Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 3: “The Status Quo”
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Chapter Five

Vidura’s Talks with Maitreya

SB3.5.1

TEXT 1

sri-suka uvaca

dvari dyu-nadya rsabhah kurunam

maitreyam asinam agadha-bodham

ksattopasrtyacyuta-bhava-siddhah

papraccha sausilya-gunabhitrptah

SYNONYMS

sri-sukah uvaca—Sukadeva Gosvami said; dvari—at the source of; dyu-nadyah—the celestial River Ganges; rsabhah—the best of the Kurus; kurunam—of the Kurus; maitreyam—unto Maitreya; asinam—sitting; agadha-bodham—of unfathomed knowledge; ksatta—Vidura; upasrtya—having approached nearer; acyuta—the infallible Lord; bhava—character; siddhah—perfect; papraccha—inquired; sausilya—gentleness; guna-abhitrptah—satisfied in transcendental qualities.

TRANSLATION

Sukadeva Gosvami said: Vidura, the best amongst the Kuru dynasty, who was perfect in devotional service to the Lord, thus reached the source of the celestial Ganges River [Hardwar], where Maitreya, the great, fathomless learned sage of the world, was seated. Vidura, who was perfect in gentleness and satisfied in transcendence, inquired from him.

PURPORT

Vidura was already perfect due to his unalloyed devotion to the infallible Lord. The Lord and the living entities are all qualitatively the same by nature, but the Lord is quantitatively much greater than any individual living entity. He is ever infallible, whereas the living entities are prone to fall under the illusory energy. Vidura had already surpassed the fallible nature of the living entity in conditional life due to his being acyuta-bhava, or legitimately absorbed in the devotional service of the Lord. This stage of life is called acyuta-bhava-siddha, or perfection by dint of devotional service. Anyone, therefore, who is absorbed in the devotional service of the Lord is a liberated soul and has all admirable qualities. The learned sage Maitreya was sitting in a solitary place on the bank of the Ganges at Hardwar, and Vidura, who was a perfect devotee of the Lord and possessed all good transcendental qualities, approached him for inquiry.

SB3.5.2

TEXT 2

vidura uvaca

sukhaya karmani karoti loko

na taih sukham vanyad-uparamam va

vindeta bhuyas tata eva duhkham

yad atra yuktam bhagavan vaden nah

SYNONYMS

vidurah uvaca—Vidura said; sukhaya—for attaining happiness; karmani—fruitive activities; karoti—everyone does so; lokah—in this world; na—never; taih—by those activities; sukham—any happiness; va—or; anyat—differently; uparamam—satiation; va—either; vindeta—achieves; bhuyah—on the contrary; tatah—by such activities; eva—certainly; duhkham—miseries; yat—that which; atra—under the circumstances; yuktam—right course; bhagavan—O great one; vadet—may kindly enlighten; nah—us.

TRANSLATION

Vidura said: O great sage, everyone in this world engages in fruitive activities to attain happiness, but one finds neither satiation nor the mitigation of distress. On the contrary, one is only aggravated by such activities. Please, therefore, give us directions on how one should live for real happiness.

PURPORT

Vidura asked Maitreya some common questions, which was not originally his intention. Uddhava asked Vidura to approach Maitreya Muni and inquire into all the truths concerning the Lord, His name, fame, quality, form, pastimes, entourage, etc., and thus when Vidura approached Maitreya, he should have asked only about the Lord. But out of natural humility he did not immediately ask about the Lord, but inquired into a subject which would be of great importance to the common man. A common man cannot understand the Lord. He must first know the real position of his life under the influence of the illusory energy. In illusion one thinks that he can be happy only by fruitive activities, but what actually happens is that one becomes more and more entangled in the network of action and reaction and does not find any solution to the problem of life. There is a nice song in this connection: “Because of a great desire to have all happiness in life, I built this house. But unfortunately the whole scheme has turned to ashes because the house was unexpectedly set on fire.” The law of nature is like that. Everyone tries to become happy by planning in the material world, but the law of nature is so cruel that it sets fire to one’s schemes; the fruitive worker is not happy in his schemes, nor is there any satiation of his continuous hankering for happiness.

SB3.5.3

TEXT 3

janasya krsnad vimukhasya daivad

adharma-silasya suduhkhitasya

anugrahayeha caranti nunam

bhutani bhavyani janardanasya

SYNONYMS

janasya—of the common man; krsnat—from the Supreme Lord, Krsna; vimukhasya—of the one who has turned his face against the Lord; daivat—by the influence of external energy; adharma-silasya—of one who is engaged in irreligion; su-duhkhitasya—of one who is always unhappy; anugrahaya—due to being compassionate towards them; iha—in this world; caranti—wander; nunam—certainly; bhutani—persons; bhavyani—great philanthropic souls; janardanasya—of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

TRANSLATION

O my lord, great philanthropic souls travel on the earth on behalf of the Supreme Personality of Godhead to show compassion to the fallen souls who are averse to the sense of subordination to the Lord.

PURPORT

To be obedient to the wishes of the Supreme Lord is the natural position of every living entity. But due only to past misdeeds, a living being becomes averse to the sense of subordination to the Lord and suffers all the miseries of material existence. No one has anything to do but render devotional service to the Supreme Lord, Sri Krsna. Therefore any activity other than transcendental loving service to the Lord is more or less a rebellious action against the supreme will. All fruitive activity, empirical philosophy and mysticism are more or less against the sense of subordination to the Lord, and any living entity engaged in such rebellious activity is more or less condemned by the laws of material nature, which work under the subordination of the Lord. Great unalloyed devotees of the Lord are compassionate towards the fallen, and therefore they travel all over the world with the mission of bringing souls back to Godhead, back to home. Such pure devotees of the Lord carry the message of Godhead in order to deliver the fallen souls, and therefore the common man who is bewildered by the influence of the external energy of the Lord should avail himself of their association.

SB3.5.4

TEXT 4

tat sadhu-varyadisa vartma sam nah

samradhito bhagavan yena pumsam

hrdi sthito yacchati bhakti-pute

jnanam sa-tattvadhigamam puranam

SYNONYMS

tat—therefore; sadhu-varya—O great one amongst the saints; adisa—please instruct; vartma—the path; sam—auspicious; nah—for us; samradhitah—being perfectly served; bhagavan—the Personality of Godhead; yena—by which; pumsam—of the living entity; hrdi sthitah—residing in the heart; yacchati—awards; bhakti-pute—unto the unalloyed devotee; jnanam—knowledge; sa—that; tattva—truth; adhigamam—by which one learns; puranam—authorized, old.

TRANSLATION

Therefore, O great sage, please give me instruction on the transcendental devotional service of the Lord, so that He who is situated in the heart of everyone can be pleased to impart, from within, knowledge of the Absolute Truth in terms of the ancient Vedic principles delivered only to those who are purified by the process of devotional service.

PURPORT

As already explained in the First Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, the Absolute Truth is realized in three different phases—although they are one and the same—in terms of the knower’s capacity to understand. The most capable transcendentalist is the pure devotee of the Lord, who is without any tinge of fruitive actions or philosophical speculation. By devotional service only does one’s heart become completely purified from all material coverings like karma, jnana and yoga. Only in such a purified stage does the Lord, who is seated in everyone’s heart with the individual soul, give instruction so that the devotee can reach the ultimate destination of going back home, back to Godhead. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (10.10): tesam satata-yuktanam bhajatam. Only when the Lord is satisfied with the devotional service of the devotee does He impart knowledge, as He did for Arjuna and Uddhava.

The jnanis, yogis and karmis cannot expect this direct cooperation of the Lord. They are not able to satisfy the Lord by transcendental loving service, nor do they believe in such service to the Lord. The bhakti process, as performed under the regulative principles of vaidhi-bhakti, or devotional service following the prescribed rules and regulations, is defined by the revealed scriptures and confirmed by great acaryas. This practice can help the neophyte devotee to rise to the stage of raga-bhakti, in which the Lord responds from within as the caitya-guru, or the spiritual master as Superconsciousness. All transcendentalists other than devotees make no distinction between the individual soul and the Supersoul because they miscalculate the Superconsciousness and the individual consciousness to be one and the same. Such miscalculation by the nondevotees makes them unfit to receive any direction from within, and therefore they are bereft of the direct cooperation of the Lord. After many, many births, when such a nondualist comes to sense that the Lord is worshipable and that the devotee is simultaneously one with and different from the Lord, then only can he surrender unto the Lord, Vasudeva. Pure devotional service begins from that point. The process of understanding the Absolute Truth adopted by the misguided nondualist is very difficult, whereas the devotee’s way of understanding the Absolute Truth comes directly from the Lord, who is pleased by devotional service. On behalf of many neophyte devotees, Vidura, at the very first instance, inquired from Maitreya about the path of devotional service, by which the Lord, who is seated within the heart, can be pleased.

SB3.5.5

TEXT 5

karoti karmani krtavataro

yany atma-tantro bhagavams tryadhisah

yatha sasarjagra idam nirihah

samsthapya vrttim jagato vidhatte

SYNONYMS

karoti—does them; karmani—transcendental activities; krta—by accepting; avatarah—incarnations; yani—all those; atma-tantrah—Self-independent; bhagavan—the Personality of Godhead; tri-adhisah—the Lord of the three worlds; yatha—as much as; sasarja—created; agre—at first; idam—this cosmic manifestation; nirihah—although desireless; samsthapya—by establishing; vrttim—means of livelihood; jagatah—of the universes; vidhatte—as He regulates.

TRANSLATION

O great sage, kindly narrate how the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the independent, desireless Lord of the three worlds and the controller of all energies, accepts incarnations and creates the cosmic manifestation with perfectly arranged regulative principles for its maintenance.

PURPORT

Lord Krsna is the original Personality of Godhead from whom the three creative incarnations, namely the purusa-avataras—Karanarnavasayi Visnu, Garbhodakasayi Visnu and Ksirodakasayi Visnu—expand. The whole material creation is conducted by the three purusas in successive stages under the external energy of the Lord, and thus material nature is controlled by Him. Thinking material nature to be independent is like seeking milk from the nipplelike bags on the neck of a goat. The Lord is independent and desireless. He does not create the material world for His own satisfaction as we create our household affairs to fulfill our material desires. Actually the material world is created for the illusory enjoyment of the conditioned souls, who have been against the transcendental service of the Lord since time immemorial. But the material universes are full in themselves. There is no scarcity for maintenance in the material world. Because of their poor fund of knowledge, the materialists are disturbed when there is an apparent increase of population on the earth. Whenever there is a living being on the earth, however, his subsistence is immediately arranged by the Lord. The other species of living entities, who far outnumber human society, are never disturbed for maintenance; they are never seen dying of starvation. It is only human society that is disturbed about the food situation and, to cover up the real fact of administrative mismanagement, takes shelter in the plea that the population is excessively increasing. If there is any scarcity in the world, it is the scarcity of God consciousness, otherwise, by the grace of the Lord, there is no scarcity of anything.

SB3.5.6

TEXT 6

yatha punah sve kha idam nivesya

sete guhayam sa nivrtta-vrttih

yogesvaradhisvara eka etad

anupravisto bahudha yathasit

SYNONYMS

yatha—as much as; punah—again; sve—in His; khe—form of space (virat-rupa); idam—this; nivesya—entering into; sete—lies down; guhayam—within the universe; sah—He (the Personality of Godhead); nivrtta—without endeavor; vrttih—means of livelihood; yoga-isvara—the master of all mystic powers; adhisvarah—proprietor of everything; ekah—one without a second; etat—this; anupravistah—entering afterwards; bahudha—by innumerable; yatha—as much as; asit—exists.

TRANSLATION

He lies down on His own heart spread in the form of the sky, and thus placing the whole creation in that space, He expands Himself into many living entities, which are manifested as different species of life. He does not have to endeavor for His maintenance, because He is the master of all mystic powers and the proprietor of everything. Thus He is distinct from the living entities.

PURPORT

The questions regarding creation, maintenance and destruction, which are mentioned in many parts of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, are in relation to different millenniums (kalpas), and therefore they are differently described by different authorities when questioned by different students. There is no difference regarding the creative principles and the Lord’s control over them, yet there are some differences in the minute details because of different kalpas. The gigantic sky is the material body of the Lord, called the virat-rupa, and all material creations are resting on the sky, or the heart of the Lord. Therefore, beginning from the sky, the first material manifestation to the gross vision, down to the earth, everything is called Brahman. Sarvam khalv idam brahma: “There is nothing but the Lord, and He is one without a second.” The living entities are the superior energies, whereas matter is the inferior energy, and the combination of these energies brings about the manifestation of this material world, which is in the heart of the Lord.

SB3.5.7

TEXT 7

kridan vidhatte dvija-go-suranam

ksemaya karmany avatara-bhedaih

mano na trpyaty api srnvatam nah

susloka-maules caritamrtani

SYNONYMS

kridan—manifesting pastimes; vidhatte—He performs; dvija—twice-born; go—cows; suranam—of the demigods; ksemaya—welfare; karmani—transcendental activities; avatara—incarnations; bhedaih—differently; manah—mind; na—never; trpyati—satisfies; api—in spite of; srnvatam—continuously hearing; nah—our; su-sloka—auspicious; mauleh—of the Lord; carita—characteristics; amrtani—undying.

TRANSLATION

You may narrate also about the auspicious characteristics of the Lord in His different incarnations for the welfare of the twice-born, the cows and the demigods. Our minds are never satisfied completely, although we continuously hear of His transcendental activities.

PURPORT

The Lord appears in this universe in different incarnations like Matsya, Kurma, Varaha and Nrsimha, and He manifests His different transcendental activities for the welfare of the twice-born, the cows and the demigods. The Lord is directly concerned with the twice-born or civilized men. A civilized man is one who has taken his birth twice. A living entity takes birth in this mundane world due to the union of male and female. A human being is born due to union of the father and mother, but a civilized human being has another birth by contact with a spiritual master, who becomes the actual father. The father and mother of the material body are so only in one birth, and in the next birth the father and mother may be a different couple. But the bona fide spiritual master, as the representative of the Lord, is the eternal father because the spiritual master has the responsibility to lead the disciple to spiritual salvation, or the ultimate goal of life. Therefore, a civilized man must be twice-born, otherwise he is no more than the lower animals.

The cow is the most important animal for developing the human body to perfection. The body can be maintained by any kind of foodstuff, but cow’s milk is particularly essential for developing the finer tissues of the human brain so that one can understand the intricacies of transcendental knowledge. A civilized man is expected to live on foodstuffs comprising fruits, vegetables, grains, sugar and milk. The bull helps in the agricultural process of producing grain, etc., and thus in one sense the bull is the father of humankind, whereas the cow is the mother, for she supplies milk to human society. A civilized man is therefore expected to give all protection to the bulls and cows.

The demigods, or the living entities who live in the higher planets, are far superior to human beings. Since they have better arrangements for living conditions, they live far more luxuriously than human beings, yet they are all devotees of the Lord. The Lord incarnates in different forms, such as those of a fish, a tortoise, a hog, and a combined lion and man, just to give protection to civilized man, the cow and the demigods, who are directly responsible for the regulative life of progressive self-realization. The whole system of the material creation is planned so that the conditioned souls may have the opportunity for self-realization. One who takes advantage of such an arrangement is called a demigod or civilized man. The cow is meant to help maintain such a high standard of living.

The Lord’s pastimes for the protection of the twice-born civilized men, the cows and the demigods are all transcendental. A human being is inclined to hear good narrations and stories, and therefore there are so many books, magazines and newspapers on the market to satisfy the interests of the developed soul. But the pleasure in such literature, after it is read once, becomes stale, and people do not take any interest in reading such literature repeatedly. In fact, newspapers are read for less than an hour and then thrown in the dustbins as rubbish. The case is similar with all other mundane literatures. But the beauty of transcendental literatures like Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam is that they never become old. They have been read in the world by civilized man for the last five thousand years, and they have never become old. They are ever fresh to the learned scholars and devotees, and even by daily repetition of the verses of Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam, there is no satiation for devotees like Vidura. Vidura might have heard the pastimes of the Lord many, many times before he met Maitreya, but still he wanted the same narrations to be repeated because he was never satiated by hearing them. That is the transcendental nature of the Lord’s glorious pastimes.

SB3.5.8

TEXT 8

yais tattva-bhedair adhiloka-natho

lokan alokan saha lokapalan

aciklpad yatra hi sarva-sattva-

nikaya-bhedo ’dhikrtah pratitah

SYNONYMS

yaih—by whom; tattva—truth; bhedaih—by differentiation; adhiloka-nathah—the King of the kings; lokan—planets; alokan—planets of the lower region; saha—along with; loka-palan—respective kings; aciklpat—planned; yatra—wherein; hi—certainly; sarva—all; sattva—existence; nikaya—living entities; bhedah—difference; adhikrtah—occupied; pratitah—it so appears.

TRANSLATION

The Supreme King of all kings has created different planets and places of habitation where living entities are situated in terms of the modes of nature and work, and He has created their different kings and rulers.

PURPORT

Lord Krsna is the chief King of all kings, and He has created different planets for all kinds of living entities. Even on this planet there are different places for inhabitation by different types of men. There are places like deserts, ice lands, and valleys in mountainous countries, and in each of them there are different kinds of men born of different modes of nature according to their past deeds. There are people in the Arabian deserts and in the valleys of the Himalayan Mountains, and the inhabitants of these two places differ from one another, just as the inhabitants of the ice lands also differ from them. Similarly, there are also different planets. The planets below the earth down to the Patala planet are full of various kinds of living beings; no planet is vacant, as wrongly imagined by the modern so-called scientist. In Bhagavad-gita we find it said by the Lord that the living entities are sarva-gata, or present in every sphere of life. So there is no doubt that on other planets there are also inhabitants like us, sometimes with greater intelligence and greater opulence. The living conditions for those of greater intelligence are more luxurious than on this earth. There are also planets where no sunlight reaches, and there are living entities who must live there due to their past deeds. All such plans for living conditions are made by the Supreme Lord, and Vidura requested Maitreya to describe this for the sake of further enlightenment.

SB3.5.9

TEXT 9

yena prajanam uta atma-karma-

rupabhidhanam ca bhidam vyadhatta

narayano visvasrg atma-yonir

etac ca no varnaya vipra-varya

SYNONYMS

yena—by which; prajanam—of those who are born; uta—as also; atma-karma—destined engagement; rupa—form and feature; abhidhanam—endeavors; ca—also; bhidam—differentiation; vyadhatta—dispersed; narayanah—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; visvasrk—the creator of the universe; atma-yonih—self-sufficient; etat—all these; ca—also; nah—unto us; varnaya—describe; vipra-varya—O chief amongst the brahmanas.

TRANSLATION

O chief amongst the brahmanas, please also describe how Narayana, the creator of the universe and the self-sufficient Lord, has differently created the natures, activities, forms, features and names of the different living creatures.

PURPORT

Every living being is under the plan of his natural inclinations in terms of the modes of material nature. His work is manifested in terms of the nature of the three modes, his form and bodily features are designed according to his work, and his name is designated according to his bodily features. For example, the higher classes of men are white (sukla), and the lower classes of men are black. This division of white and black is in terms of one’s white and black duties of life. Pious acts lead one to take birth in a good and highly placed family, to become rich, to become learned, and to acquire beautiful bodily features. Impious acts lead one to become poor by parentage, to be always in want, to become a fool or illiterate and to acquire ugly bodily features. Vidura requested Maitreya to explain these differences between all the living creatures made by Narayana, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB3.5.10

TEXT 10

paravaresam bhagavan vratani

srutani me vyasa-mukhad abhiksnam

atrpnuma ksulla-sukhavahanam

tesam rte krsna-kathamrtaughat

SYNONYMS

para—higher; avaresam—of these lower; bhagavan—O my lord, O great one; vratani—occupations; srutani—heard; me—by me; vyasa—Vyasa; mukhat—from the mouth; abhiksnam—repeatedly; atrpnuma—I am satisfied; ksulla—little; sukha-avahanam—that which causes happiness; tesam—out of that; rte—without; krsna-katha—talks about the Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna; amrta-oghat—from the nectar.

TRANSLATION

O my lord, I have repeatedly heard about these higher and lower statuses of human society from the mouth of Vyasadeva, and I am quite satiated with all these lesser subject matters and their happiness. They have not satisfied me with the nectar of topics about Krsna.

PURPORT

Because people are very much interested in hearing social and historical presentations, Srila Vyasadeva has compiled many books such as the Puranas and Mahabharata. These books are reading matter for the mass of people, and they were compiled with a view to reviving their God consciousness, now forgotten in the conditional life of material existence. The real purpose of such literatures is not so much to present topics of historical references, but to revive the people’s sense of God consciousness. For example, Mahabharata is the history of the Battle of Kuruksetra, and common people read it because it is full of topics regarding the social, political and economic problems of human society. But factually the most important part of Mahabharata is Bhagavad-gita, which is automatically taught to readers along with the historical narrations of the Battle of Kuruksetra.

Vidura explained to Maitreya his position of being fully satiated with the knowledge of mundane social and political topics and having no more interest in them. He was anxious to hear transcendental topics regarding Lord Sri Krsna. Because there were insufficient topics directly concerning Krsna in the Puranas, Mahabharata, etc., he was not satisfied and wanted to know more about Krsna. Krsna-katha, or topics regarding Krsna, are transcendental, and there is no satiation in hearing such topics. Bhagavad-gita is important on account of its being krsna-katha, or speeches delivered by Lord Krsna. The story of the Battle of Kuruksetra may be interesting for the mass of people, but to a person like Vidura, who is highly advanced in devotional service, only krsna-katha and that which is dovetailed with krsna-katha is interesting. Vidura wanted to hear of everything from Maitreya, and so he inquired from him, but he desired that all the topics be in relationship with Krsna. As fire is never satisfied in its consumption of firewood, so a pure devotee of the Lord never hears enough about Krsna. Historical events and other narrations concerning social and political incidents all become transcendental as soon as they are in relationship with Krsna. That is the way to transform mundane things into spiritual identity. The whole world can be transformed into Vaikuntha if all worldly activities are dovetailed with krsna-katha.

There are two important krsna-kathas current in the world—Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. Bhagavad-gita is krsna-katha because it is spoken by Krsna, whereas Srimad-Bhagavatam is krsna-katha because it narrates about Krsna. Lord Caitanya advised all His disciples to preach krsna-katha all over the world without discrimination because the transcendental value of krsna-katha can purify one and all from material contamination.

SB3.5.11

TEXT 11

kas trpnuyat tirtha-pado ’bhidhanat

satresu vah suribhir idyamanat

yah karna-nadim purusasya yato

bhava-pradam geha-ratim chinatti

SYNONYMS

kah—who is that man; trpnuyat—that can be satisfied; tirtha-padah—whose lotus feet are all the places of pilgrimage; abhidhanat—from the talks of; satresu—in human society; vah—one who is; suribhih—by great devotees; idyamanat—one who is so worshiped; yah—who; karna-nadim—in the holes of the ears; purusasya—of a man; yatah—entering; bhava-pradam—that which awards births and deaths; geha-ratim—family affection; chinatti—is cut off.

TRANSLATION

Who in human society can be satisfied without hearing sufficient talk of the Lord, whose lotus feet are the sum total of all places of pilgrimage and who is worshiped by great sages and devotees? Such topics can cut off one’s bondage to family affection simply by entering the holes of one’s ears.

PURPORT

Krsna-katha is so powerful that simply by entering into a person’s ear it can at once give deliverance from the bondage of family affection. Family affection is an illusory manifestation of the external energy, and it is the only impetus for all mundane activities. As long as there is mundane activity and the mind is absorbed in such engagement, one has to undergo the repetition of birth and death in the current material nescience. People are most influenced by the mode of ignorance, and some are influenced by the passionate mode of material nature, and under the spell of these two modes a living being is actuated by the material conception of life. The mundane qualities do not allow a living entity to understand his real position. The qualities of both ignorance and passion strongly bind one to the illusory bodily conception of the self. The best among the fools who are thus deluded are those who engage in altruistic activities under the spell of the material mode of passion. Bhagavad-gita, which is direct krsna-katha, gives humanity the elementary lesson that the body is perishable and that the consciousness which is spread throughout the body is imperishable. The conscious being, the imperishable self, is eternally existent and cannot be killed under any circumstances, even after the dissolution of the body. Anyone who misunderstands this perishable body to be the self and who works for it in the name of sociology, politics, philanthropy, altruism, nationalism or internationalism, under the false plea of the bodily conception of life, is certainly a fool and does not know the implications of reality and unreality. Some of them are above the modes of ignorance and passion and are situated in the mode of goodness, but mundane goodness is always contaminated by tinges of ignorance and passion. Mundane goodness can enlighten one that the body and the self are different, and one in goodness is concerned with the self and not the body. But due to being contaminated, those in mundane goodness cannot understand the real nature of the self as a person. Their impersonal conception of the self as distinct from the body keeps them in the mode of goodness within material nature, and unless they are attracted by krsna-katha, they will never be liberated from the bondage of material existence. Krsna-katha is the only remedy for all people of the world because it can situate one in pure consciousness of the self and liberate one from material bondage. To preach krsna-katha all over the world, as recommended by Lord Caitanya, is the greatest missionary activity, and all sensible men and women of the world may join in this great movement started by Lord Caitanya.

Next verse (SB3.5.12)