of course, the asuras are never devotees. Sometimes they worship the demigods for getting some material profit. Kāṅkṣantaḥ karmaṇāṁ siddhiṁ yajanta iha devatāḥ (BG 4.12). That is said in the Bhagavad-gītā. Kāṅkṣantaḥ karmaṇāṁ siddhim.
Here, everyone is engaged in fruitive activities, karma—karma in this life and karma in the next life also. So performing great sacrifices, giving in charity, pious activities, they are also karma. They are meant for giving opportunity in the next life, a position in the heavenly planet or similar other higher planetary system where the standard of living is very, very comfortable, thousands and thousands times better than the standard of life in this planet. But that is also karma. Kāṅkṣantaḥ karmaṇāṁ siddhim yajanta iha devatāḥ.
So people, they want to enjoy life within this material world, but actually there is no enjoyment in the material world. Because, Kṛṣṇa says, there is birth, there is death, there is old age and there is disease. So where is your happiness? After all, you have to die. Suppose I make very good arrangement, very nice house, very nice bank balance, very nice wife, children, everything, but death can come at any moment. Then where is your perfection? If after so much hard labor everything is ready for enjoyment, but I am called by Yamarāja . . . mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham (BG 10.34). Death takes away everything. Therefore you cannot say the arrangement you made for happy life is perfect. That is not perfect.
But foolish people, they do not know what is perfection. They simply want superficial, temporary happiness, never mind what will happen next life or few years after. Just like children: they want to play without caring for future life. But it is the duty of the guardians to engage them in education so that in future they may be happy. Similarly, all the great sages, saintly person, just like Vyāsadeva, Nārada, Devala, Asita, many, many great saintly persons, sages . . . even Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, comes to give us instruction so that we can become eternally happy.
Unfortunately, in this age, which is called Kali-yuga, the people are so low grade that they do not like to hear all these instruction of great sages, saintly person or even of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the defect of this age. Therefore in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said mandaḥ. Mandaḥ means slow, at the same time, very bad.