never — Madhya 8.206plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 8.206

" 'The pastimes of Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are self-effulgent. They are happiness personified, unlimited and all-powerful. Even so, the spiritual humors of such pastimes are never complete without the gopīs, the Lord's personal friends. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is never complete without His spiritual potencies; therefore unless one takes shelter of the gopīs, one cannot enter into the company of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. Who can be interested in Their spiritual pastimes without taking their shelter?'

not — Madhya 22.96plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 22.96

" 'My dear Lord, You are very affectionate to Your devotees. You are also a truthful and grateful friend. Where is that learned man who would give You up and surrender to someone else? You fulfill all the desires of Your devotees, so much so that sometimes You even give Yourself to them. Still, You neither increase nor decrease by such activity.', Madhya 22.146plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 22.146

" 'For one who is fully engaged in My devotional service, whose mind is fixed on Me in bhakti-yoga, the path of speculative knowledge and dry renunciation is not very beneficial.'

are not — SB 10.13.43plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.13.43

Thus Lord Brahmā, thinking and thinking for a long time, tried to distinguish between those two sets of boys, who were each separately existing. He tried to understand who was real and who was not real, but he couldn't understand at all.

but not — SB 1.4.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.4.12

Those who are devoted to the cause of the Personality of Godhead live only for the welfare, development and happiness of others. They do not live for any selfish interest. So even though the Emperor [Parīkṣit] was free from all attachment to worldly possessions, how could he give up his mortal body, which was shelter for others?

cannot — SB 1.18.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.18.5

As long as the great, powerful son of Abhimanyu remains the Emperor of the world, there is no chance that the personality of Kali will flourish., SB 2.7.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.7.7

Great stalwarts like Lord Śiva can, by their wrathful glances, overcome lust and vanquish him, yet they cannot be free from the overwhelming effects of their own wrath. Such wrath can never enter into the heart of Him [the Lord], who is above all this. So how can lust take shelter in His mind?

certainly not — SB 7.9.39plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.39

My dear Lord of the Vaikuṇṭha planets, where there is no anxiety, my mind is extremely sinful and lusty, being sometimes so-called happy and sometimes so-called distressed. My mind is full of lamentation and fear, and it always seeks more and more money. Thus it has become most polluted and is never satisfied in topics concerning You. I am therefore most fallen and poor. In such a status of life, how shall I be able to discuss Your activities?

could not — SB 1.10.9-10plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.10.9-10

At that time Subhadrā, Draupadī, Kuntī, Uttarā, Gāndhārī, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Yuyutsu, Kṛpācārya, Nakula, Sahadeva, Bhīmasena, Dhaumya and Satyavatī all nearly fainted because it was impossible for them to bear separation from Lord Kṛṣṇa., SB 1.14.40plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.14.40

Has someone addressed you with unfriendly words or threatened you? Could you not give charity to one who asked, or could you not keep your promise to someone?, SB 1.15.2plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.15.2

Due to grief, Arjuna's mouth and lotuslike heart had dried up. Therefore his body lost all luster. Now, remembering the Supreme Lord, he could hardly utter a word in reply., SB 2.9.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.9.5

Lord Brahmā, the first spiritual master, supreme in the universe, could not trace out the source of his lotus seat, and while thinking of creating the material world, he could not understand the proper direction for such creative work, nor could he find out the process for such creation., SB 3.1.37plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.1.37

[Please tell me] whether the unconquerable Bhīma, who is like a cobra, has released his long-cherished anger upon the sinners? The field of battle could not tolerate even the wonderful playing of his club when he stepped on the path.

did not — SB 1.13.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.13.13

Compassionate Mahātmā Vidura could not stand to see the Pāṇḍavas distressed at any time. Therefore he did not disclose this unpalatable and unbearable incident because calamities come of their own accord., SB 1.13.31plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.13.31

Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, whose enemy was never born, performed his daily morning duties by praying, offering fire sacrifice to the sun-god, and offering obeisances, grains, cows, land and gold to the brāhmaṇas. He then entered the palace to pay respects to the elderly. However, he could not find his uncles or aunt, the daughter of King Subala., SB 1.13.35plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.13.35

Sūta Gosvāmī said: Because of compassion and mental agitation, Sañjaya, not having seen his own master, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, was aggrieved and could not properly reply to Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira., SB 1.14.40plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.14.40

Has someone addressed you with unfriendly words or threatened you? Could you not give charity to one who asked, or could you not keep your promise to someone?, SB 1.15.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.15.17

It was by His mercy only that my enemies neglected to kill me when I descended from my chariot to get water for my thirsty horses. And it was due to my lack of esteem for my Lord that I dared engage Him as my chariot driver, for He is worshiped and offered services by the best men to attain salvation., SB 2.6.35plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.6.35

Although I am known as the great Brahmā, perfect in the disciplic succession of Vedic wisdom, and although I have undergone all austerities and am an expert in mystic powers and self-realization, and although I am recognized as such by the great forefathers of the living entities, who offer me respectful obeisances, still I cannot understand Him, the Lord, the very source of my birth., SB 3.1.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.1.7

The King did not forbid his son Duḥśāsana's abominable action of grabbing the hair of Draupadī, the wife of the godly King Yudhiṣṭhira, even though her tears washed the red dust on her breast., SB 3.2.8plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.2.8

This universe with all its planets is most unfortunate. And even more unfortunate are the members of the Yadu dynasty because they could not identify Lord Hari as the Personality of Godhead, any more than the fish could identify the moon., SB 3.3.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.3.13

Duryodhana was bereft of his fortune and duration of life because of the intricacy of ill advice given by Karṇa, Duḥśāsana and Saubala. When he lay on the ground with his followers, his thighs broken although he was powerful, the Lord was not happy to see the scene., SB 3.5.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.5.24

The Lord, the undisputed proprietor of everything, was the only seer. The cosmic manifestation was not present at that time, and thus He felt imperfect without His plenary and separated parts and parcels. The material energy was dormant, whereas the internal potency was manifested., SB 3.12.3plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.12.3

Seeing such a misleading creation as a sinful task, Brahmā did not feel much pleasure in his activity, and therefore he purified himself by meditation on the Personality of Godhead. Then he began another term of creation., SB 4.8.9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.8.9

Once upon a time, King Uttānapāda was patting the son of Suruci, Uttama, placing him on his lap. Dhruva Mahārāja was also trying to get on the King's lap, but the King did not very much welcome him., SB 4.9.37plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.9.37

When King Uttānapāda heard that his son Dhruva was coming back home, as if coming back to life after death, he could not put his faith in this message, for he was doubtful of how it could happen. He considered himself the most wretched, and therefore he thought that it was not possible for him to attain such good fortune., SB 4.23.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.23.20

Although she was not accustomed to such difficulties, Queen Arci followed her husband in the regulative principles of living in the forest like great sages. She lay down on the ground and ate only fruits, flowers and leaves, and because she was not fit for these activities, she became frail and thin. Yet because of the pleasure she derived in serving her husband, she did not feel any difficulties., SB 4.26.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.26.13

After taking his dinner and having his thirst and hunger satisfied, King Purañjana felt some joy within his heart. Instead of being elevated to a higher consciousness, he became captivated by Cupid, and was moved by a desire to find his wife, who kept him satisfied in his household life., SB 4.26.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.26.19

The King, with aggrieved mind, began to speak to his wife with very pleasing words. Although he was filled with regret and tried to pacify her, he could not see any symptom of anger caused by love within the heart of his beloved wife., SB 4.27.18plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.27.18

King Purañjana collected taxes in the city known as Pañcāla and thus was able to engage in sexual indulgence. Being completely under the control of women, he could not understand that his life was passing away and that he was reaching the point of death., SB 7.4.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.4.19

In spite of achieving the power to control in all directions and in spite of enjoying all types of dear sense gratification as much as possible, Hiraṇyakaśipu was dissatisfied because instead of controlling his senses he remained their servant., SB 9.16.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.16.5

The great sage Jamadagni understood the adultery in the mind of his wife. Therefore he was very angry and told his sons, "My dear sons, kill this sinful woman!" But the sons did not carry out his order., Ādi 7.43plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 7.43

Hearing all this blasphemy, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu merely smiled to Himself, rejected all these accusations and did not talk with the Māyāvādīs.

do not — Bg. 1.37-38plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 1.37-38

O Janārdana, although these men, overtaken by greed, see no fault in killing one's family or quarreling with friends, why should we, with knowledge of the sin, engage in these acts?, Bg. 2.8plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.8

I can find no means to drive away this grief which is drying up my senses. I will not be able to destroy it even if I win an unrivalled kingdom on the earth with sovereignty like that of the demigods in heaven., Bg. 2.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.25

It is said that the soul is invisible, inconceivable, immutable, and unchangeable. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body., Bg. 2.27plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.27

For one who has taken his birth, death is certain; and for one who is dead, birth is certain. Therefore, in the unavoidable discharge of your duty, you should not lament., Bg. 2.33plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.33

If, however, you do not fight this religious war, then you will certainly incur sins for neglecting your duties and thus lose your reputation as a fighter., Bg. 3.23plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 3.23

For, if I did not engage in work, O Pārtha, certainly all men would follow My path., Bg. 3.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 3.24

If I should cease to work, then all these worlds would be put to ruination. I would also be the cause of creating unwanted population, and I would thereby destroy the peace of all sentient beings., Bg. 3.26plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 3.26

Let not the wise disrupt the minds of the ignorant who are attached to fruitive action. They should not be encouraged to refrain from work, but to engage in work in the spirit of devotion., Bg. 3.32plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 3.32

But those who, out of envy, disregard these teachings and do not practice them regularly, are to be considered bereft of all knowledge, befooled, and doomed to ignorance and bondage., Bg. 6.33plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 6.33

Arjuna said: O Madhusūdana, the system of yoga which you have summarized appears impractical and unendurable to me, for the mind is restless and unsteady., SB 1.5.15plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.5.15

The people in general are naturally inclined to enjoy, and you have encouraged them in that way in the name of religion. This is verily condemned and is quite unreasonable. Because they are guided under your instructions, they will accept such activities in the name of religion and will hardly care for prohibitions., SB 1.13.39plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.13.39

Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira said: O godly personality, I do not know where my two uncles have gone. Nor can I find my ascetic aunt who is grief-stricken by the loss of all her sons., SB 1.14.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.14.19

SB 1.14.19

" न पिबन्ति स्तनं वत्सा न दुह्यन्ति च मातरः । रुदन्त्यश्रुमुखा गावो न हृष्यन्त्यृषभा व्रजे ॥१९॥, SB 2.1.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.1.19

Thereafter, you should meditate upon the limbs of Viṣṇu, one after another, without being deviated from the conception of the complete body. Thus the mind becomes free from all sense objects. There should be no other thing to be thought upon. Because the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, is the Ultimate Truth, the mind becomes completely reconciled in Him only., SB 2.3.18plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.3.18

Do the trees not live? Do the bellows of the blacksmith not breathe? All around us, do the beasts not eat and discharge semen?, SB 2.5.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.5.6

Whatever we can understand by the nomenclature, characteristics and features of a particular thing—superior, inferior or equal, eternal or temporary—is not created from any source other than that of Your Lordship, thou so great., SB 2.6.38plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.6.38

Let us offer our respectful obeisances unto that Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose incarnations and activities are chanted by us for glorification, though He can hardly be fully known as He is., SB 3.4.15plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.4.15

O my Lord, devotees who engage in the transcendental loving service of Your lotus feet have no difficulty in achieving anything within the realm of the four principles of religiosity, economic development, sense gratification and liberation. But, O great one, as far as I am concerned, I have preferred only to engage in the loving service of Your lotus feet., SB 3.9.3plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.9.3

O my Lord, I do not see a form superior to Your present form of eternal bliss and knowledge. In Your impersonal Brahman effulgence in the spiritual sky, there is no occasional change and no deterioration of internal potency. I surrender unto You because whereas I am proud of my material body and senses, Your Lordship is the cause of the cosmic manifestation and yet You are untouched by matter., SB 3.9.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.9.6

O my Lord, the people of the world are embarrassed by all material anxieties—they are always afraid. They always try to protect wealth, body and friends, they are filled with lamentation and unlawful desires and paraphernalia, and they avariciously base their undertakings on the perishable conceptions of "my" and "mine." As long as they do not take shelter of Your safe lotus feet, they are full of such anxieties., SB 3.25.23plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.25.23

Engaged constantly in chanting and hearing about Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the sādhus do not suffer from material miseries because they are always filled with thoughts of My pastimes and activities., SB 3.32.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.32.5

Those who are intelligent and are of purified consciousness are completely satisfied in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Freed from the modes of material nature, they do not act for sense gratification; rather, since they are situated in their own occupational duties, they act as one is expected to act., SB 4.17.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.17.24

You have so lost your intelligence that, despite my orders, you do not deliver the seeds of herbs and grains formerly created by Brahmā and now hidden within yourself., SB 4.22.34plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.22.34

Those who strongly desire to cross the ocean of nescience must not associate with the modes of ignorance, for hedonistic activities are the greatest obstructions to realization of religious principles, economic development, regulated sense gratification and, at last, liberation., SB 4.25.33plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.25.33

The girl said: O best of human beings, I do not know who has begotten me. I cannot speak to you perfectly about this. Nor do I know the names or the origin of the associates with me., SB 5.1.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.1.5

Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: What you have said is correct. The glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is praised in eloquent, transcendental verses by such exalted personalities as Brahmā, are very pleasing to great devotees and liberated persons. One who is attached to the nectarean honey of the Lord's lotus feet, and whose mind is always absorbed in His glories, may sometimes be checked by some impediment, but he still never gives up the exalted position he has acquired., SB 5.5.16plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.5.16

Due to ignorance, the materialistic person does not know anything about his real self-interest, the auspicious path in life. He is simply bound to material enjoyment by lusty desires, and all his plans are made for this purpose. For temporary sense gratification, such a person creates a society of envy, and due to this mentality, he plunges into the ocean of suffering. Such a foolish person does not even know about this., SB 9.6.51plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.6.51

A person desiring liberation from material bondage must give up the association of persons interested in sex life and should not employ his senses externally [in seeing, hearing, talking, walking and so on]. One should always stay in a secluded place, completely fixing his mind at the lotus feet of the unlimited Personality of Godhead, and if one wants any association at all, he should associate with persons similarly engaged., SB 9.13.9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.13.9

Mahārāja Nimi continued: Māyāvādīs generally want freedom from accepting a material body because they fear having to give it up again. But devotees whose intelligence is always filled with the service of the Lord are unafraid. Indeed, they take advantage of the body to render transcendental loving service., Madhya 24.142plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 24.142

" 'If one simply maintains an official position in the four varṇas and āśramas but does not worship the Supreme Lord Viṣṇu, he falls down from his puffed up position into a hellish condition.', Antya 5.124-125plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā 5.124-125

Cc. Antya 5.124-125

Text

" nātaḥ paraṁ parama yad bhavataḥ svarūpam ānanda-mātram avikalpam aviddha-varcaḥ paśyāmi viśva-sṛjam ekam aviśvam ātman bhūtendriyātmaka-madas ta upāśrito ‘smi

tad vā idaṁ bhuvana-maṅgala maṅgalāya

does it not — SB 1.5.33plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.5.33

O good soul, does not a thing, applied therapeutically, cure a disease which was caused by that very same thing?

does not — Bg. 2.31plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.31

Considering your specific duty as a kṣatriya, you should know that there is no better engagement for you than fighting on religious principles; and so there is no need for hesitation., Bg. 3.16plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 3.16

My dear Arjuna, a man who does not follow this prescribed Vedic system of sacrifice certainly leads a life of sin, for a person delighting only in the senses lives in vain., Bg. 3.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 3.17

One who is, however, taking pleasure in the self, who is illumined in the self, who rejoices in and is satisfied with the self only, fully satiated—for him there is no duty., Bg. 4.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 4.20

Abandoning all attachment to the results of his activities, ever satisfied and independent, he performs no fruitive action, although engaged in all kinds of undertakings., Bg. 5.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 5.20

A person who neither rejoices upon achieving something pleasant nor laments upon obtaining something unpleasant, who is self-intelligent, unbewildered, and who knows the science of God, is to be understood as already situated in Transcendence., Bg. 6.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 6.19

As a lamp in a windless place does not waver, so the transcendentalist, whose mind is controlled, remains always steady in his meditation on the transcendent Self., Bg. 13.29plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 13.29

One who sees the Supersoul in every living being and equal everywhere does not degrade himself by his mind. Thus he approaches the transcendental destination., Bg. 15.11plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 15.11

The endeavoring transcendentalist, who is situated in self-realization, can see all this clearly. But those who are not situated in self-realization cannot see what is taking place, though they may try to., SB 1.5.8plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.5.8

Śrī Nārada said: You have not actually broadcast the sublime and spotless glories of the Personality of Godhead. That philosophy which does not satisfy the transcendental senses of the Lord is considered worthless., SB 1.5.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.5.12

Knowledge of self-realization, even though free from all material affinity, does not look well if devoid of a conception of the Infallible [God]. What, then, is the use of fruitive activities, which are naturally painful from the very beginning and transient by nature, if they are not utilized for the devotional service of the Lord?, SB 1.6.35plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.6.35

It is true that by practicing restraint of the senses by the yoga system one can get relief from the disturbances of desire and lust, but this is not sufficient to give satisfaction to the soul, for this [satisfaction] is derived from devotional service to the Personality of Godhead., SB 1.8.29plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.8.29

O Lord, no one can understand Your transcendental pastimes, which appear to be human and are so misleading. You have no specific object of favor, nor do You have any object of envy. People only imagine that You are partial., SB 1.14.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.14.7

Since he departed, seven months have passed, yet he has not returned. I do not know factually how things are going there., SB 1.14.18plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.14.18

Rivers, tributaries, ponds, reservoirs and the mind are all perturbed. Butter no longer ignites fire. What is this extraordinary time? What is going to happen?, SB 1.14.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.14.19

SB 1.14.19

" न पिबन्ति स्तनं वत्सा न दुह्यन्ति च मातरः । रुदन्त्यश्रुमुखा गावो न हृष्यन्त्यृषभा व्रजे ॥१९॥, SB 1.19.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.19.6

The river [Ganges, by which the King sat to fast] carries the most auspicious water, which is mixed with the dust of the lotus feet of the Lord and tulasī leaves. Therefore that water sanctifies the three worlds inside and outside and even sanctifies Lord Śiva and other demigods. Consequently everyone who is destined to die must take shelter of this river., SB 2.1.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.1.4

Persons devoid of ātma-tattva do not inquire into the problems of life, being too attached to the fallible soldiers like the body, children and wife. Although sufficiently experienced, they still do not see their inevitable destruction., SB 2.2.14plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.2.14

Unless the gross materialist develops a sense of loving service unto the Supreme Lord, the seer of both the transcendental and material worlds, he should remember or meditate upon the universal form of the Lord at the end of his prescribed duties., SB 2.3.22plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.3.22

The eyes which do not look at the symbolic representations of the Personality of Godhead Viṣṇu [His forms, name, quality, etc.] are like those printed on the plumes of the peacock, and the legs which do not move to the holy places [where the Lord is remembered] are considered to be like tree trunks., SB 2.3.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.3.24

Certainly that heart is steel-framed which, in spite of one's chanting the holy name of the Lord with concentration, does not change when ecstasy takes place, tears fill the eyes and the hairs stand on end., SB 2.10.9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.10.9

All three of the above-mentioned stages of different living entities are interdependent. In the absence of one, another is not understood. But the Supreme Being who sees every one of them as the shelter of the shelter is independent of all, and therefore He is the supreme shelter., SB 2.10.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.10.12

One should definitely know that all material ingredients, activities, time and modes, and the living entities who are meant to enjoy them all, exist by His mercy only, and as soon as He does not care for them, everything becomes nonexistent., SB 3.6.39plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.6.39

The wonderful potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is bewildering even to the jugglers. That potential power is unknown even to the self-sufficient Lord, so it is certainly unknown to others., SB 3.12.51plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.12.51

Brahmā thought to himself: Alas, it is wonderful that in spite of my being scattered all over, there is still insufficient population throughout the universe. There is no other cause for this misfortune but destiny., SB 4.15.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.15.24

How could an intelligent man competent enough to possess such exalted qualities allow his followers to praise him if he did not actually have them? Praising a man by saying that if he were educated he might have become a great scholar or great personality is nothing but a process of cheating. A foolish person who agrees to accept such praise does not know that such words simply insult him., SB 4.26.22plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.26.22

My dear slender maiden, when a master chastises his servant, the servant should accept this as great mercy. One who becomes angry must be very foolish not to know that such is the duty of his friend., SB 4.28.58plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.28.58

The five stores are the five working sensory organs. They transact their business through the combined forces of the five elements, which are eternal. Behind all this activity is the soul. The soul is a person and an enjoyer in reality. However, because he is now hidden within the city of the body, he is devoid of knowledge., SB 7.12.10plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.12.10

As long as a living entity is not completely self-realized—as long as he is not independent of the misconception of identifying with his body, which is nothing but a reflection of the original body and senses—he cannot be relieved of the conception of duality, which is epitomized by the duality between man and woman. Thus there is every chance that he will fall down because his intelligence is bewildered., SB 9.18.40plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.18.40

Yadu replied: My dear father, you have already achieved old age, although you also were a young man. But I do not welcome your old age and invalidity, for unless one enjoys material happiness, one cannot attain renunciation., SB 10.2.21plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.2.21

Kaṁsa thought: What is my duty now? The Supreme Lord, who knows His purpose [paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām], will not give up His prowess. Devakī is a woman, she is my sister, and moreover she is now pregnant. If I kill her, my reputation, opulence and duration of life will certainly be vanquished., Ādi 8.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 8.25

"If one's heart does not change, tears do not flow from his eyes, his body does not shiver, and his bodily hairs do not stand on end as he chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, it should be understood that his heart is as hard as iron. This is due to his offenses at the lotus feet of the Lord's holy name."

is not — SB 8.3.22-24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.3.22-24

The Supreme Personality of Godhead creates His minor parts and parcels, the jīva-tattva, beginning with Lord Brahmā, the demigods and the expansions of Vedic knowledge [Sāma, Ṛg, Yajur and Atharva] and including all other living entities, moving and nonmoving, with their different names and characteristics. As the sparks of a fire or the shining rays of the sun emanate from their source and merge into it again and again, the mind, the intelligence, the senses, the gross and subtle material bodies, and the continuous transformations of the different modes of nature all emanate from the Lord and again merge into Him. He is neither demigod nor demon, neither human nor bird or beast. He is not woman, man, or neuter, nor is He an animal. He is not a material quality, a fruitive activity, a manifestation or nonmanifestation. He is the last word in the discrimination of "not this, not this," and He is unlimited. All glories to the Supreme Personality of Godhead!, SB 8.20.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.20.6

My lord, you can also see that all the material opulences of this world are certainly separated from their possessor at death. Therefore, if the brāhmaṇa Vāmanadeva is not satisfied by whatever gifts one has given, why not please Him with the riches one is destined to lose at death?

it is not — SB 8.9.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.9.4

What to speak of human beings, even the demigods, demons, Siddhas, Gandharvas, Cāraṇas and the various directors of the universe, the Prajāpatis, have never touched You before. It is not that we are unable to understand Your identity.

it is not so — Bg. 2.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.12

Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.

may not — Bg. 3.29plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 3.29

Bewildered by the modes of material nature, the ignorant fully engage themselves in material activities and become attached. But the wise should not unsettle them, although these duties are inferior due to the performers' lack of knowledge., SB 3.14.22plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.14.22

Even though it is not possible to repay you, I shall satisfy your sex desire immediately for the sake of begetting children. But you must wait for only a few seconds so that others may not reproach me.

neither — Bg. 2.66plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.66

One who is not in transcendental consciousness can have neither a controlled mind nor steady intelligence, without which there is no possibility of peace. And how can there be any happiness without peace?, Bg. 4.40plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 4.40

But ignorant and faithless persons who doubt the revealed scriptures do not attain God consciousness. For the doubting soul there is happiness neither in this world nor in the next., Bg. 13.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 13.13

I shall now explain the knowable, knowing which you will taste the eternal. This is beginningless, and it is subordinate to Me. It is called Brahman, the spirit, and it lies beyond the cause and effect of this material world., SB 1.2.9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.2.9

All occupational engagements are certainly meant for ultimate liberation. They should never be performed for material gain. Furthermore, according to sages, one who is engaged in the ultimate occupational service should never use material gain to cultivate sense gratification., SB 1.17.31plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.17.31

The King thus said: We have inherited the fame of Arjuna; therefore since you have surrendered yourself with folded hands you need not fear for your life. But you cannot remain in my kingdom, for you are the friend of irreligion., SB 1.19.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.19.20

[The sages said:] O chief of all the saintly kings of the Pāṇḍu dynasty who are strictly in the line of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa! It is not at all astonishing that you give up your throne, which is decorated with the helmets of many kings, to achieve eternal association with the Personality of Godhead., SB 2.5.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.5.6

Whatever we can understand by the nomenclature, characteristics and features of a particular thing—superior, inferior or equal, eternal or temporary—is not created from any source other than that of Your Lordship, thou so great., SB 2.6.37plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.6.37

Since neither Lord Śiva nor you nor I could ascertain the limits of spiritual happiness, how can other demigods know it? And because all of us are bewildered by the illusory external energy of the Supreme Lord, we can see only this manifested cosmos according to our individual ability., SB 2.9.10plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.9.10

In that personal abode of the Lord, the material modes of ignorance and passion do not prevail, nor is there any of their influence in goodness. There is no predominance of the influence of time, so what to speak of the illusory, external energy; it cannot enter that region. Without discrimination, both the demigods and the demons worship the Lord as devotees., SB 3.14.26plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.14.26

Lord Śiva regards no one as his relative, yet there is no one who is not connected with him; he does not regard anyone as very favorable or abominable. We respectfully worship the remnants of his foodstuff, and we vow to accept what is rejected by him., SB 3.14.43plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.14.43

A person who is condemned by a brāhmaṇa or is always fearful to other living entities is not favored either by those who are already in hell or by those in the species in which he is born., SB 4.7.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.7.13

King Dakṣa said: My dear Lord Śiva, I committed a great offense against you, but you are so kind that instead of withdrawing your mercy, you have done me a great favor by punishing me. You and Lord Viṣṇu never neglect even useless, unqualified brāhmaṇas. Why, then, should you neglect me, who am engaged in performing sacrifices?, SB 4.24.30plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.24.30

You are all devotees of the Lord, and as such I appreciate that you are as respectable as the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. I know in this way that the devotees also respect me and that I am dear to them. Thus no one can be as dear to the devotees as I am., SB 4.24.57plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.24.57

If one by chance associates with a devotee, even for a fraction of a moment, he no longer is subject to attraction by the results of karma or jñāna. What interest then can he have in the benedictions of the demigods, who are subject to the laws of birth and death?, SB 4.27.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.27.25

One who does not give charity according to the customs or injunctions of the scriptures and one who does not accept charity in that way are considered to be in the mode of ignorance. Such persons follow the path of the foolish. Surely they must lament at the end., SB 7.7.51-52plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.7.51-52

My dear friends, O sons of the demons, you cannot please the Supreme Personality of Godhead by becoming perfect brāhmaṇas, demigods or great saints or by becoming perfectly good in etiquette or vast learning. None of these qualifications can awaken the pleasure of the Lord. Nor by charity, austerity, sacrifice, cleanliness or vows can one satisfy the Lord. The Lord is pleased only if one has unflinching, unalloyed devotion to Him. Without sincere devotional service, everything is simply a show., SB 7.9.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.19

My Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, O Supreme, because of a bodily conception of life, embodied souls neglected and not cared for by You cannot do anything for their betterment. Whatever remedies they accept, although perhaps temporarily beneficial, are certainly impermanent. For example, a father and mother cannot protect their child, a physician and medicine cannot relieve a suffering patient, and a boat on the ocean cannot protect a drowning man., SB 7.9.49plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.49

Neither the three modes of material nature [sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa], nor the predominating deities controlling these three modes, nor the five gross elements, nor the mind, nor the demigods nor the human beings can understand Your Lordship, for they are all subjected to birth and annihilation. Considering this, the spiritually advanced have taken to devotional service. Such wise men hardly bother with Vedic study. Instead, they engage themselves in practical devotional service., SB 7.15.59plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.15.59

In this world there are five elements—namely earth, water, fire, air and ether—but the body is not a reflection of them, nor a combination or transformation of them. Because the body and its ingredients are neither distinct nor amalgamated, all such theories are insubstantial., SB 8.1.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.1.12

The Supreme Personality of Godhead has no beginning, no end and no middle. Nor does He belong to a particular person or nation. He has no inside or outside. The dualities found within this material world, such as beginning and end, mine and theirs, are all absent from the personality of the Supreme Lord. The universe, which emanates from Him, is another feature of the Lord. Therefore the Supreme Lord is the ultimate truth, and He is complete in greatness., SB 8.3.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.3.6

An artist onstage, being covered by attractive dresses and dancing with different movements, is not understood by his audience; similarly, the activities and features of the supreme artist cannot be understood even by the demigods or great sages, and certainly not by those who are unintelligent like animals. Neither the demigods and sages nor the unintelligent can understand the features of the Lord, nor can they express in words His actual position. May that Supreme Personality of Godhead give me protection., SB 8.3.22-24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.3.22-24

The Supreme Personality of Godhead creates His minor parts and parcels, the jīva-tattva, beginning with Lord Brahmā, the demigods and the expansions of Vedic knowledge [Sāma, Ṛg, Yajur and Atharva] and including all other living entities, moving and nonmoving, with their different names and characteristics. As the sparks of a fire or the shining rays of the sun emanate from their source and merge into it again and again, the mind, the intelligence, the senses, the gross and subtle material bodies, and the continuous transformations of the different modes of nature all emanate from the Lord and again merge into Him. He is neither demigod nor demon, neither human nor bird or beast. He is not woman, man, or neuter, nor is He an animal. He is not a material quality, a fruitive activity, a manifestation or nonmanifestation. He is the last word in the discrimination of "not this, not this," and He is unlimited. All glories to the Supreme Personality of Godhead!, SB 8.11.40plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.11.40

Thus Indra, King of heaven, severed Namuci's head with a weapon of foam, which was neither dry nor moist. Then all the sages satisfied Indra, the exalted personality, by showering flowers and garlands upon him, almost covering him., SB 8.12.10plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.12.10

O my Lord, I, who am considered to be the best of the demigods, and Lord Brahmā and the great ṛṣis, headed by Marīci, are born of the mode of goodness. Nonetheless, we are bewildered by Your illusory energy and cannot understand what this creation is. Aside from us, what is to be said of others, like the demons and human beings, who are in the base modes of material nature [rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa]? How will they know You?, SB 8.22.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.22.4

Although a father, mother, brother or friend may sometimes punish one as a well-wisher, they never punish their subordinate like this. But because You are the most worshipable Lord, I regard the punishment You have given me as most exalted., SB 9.4.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.4.13

From Nābhāga, Mahārāja Ambarīṣa took birth. Mahārāja Ambarīṣa was an exalted devotee, celebrated for his great merits. Although he was cursed by an infallible brāhmaṇa, the curse could not touch him., SB 9.20.29plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.20.29

As one cannot approach the heavenly planets simply by the strength of his arms (for who can touch the heavenly planets with his hands?), one cannot imitate the wonderful activities of Mahārāja Bharata. No one could perform such activities in the past, nor will anyone be able to do so in the future., SB 10.9.13-14plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.9.13-14

The Supreme Personality of Godhead has no beginning and no end, no exterior and no interior, no front and no rear. In other words, He is all-pervading. Because He is not under the influence of the element of time, for Him there is no difference between past, present and future; He exists in His own transcendental form at all times. Being absolute, beyond relativity, He is free from distinctions between cause and effect, although He is the cause and effect of everything. That unmanifested person, who is beyond the perception of the senses, had now appeared as a human child, and mother Yaśodā, considering Him her own ordinary child, bound Him to the wooden mortar with a rope., Madhya 22.52plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 22.52

" 'O King Rahūgaṇa, without taking upon one's head the dust from the lotus feet of a pure devotee [a mahājana or mahātmā], one cannot attain devotional service. Devotional service is not possible to attain simply by undergoing severe austerities and penances, by gorgeously worshiping the Deity, or by strictly following the rules and regulations of the sannyāsa or gṛhastha order, nor by studying the Vedas, submerging oneself in water, or exposing oneself to fire or scorching sunlight.'

never — Bg. 1.32-35plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 1.32-35

O Govinda, of what avail to us are kingdoms, happiness or even life itself when all those for whom we may desire them are now arrayed in this battlefield? O Madhusūdana, when teachers, fathers, sons, grandfathers, maternal uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law and all relatives are ready to give up their lives and properties and are standing before me, then why should I wish to kill them, though I may survive? O maintainer of all creatures, I am not prepared to fight with them even in exchange for the three worlds, let alone this earth., Bg. 1.36plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 1.36

Sin will overcome us if we slay such aggressors. Therefore it is not proper for us to kill the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra and our friends. What should we gain, O Kṛṣṇa, husband of the goddess of fortune, and how could we be happy by killing our own kinsmen?, Bg. 2.3plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.3

O son of Pṛthā, do not yield to this degrading impotence. It does not become you. Give up such petty weakness of heart and arise, O chastiser of the enemy., Bg. 2.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.6

Nor do we know which is better—conquering them or being conquered by them. The sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, whom if we killed we should not care to live, are now standing before us on this battlefield., Bg. 2.11plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.11

The Blessed Lord said: While speaking learned words, you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief. Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor the dead., Bg. 2.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.12

Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be., Bg. 2.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.13

As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change., Bg. 2.15plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.15

O best among men [Arjuna], the person who is not disturbed by happiness and distress and is steady in both is certainly eligible for liberation., Bg. 2.16plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.16

Those who are seers of the truth have concluded that of the nonexistent there is no endurance, and of the existent there is no cessation. This seers have concluded by studying the nature of both., Bg. 2.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.19

He who thinks that the living entity is the slayer or that he is slain, does not understand. One who is in knowledge knows that the self slays not nor is slain., Bg. 2.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.20

For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain., Bg. 2.23plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.23

The soul can never be cut into pieces by any weapon, nor can he be burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind., Bg. 2.26plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.26

If, however, you think that the soul is perpetually born and always dies, still you have no reason to lament, O mighty-armed., Bg. 2.29plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.29

Some look on the soul as amazing, some describe him as amazing, and some hear of him as amazing, while others, even after hearing about him, cannot understand him at all., Bg. 2.30plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.30

O descendant of Bharata, he who dwells in the body is eternal and can never be slain. Therefore you need not grieve for any creature., Bg. 2.31plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.31

Considering your specific duty as a kṣatriya, you should know that there is no better engagement for you than fighting on religious principles; and so there is no need for hesitation., Bg. 2.38plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.38

Do thou fight for the sake of fighting, without considering happiness or distress, loss or gain, victory or defeat—and, by so doing, you shall never incur sin., Bg. 2.40plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.40

In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear., Bg. 2.42-43plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.42-43

Men of small knowledge are very much attached to the flowery words of the Vedas, which recommend various fruitive activities for elevation to heavenly planets, resultant good birth, power, and so forth. Being desirous of sense gratification and opulent life, they say that there is nothing more than this., Bg. 2.44plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.44

In the minds of those who are too attached to sense enjoyment and material opulence, and who are bewildered by such things, the resolute determination of devotional service to the Supreme Lord does not take place., Bg. 2.57plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.57

He who is without attachment, who does not rejoice when he obtains good, nor lament when he obtains evil, is firmly fixed in perfect knowledge., Bg. 2.72plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.72

That is the way of the spiritual and godly life, after attaining which a man is not bewildered. Being so situated, even at the hour of death, one can enter into the kingdom of God., Bg. 3.8plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 3.8

Perform your prescribed duty, for action is better than inaction. A man cannot even maintain his physical body without work., Bg. 3.18plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 3.18

A self-realized man has no purpose to fulfill in the discharge of his prescribed duties, nor has he any reason not to perform such work. Nor has he any need to depend on any other living being., Bg. 3.28plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 3.28

One who is in knowledge of the Absolute Truth, O mighty-armed, does not engage himself in the senses and sense gratification, knowing well the differences between work in devotion and work for fruitive results., Bg. 3.34plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 3.34

Attraction and repulsion for sense objects are felt by embodied beings, but one should not fall under the control of senses and sense objects because they are stumbling blocks on the path of self-realization., Bg. 4.9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 4.9

One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna., Bg. 4.14plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 4.14

There is no work that affects Me; nor do I aspire for the fruits of action. One who understands this truth about Me also does not become entangled in the fruitive reactions of work., Bg. 4.21plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 4.21

Such a man of understanding acts with mind and intelligence perfectly controlled, gives up all sense of proprietorship over his possessions and acts only for the bare necessities of life. Thus working, he is not affected by sinful reactions., Bg. 4.22plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 4.22

He who is satisfied with gain which comes of its own accord, who is free from duality and does not envy, who is steady both in success and failure, is never entangled, although performing actions., Bg. 4.31plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 4.31

O best of the Kuru dynasty, without sacrifice one can never live happily on this planet or in this life: what then of the next?, Bg. 4.35plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 4.35

And when you have thus learned the truth, you will know that all living beings are but part of Me—and that they are in Me, and are Mine., Bg. 4.38plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 4.38

In this world, there is nothing so sublime and pure as transcendental knowledge. Such knowledge is the mature fruit of all mysticism. And one who has achieved this enjoys the self within himself in due course of time., Bg. 4.40plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 4.40

But ignorant and faithless persons who doubt the revealed scriptures do not attain God consciousness. For the doubting soul there is happiness neither in this world nor in the next., Bg. 4.41plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 4.41

Therefore, one who has renounced the fruits of his action, whose doubts are destroyed by transcendental knowledge, and who is situated firmly in the self, is not bound by works, O conqueror of riches., Bg. 5.3plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 5.3

One who neither hates nor desires the fruits of his activities is known to be always renounced. Such a person, liberated from all dualities, easily overcomes material bondage and is completely liberated, O mighty-armed Arjuna., Bg. 5.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 5.4

Only the ignorant speak of karma-yoga and devotional service as being different from the analytical study of the material world [sāṅkhya]. Those who are actually learned say that he who applies himself well to one of these paths achieves the results of both., Bg. 5.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 5.7

One who works in devotion, who is a pure soul, and who controls his mind and senses, is dear to everyone, and everyone is dear to him. Though always working, such a man is never entangled., Bg. 5.8-9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 5.8-9

A person in the divine consciousness, although engaged in seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving about, sleeping, and breathing, always knows within himself that he actually does nothing at all. Because while speaking, evacuating, receiving, opening or closing his eyes, he always knows that only the material senses are engaged with their objects and that he is aloof from them., Bg. 5.10plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 5.10

One who performs his duty without attachment, surrendering the results unto the Supreme God, is not affected by sinful action, as the lotus leaf is untouched by water., Bg. 5.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 5.13

When the embodied living being controls his nature and mentally renounces all actions, he resides happily in the city of nine gates [the material body], neither working nor causing work to be done., Bg. 5.14plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 5.14

The embodied spirit, master of the city of his body, does not create activities, nor does he induce people to act, nor does he create the fruits of action. All this is enacted by the modes of material nature., Bg. 5.15plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 5.15

Nor does the Supreme Spirit assume anyone's sinful or pious activities. Embodied beings, however, are bewildered because of the ignorance which covers their real knowledge., Bg. 5.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 5.20

A person who neither rejoices upon achieving something pleasant nor laments upon obtaining something unpleasant, who is self-intelligent, unbewildered, and who knows the science of God, is to be understood as already situated in Transcendence., Bg. 5.22plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 5.22

An intelligent person does not take part in the sources of misery, which are due to contact with the material senses. O son of Kuntī, such pleasures have a beginning and an end, and so the wise man does not delight in them., Bg. 6.2plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 6.2

What is called renunciation is the same as yoga, or linking oneself with the Supreme, for no one can become a yogī unless he renounces the desire for sense gratification., Bg. 6.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 6.4

A person is said to have attained to yoga when, having renounced all material desires, he neither acts for sense gratification nor engages in fruitive activities., Bg. 6.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 6.5

A man must elevate himself by his own mind, not degrade himself. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well., Bg. 6.16plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 6.16

There is no possibility of one's becoming a yogī, O Arjuna, if one eats too much, or eats too little, sleeps too much or does not sleep enough., Bg. 6.20-23plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 6.20-23

The stage of perfection is called trance, or samādhi, when one's mind is completely restrained from material mental activities by practice of yoga. This is characterized by one's ability to see the self by the pure mind and to relish and rejoice in the self. In that joyous state, one is situated in boundless transcendental happiness and enjoys himself through transcendental senses. Established thus, one never departs from the truth, and upon gaining this he thinks there is no greater gain. Being situated in such a position, one is never shaken, even in the midst of greatest difficulty. This indeed is actual freedom from all miseries arising from material contact., Bg. 6.39plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 6.39

This is my doubt O Kṛṣṇa, and I ask You to dispel it completely. But for Yourself, no one is to be found who can destroy this doubt., Bg. 6.40plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 6.40

The Blessed Lord said: Son of Pṛthā, a transcendentalist engaged in auspicious activities does not meet with destruction either in this world or in the spiritual world; one who does good, My friend, is never overcome by evil., Bg. 8.15plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 8.15

After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogīs in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection., Bg. 8.16plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 8.16

From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kuntī, never takes birth again., Bg. 8.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 8.20

Yet there is another nature, which is eternal and is transcendental to this manifested and unmanifested matter. It is supreme and is never annihilated. When all in this world is annihilated, that part remains as it is., Bg. 8.21plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 8.21

That supreme abode is called unmanifested and infallible, and it is the supreme destination. When one goes there, he never comes back. That is My supreme abode., Bg. 8.27plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 8.27

The devotees who know these two paths, O Arjuna, are never bewildered. Therefore be always fixed in devotion., Bg. 9.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 9.5

And yet everything that is created does not rest in Me. Behold My mystic opulence! Although I am the maintainer of all living entities, and although I am everywhere, still My Self is the very source of creation., Bg. 9.9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 9.9

O Dhanañjaya, all this work cannot bind Me. I am ever detached, seated as though neutral., Bg. 9.31plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 9.31

He quickly becomes righteous and attains lasting peace. O son of Kuntī, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes., Bg. 10.2plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 10.2

Neither the hosts of demigods nor the great sages know My origin, for, in every respect, I am the source of the demigods and the sages., Bg. 10.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 10.7

He who knows in truth this glory and power of Mine engages in unalloyed devotional service; of this there is no doubt., Bg. 10.14plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 10.14

O Kṛṣṇa, I totally accept as truth all that You have told me. Neither the gods nor demons, O Lord, know Thy personality., Bg. 11.8plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 11.8

But you cannot see Me with your present eyes. Therefore I give to you divine eyes by which you can behold My mystic opulence., Bg. 11.31plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 11.31

O Lord of lords, so fierce of form, please tell me who You are. I offer my obeisances unto You; please be gracious to me. I do not know what Your mission is, and I desire to hear of it., Bg. 11.32plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 11.32

The Blessed Lord said: Time I am, destroyer of the worlds, and I have come to engage all people. With the exception of you [the Pāṇḍavas], all the soldiers here on both sides will be slain., Bg. 11.43plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 11.43

You are the father of this complete cosmic manifestation, the worshipable chief, the spiritual master. No one is equal to You, nor can anyone be one with You. Within the three worlds, You are immeasurable., Bg. 11.48plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 11.48

O best of the Kuru warriors, no one before you has ever seen this universal form of Mine, for neither by studying the Vedas, nor by performing sacrifices, nor by charities or similar activities can this form be seen. Only you have seen this., Bg. 11.53plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 11.53

The form which you are seeing with your transcendental eyes cannot be understood simply by studying the Vedas, nor by undergoing serious penances, nor by charity, nor by worship. It is not by these means that one can see Me as I am., Bg. 12.8plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 12.8

Just fix your mind upon Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and engage all your intelligence in Me. Thus you will live in Me always, without a doubt., Bg. 12.15plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 12.15

He for whom no one is put into difficulty and who is not disturbed by anxiety, who is steady in happiness and distress, is very dear to Me., Bg. 12.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 12.17

One who neither grasps pleasure or grief, who neither laments nor desires, and who renounces both auspicious and inauspicious things, is very dear to Me., Bg. 13.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 13.24

One who understands this philosophy concerning material nature, the living entity and the interaction of the modes of nature is sure to attain liberation. He will not take birth here again, regardless of his present position., Bg. 13.33plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 13.33

The sky, due to its subtle nature, does not mix with anything, although it is all-pervading. Similarly, the soul, situated in Brahman vision, does not mix with the body, though situated in that body., Bg. 14.2plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 14.2

By becoming fixed in this knowledge, one can attain to the transcendental nature, which is like My own nature. Thus established, one is not born at the time of creation nor disturbed at the time of dissolution., Bg. 14.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 14.19

When you see that there is nothing beyond these modes of nature in all activities and that the Supreme Lord is transcendental to all these modes, then you can know My spiritual nature., Bg. 14.22-25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 14.22-25

The Blessed Lord said: He who does not hate illumination, attachment and delusion when they are present, nor longs for them when they disappear; who is seated like one unconcerned, being situated beyond these material reactions of the modes of nature, who remains firm, knowing that the modes alone are active; who regards alike pleasure and pain, and looks on a clod, a stone and a piece of gold with an equal eye; who is wise and holds praise and blame to be the same; who is unchanged in honor and dishonor, who treats friend and foe alike, who has abandoned all fruitive undertakings—such a man is said to have transcended the modes of nature., Bg. 15.3-4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 15.3-4

The real form of this tree cannot be perceived in this world. No one can understand where it ends, where it begins, or where its foundation is. But with determination one must cut down this tree with the weapon of detachment. So doing, one must seek that place from which, having once gone, one never returns, and there surrender to that Supreme Personality of Godhead from whom everything has begun and in whom everything is abiding since time immemorial., Bg. 15.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 15.6

That abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by electricity. One who reaches it never returns to this material world., Bg. 15.10plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 15.10

The foolish cannot understand how a living entity can quit his body, nor can they understand what sort of body he enjoys under the spell of the modes of nature. But one whose eyes are trained in knowledge can see all this., Bg. 16.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 16.7

Those who are demoniac do not know what is to be done and what is not to be done. Neither cleanliness nor proper behavior nor truth is found in them., Bg. 16.23plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 16.23

But he who discards scriptural injunctions and acts according to his own whims attains neither perfection, nor happiness, nor the supreme destination., Bg. 17.28plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 17.28

But sacrifices, austerities and charities performed without faith in the Supreme are nonpermanent, O son of Pṛthā, regardless of whatever rites are performed. They are called asat and are useless both in this life and the next., Bg. 18.3plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 18.3

Some learned men declare that all kinds of fruitive activities should be given up, but there are yet other sages who maintain that acts of sacrifice, charity and penance should never be abandoned., Bg. 18.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 18.5

Acts of sacrifice, charity and penance are not to be given up but should be performed. Indeed, sacrifice, charity and penance purify even the great souls., Bg. 18.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 18.7

Prescribed duties should never be renounced. If, by illusion, one gives up his prescribed duties, such renunciation is said to be in the mode of ignorance., Bg. 18.10plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 18.10

Those who are situated in the mode of goodness, who neither hate inauspicious work nor are attached to auspicious work, have no doubts about work., Bg. 18.11plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 18.11

It is indeed impossible for an embodied being to give up all activities. Therefore it is said that he who renounces the fruits of action is one who has truly renounced., Bg. 18.16plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 18.16

Therefore one who thinks himself the only doer, not considering the five factors, is certainly not very intelligent and cannot see things as they are., Bg. 18.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 18.17

One who is not motivated by false ego, whose intelligence is not entangled, though he kills men in this world, is not the slayer. Nor is he bound by his actions., Bg. 18.35plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 18.35

And that determination which cannot go beyond dreaming, fearfulness, lamentation, moroseness, and illusion—such unintelligent determination is in the mode of darkness., Bg. 18.47plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 18.47

It is better to engage in one's own occupation, even though one may perform it imperfectly, than to accept another's occupation and perform it perfectly. Prescribed duties, according to one's nature, are never affected by sinful reactions., Bg. 18.48plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 18.48

Every endeavor is covered by some sort of fault, just as fire is covered by smoke. Therefore one should not give up the work which is born of his nature, O son of Kuntī, even if such work is full of fault., Bg. 18.54plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 18.54

One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman. He never laments nor desires to have anything; he is equally disposed to every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me., Bg. 18.67plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 18.67

This confidential knowledge may not be explained to those who are not austere, or devoted, or engaged in devotional service, nor to one who is envious of Me., Bg. 18.69plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 18.69

There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear., SB 1.3.39plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.3.39

Only by making such inquiries in this world can one be successful and perfectly cognizant, for such inquiries invoke transcendental ecstatic love unto the Personality of Godhead, who is the proprietor of all the universes, and guarantee cent-percent immunity from the dreadful repetition of birth and death., SB 1.5.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.5.19

My dear Vyāsa, even though a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa sometimes falls down somehow or other, he certainly does not undergo material existence like others [fruitive workers, etc.] because a person who has once relished the taste of the lotus feet of the Lord can do nothing but remember that ecstasy again and again., SB 1.6.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.6.19

I desired to see again that transcendental form of the Lord, but despite my attempts to concentrate upon the heart with eagerness to view the form again, I could not see Him any more, and thus dissatisfied, I was very much aggrieved., SB 1.6.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.6.24

Intelligence engaged in My devotion cannot be thwarted at any time. Even at the time of creation, as well as at the time of annihilation, your remembrance will continue by My mercy., SB 1.8.26plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.8.26

My Lord, Your Lordship can easily be approached, but only by those who are materially exhausted. One who is on the path of [material] progress, trying to improve himself with respectable parentage, great opulence, high education and bodily beauty, cannot approach You with sincere feeling., SB 1.8.29plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.8.29

O Lord, no one can understand Your transcendental pastimes, which appear to be human and are so misleading. You have no specific object of favor, nor do You have any object of envy. People only imagine that You are partial., SB 1.8.49plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.8.49

I have killed many boys, brāhmaṇas, well-wishers, friends, parents, preceptors and brothers. Though I live millions of years, I will not be relieved from the hell that awaits me for all these sins., SB 1.8.50plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.8.50

There is no sin for a king who kills for the right cause, who is engaged in maintaining his citizens. But this injunction is not applicable to me., SB 1.8.51plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.8.51

I have killed many friends of women, and I have thus caused enmity to such an extent that it is not possible to undo it by material welfare work., SB 1.8.52plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.8.52

As it is not possible to filter muddy water through mud, or purify a wine-stained pot with wine, it is not possible to counteract the killing of men by sacrificing animals., SB 1.9.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.9.12

Bhīṣmadeva said: Oh, what terrible sufferings and what terrible injustices you good souls suffer for being the sons of religion personified. You did not deserve to remain alive under those tribulations, yet you were protected by the brāhmaṇas, God and religion., SB 1.9.16plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.9.16

O King, no one can know the plan of the Lord [Śrī Kṛṣṇa]. Even though great philosophers inquire exhaustively, they are bewildered., SB 1.9.21plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.9.21

Being the Absolute Personality of Godhead, He is present in everyone's heart. He is equally kind to everyone, and He is free from the false ego of differentiation. Therefore whatever He does is free from material inebriety. He is equibalanced., SB 1.10.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.10.6

Because of the King's having no enemy, the living beings were not at any time disturbed by mental agonies, diseases, or excessive heat or cold., SB 1.10.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.10.24

O dear friends, here is that very Personality of Godhead whose attractive and confidential pastimes are described in the confidential parts of Vedic literature by His great devotees. It is He only who creates, maintains and annihilates the material world and yet remains unaffected., SB 1.11.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.11.6

The citizens said: O Lord, You are worshiped by all demigods like Brahmā, the four Sanas and even the King of heaven. You are the ultimate rest for those who are really aspiring to achieve the highest benefit of life. You are the supreme transcendental Lord, and inevitable time cannot exert its influence upon You., SB 1.11.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.11.25

The inhabitants of Dvārakā were regularly accustomed to look upon the reservoir of all beauty, the infallible Lord, yet they were never satiated., SB 1.11.33plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.11.33

Although Lord Sri Kṛṣṇa was constantly by their sides, as well as exclusively alone, His feet appeared to them to be newer and newer. The goddess of fortune, although by nature always restless and moving, could not quit the Lord's feet. So what woman can be detached from those feet, having once taken shelter of them?, SB 1.11.36plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.11.36

Although the queens' beautiful smiles and furtive glances were all spotless and exciting, and although they could conquer Cupid himself by making him give up his bow in frustration, and although even the tolerant Śiva could fall victim to them, still, despite all their magical feats and attractions, they could not agitate the senses of the Lord., SB 1.11.38plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.11.38

This is the divinity of the Personality of Godhead: He is not affected by the qualities of material nature, even though He is in contact with them. Similarly, the devotees who have taken shelter of the Lord do not become influenced by the material qualities., SB 1.13.44plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.13.44

O King, in all circumstances, whether you consider the soul to be an eternal principle, or the material body to be perishable, or everything to exist in the impersonal Absolute Truth, or everything to be an inexplicable combination of matter and spirit, feelings of separation are due only to illusory affection and nothing more., SB 1.14.44plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.14.44

Or is it that you are feeling empty for all time because you might have lost your most intimate friend, Lord Kṛṣṇa? O my brother Arjuna, I can think of no other reason for your becoming so dejected., SB 1.16.26-30plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.16.26-30

In Him reside (1) truthfulness, (2) cleanliness, (3) intolerance of another's unhappiness, (4) the power to control anger, (5) self-satisfaction, (6) straightforwardness, (7) steadiness of mind, (8) control of the sense organs, (9) responsibility, (10) equality, (11) tolerance, (12) equanimity, (13) faithfulness, (14) knowledge, (15) absence of sense enjoyment, (16) leadership, (17) chivalry, (18) influence, (19) the power to make everything possible, (20) the discharge of proper duty, (21) complete independence, (22) dexterity, (23) fullness of all beauty, (24) serenity, (25) kindheartedness, (26) ingenuity, (27) gentility, (28) magnanimity, (29) determination, (30) perfection in all knowledge, (31) proper execution, (32) possession of all objects of enjoyment, (33) joyfulness, (34) immovability, (35) fidelity, (36) fame, (37) worship, (38) pridelessness, (39) being (as the Personality of Godhead), (40) eternity, and many other transcendental qualities which are eternally present and never to be separated from Him. That Personality of Godhead, the reservoir of all goodness and beauty, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, has now closed His transcendental pastimes on the face of the earth. In His absence the age of Kali has spread its influence everywhere, so I am sorry to see this condition of existence., SB 1.17.41plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.17.41

Therefore, whoever desires progressive well-being, especially kings, religionists, public leaders, brāhmaṇas and sannyāsīs, should never come in contact with the four above-mentioned irreligious principles., SB 1.18.1plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.18.1

Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī said: Due to the mercy of the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who acts wonderfully, Mahārāja Parīkṣit, though struck by the weapon of the son of Droṇa in his mother's womb, could not be burned., SB 1.18.2plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.18.2

Furthermore, Mahārāja Parīkṣit was always consciously surrendered to the Personality of Godhead, and therefore he was neither afraid nor overwhelmed by fear due to a snake-bird which was to bite him because of the fury of a brāhmaṇa boy., SB 1.18.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.18.4

This was so because those who have dedicated their lives to the transcendental topics of the Personality of Godhead, of whom the Vedic hymns sing, and who are constantly engaged in remembering the lotus feet of the Lord, do not run the risk of having misconceptions even at the last moment of their lives., SB 1.18.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.18.7

Mahārāja Parīkṣit was a realist, like the bees who only accept the essence [of a flower]. He knew perfectly well that in this age of Kali, auspicious things produce good effects immediately, whereas inauspicious acts must be actually performed [to render effects]. So he was never envious of the personality of Kali., SB 1.18.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.18.13

The value of a moment's association with the devotee of the Lord cannot even be compared to the attainment of heavenly planets or liberation from matter, and what to speak of worldly benedictions in the form of material prosperity, which are for those who are meant for death., SB 1.18.14plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.18.14

The Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa [Govinda], is the exclusive shelter for all great living beings, and His transcendental attributes cannot even be measured by such masters of mystic powers as Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā. Can anyone who is expert in relishing nectar [rasa] ever be fully satiated by hearing topics about Him?, SB 1.18.42plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.18.42

O my boy, your intelligence is immature, and therefore you have no knowledge that the king, who is the best amongst human beings, is as good as the Personality of Godhead. He is never to be placed on an equal footing with common men. The citizens of the state live in prosperity, being protected by his unsurpassable prowess., SB 1.18.46plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.18.46

The Emperor Parīkṣit is a pious king. He is highly celebrated and is a first-class devotee of the Personality of Godhead. He is a saint amongst royalty, and he has performed many horse sacrifices. When such a king is tired and fatigued, being stricken with hunger and thirst, he does not at all deserve to be cursed., SB 1.18.48plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.18.48

The devotees of the Lord are so forbearing that even though they are defamed, cheated, cursed, disturbed, neglected or even killed, they are never inclined to avenge themselves., SB 1.18.50plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.18.50

Generally the transcendentalists, even though engaged by others in the dualities of the material world, are not distressed. Nor do they take pleasure [in worldly things], for they are transcendentally engaged., SB 1.19.2plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.19.2

[King Parīkṣit thought:] Due to my neglecting the injunctions of the Supreme Lord I must certainly expect some difficulty to overcome me in the near future. I now desire without reservation that the calamity come now, for in this way I may be freed of the sinful action and not commit such an offense again., SB 2.1.39plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.1.39

One should concentrate his mind upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who alone distributes Himself in so many manifestations just as ordinary persons create thousands of manifestations in dreams. One must concentrate the mind on Him, the only all-blissful Absolute Truth. Otherwise one will be misled and will cause his own degradation., SB 2.2.2plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.2.2

The way of presentation of the Vedic sounds is so bewildering that it directs the intelligence of the people to meaningless things like the heavenly kingdoms. The conditioned souls hover in dreams of such heavenly illusory pleasures, but actually they do not relish any tangible happiness in such places., SB 2.2.23plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.2.23

The transcendentalists are concerned with the spiritual body. As such, by the strength of their devotional service, austerities, mystic power and transcendental knowledge, their movements are unrestricted, within and beyond the material worlds. The fruitive workers, or the gross materialists, can never move in such an unrestricted manner., SB 2.2.27plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.2.27

In that planet of Satyaloka, there is neither bereavement, nor old age nor death. There is no pain of any kind, and therefore there are no anxieties, save that sometimes, due to consciousness, there is a feeling of compassion for those unaware of the process of devotional service, who are subjected to unsurpassable miseries in the material world., SB 2.2.31plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.2.31

Only the purified soul can attain the perfection of associating with the Personality of Godhead in complete bliss and satisfaction in his constitutional state. Whoever is able to renovate such devotional perfection is never again attracted by this material world, and he never returns., SB 2.2.33plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.2.33

For those who are wandering in the material universe, there is no more auspicious means of deliverance than what is aimed at in the direct devotional service of Lord Kṛṣṇa., SB 2.3.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.3.19

Men who are like dogs, hogs, camels and asses praise those men who never listen to the transcendental pastimes of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the deliverer from evils., SB 2.3.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.3.20

One who has not listened to the messages about the prowess and marvelous acts of the Personality of Godhead and has not sung or chanted loudly the worthy songs about the Lord is to be considered to possess earholes like the holes of snakes and a tongue like the tongue of a frog., SB 2.3.21plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.3.21

The upper portion of the body, though crowned with a silk turban, is only a heavy burden if not bowed down before the Personality of Godhead who can award mukti [freedom]. And the hands, though decorated with glittering bangles, are like those of a dead man if not engaged in the service of the Personality of Godhead Hari., SB 2.3.22plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.3.22

The eyes which do not look at the symbolic representations of the Personality of Godhead Viṣṇu [His forms, name, quality, etc.] are like those printed on the plumes of the peacock, and the legs which do not move to the holy places [where the Lord is remembered] are considered to be like tree trunks., SB 2.3.23plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.3.23

The person who has not at any time received the dust of the feet of the Lord's pure devotee upon his head is certainly a dead body. And the person who has never experienced the aroma of the tulasī leaves from the lotus feet of the Lord is also a dead body, although breathing., SB 2.4.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.4.17

Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the all-auspicious Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa again and again because the great learned sages, the great performers of charity, the great workers of distinction, the great philosophers and mystics, the great chanters of the Vedic hymns and the great followers of Vedic principles cannot achieve any fruitful result without dedication of such great qualities to the service of the Lord., SB 2.5.14plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.5.14

The five elementary ingredients of creation, the interaction thereof set up by eternal time, and the intuition or nature of the individual living beings are all differentiated parts and parcels of the Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva, and in truth there is no other value in them., SB 2.6.33plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.6.33

My dear son, whatever you inquired from me I have thus explained unto you, and you must know for certain that whatever there is (either as cause or as effect, both in the material and spiritual worlds) is dependent on the Supreme Personality of Godhead., SB 2.6.34plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.6.34

O Nārada, because I have caught hold of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, with great zeal, whatever I say has never proved to have been false. Nor is the progress of my mind ever deterred. Nor are my senses ever degraded by temporary attachment to matter., SB 2.7.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.7.6

To exhibit His personal way of austerity and penance, He appeared in twin forms as Nārāyaṇa and Nara in the womb of Mūrti, the wife of Dharma and the daughter of Dakṣa. Celestial beauties, the companions of Cupid, went to try to break His vows, but they were unsuccessful, for they saw that many beauties like them were emanating from Him, the Personality of Godhead., SB 2.7.18plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.7.18

Bali Mahārāja, who put on his head the water washed from the lotus feet of the Lord, did not think of anything besides his promise, in spite of being forbidden by his spiritual master. The king dedicated his own personal body to fulfill the measurement of the Lord's third step. For such a personality, even the kingdom of heaven, which he conquered by his strength, was of no value., SB 2.7.38plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.7.38

Thereafter, at the end of Kali-yuga, when there exist no topics on the subject of God, even at the residences of so-called saints and respectable gentlemen of the three higher castes, and when the power of government is transferred to the hands of ministers elected from the lowborn śūdra class or those less than them, and when nothing is known of the techniques of sacrifice, even by word, at that time the Lord will appear as the supreme chastiser., SB 2.7.41plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.7.41

Neither I nor all the sages born before you know fully the omnipotent Personality of Godhead. So what can others, who are born after us, know about Him? Even the first incarnation of the Lord, namely Śeṣa, has not been able to reach the limit of such knowledge, although He is describing the qualities of the Lord with ten hundred faces., SB 2.7.49plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.7.49

The Personality of Godhead is the supreme master of everything auspicious because the results of whatever actions are performed by the living being, in either the material or spiritual existence, are awarded by the Lord. As such, He is the ultimate benefactor. Every individual living entity is unborn, and therefore even after the annihilation of the material elementary body, the living entity exists, exactly like the air within the body., SB 2.7.50plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.7.50

My dear son, I have now explained in brief the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is creator of the manifested worlds. Without Him, Hari, the Lord, there are no other causes of the phenomenal and noumenal existences., SB 2.7.53plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.7.53

The Lord's activities in association with His different energies should be described, appreciated and heard in accordance with the teachings of the Supreme Lord. If this is done regularly with devotion and respect, one is sure to get out of the illusory energy of the Lord., SB 2.8.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.8.6

A pure devotee of the Lord whose heart has once been cleansed by the process of devotional service never relinquishes the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa, for they fully satisfy him, as a traveler is satisfied at home after a troubled journey., SB 2.8.26plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.8.26

O learned brāhmaṇa, because of my drinking the nectar of the message of the infallible Personality of Godhead, which is flowing down from the ocean of your speeches, I do not feel any sort of exhaustion due to my fasting., SB 2.9.1plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.9.1

Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: O King, unless one is influenced by the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, there is no meaning to the relationship of the pure soul in pure consciousness with the material body. That relationship is just like a dreamer's seeing his own body working., SB 2.9.10plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.9.10

In that personal abode of the Lord, the material modes of ignorance and passion do not prevail, nor is there any of their influence in goodness. There is no predominance of the influence of time, so what to speak of the illusory, external energy; it cannot enter that region. Without discrimination, both the demigods and the demons worship the Lord as devotees., SB 2.9.29plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.9.29

Please tell me so that I may be taught in the matter by the instruction of the Personality of Godhead and may thus act instrumentally to generate living entities, without being conditioned by such activities., SB 2.9.33plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.9.33

Brahmā, it is I, the Personality of Godhead, who was existing before the creation, when there was nothing but Myself. Nor was there the material nature, the cause of this creation. That which you see now is also I, the Personality of Godhead, and after annihilation what remains will also be I, the Personality of Godhead., SB 2.10.35plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.10.35

Neither of the above forms of the Lord, as just described unto you from the material angle of vision, is accepted by the pure devotees of the Lord who know Him well., SB 2.10.45plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.10.45

There is no direct engineering by the Lord for the creation and destruction of the material world. What is described in the Vedas about His direct interference is simply to counteract the idea that material nature is the creator., SB 3.1.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.1.4

Saint Vidura was a great and pure devotee of the Lord, and therefore his questions to His Grace Ṛṣi Maitreya must have been very purposeful, on the highest level, and approved by learned circles., SB 3.1.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.1.6

Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: King Dhṛtarāṣṭra became blind under the influence of impious desires to nourish his dishonest sons, and thus he set fire to the lacquer house to burn his fatherless nephews, the Pāṇḍavas., SB 3.1.8plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.1.8

Yudhiṣṭhira, who was born without any enemy, was unfairly defeated in gambling. But because he had taken the vow of truthfulness, he went off to the forest. When he came back in due course and begged the return of his rightful share of the kingdom, he was refused by Dhṛtarāṣṭra, who was overwhelmed by illusion., SB 3.1.9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.1.9

Lord Kṛṣṇa was sent by Arjuna into the assembly as the spiritual master of the whole world, and although His words were heard by some [like Bhīṣma] as pure nectar, it was not so for the others, who were completely bereft of the last farthing of past pious works. The King [Dhṛtarāṣṭra or Duryodhana] did not take the words of Lord Kṛṣṇa very seriously., SB 3.5.2plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.5.2

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., SB 3.5.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.5.7

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., SB 3.5.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.5.19

O Vidura, it is not at all wonderful that you have so accepted the Lord without deviation of thought, for you were born from the semen of Vyāsadeva., SB 3.5.40plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.5.40

O Father, O Lord, O Personality of Godhead, the living entities in the material world can never have any happiness because they are overwhelmed by the three kinds of miseries. Therefore they take shelter of the shade of Your lotus feet, which are full of knowledge, and we also thus take shelter of them., SB 3.5.45plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.5.45

O great Supreme Lord, offensive persons whose internal vision has been too affected by external materialistic activities cannot see Your lotus feet, but they are seen by Your pure devotees, whose one and only aim is to transcendentally enjoy Your activities., SB 3.5.47plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.5.47

Others, who are pacified by means of transcendental self-realization and have conquered over the modes of nature by dint of strong power and knowledge, also enter into You, but for them there is much pain, whereas the devotee simply discharges devotional service and thus feels no such pain., SB 3.7.18plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.7.18

But, my dear sir, I am obliged to you because now I can understand that this material manifestation is without substance, although it appears real. I am confident that by serving your feet it will be possible for me to give up the false idea., SB 3.9.1plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.9.1

Lord Brahmā said: O my Lord, today, after many, many years of penance, I have come to know about You. Oh, how unfortunate the embodied living entities are that they are unable to know Your personality! My Lord, You are the only knowable object because there is nothing supreme beyond You. If there is anything supposedly superior to You, it is not the Absolute. You exist as the Supreme by exhibiting the creative energy of matter., SB 3.9.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.9.5

O my Lord, persons who smell the aroma of Your lotus feet, carried by the air of Vedic sound through the holes of the ears, accept Your devotional service. For them You are never separated from the lotus of their hearts., SB 3.9.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.9.12

My Lord, You are not very much satisfied by the worship of the demigods, who arrange for Your worship very pompously, with various paraphernalia, but who are full of material hankerings. You are situated in everyone's heart as the Supersoul just to show Your causeless mercy, and You are the eternal well-wisher, but You are unavailable for the nondevotee., SB 3.9.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.9.13

But the pious activities of the people, such as performance of Vedic rituals, charity, austere penances, and transcendental service, performed with a view to worship You and satisfy You by offering You the fruitive results, are also beneficial. Such acts of religion never go in vain., SB 3.9.34plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.9.34

Since you have desired to increase the population innumerably and expand your varieties of service, you shall never be deprived in this matter because My causeless mercy upon you will always increase for all time., SB 3.9.35plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.9.35

You are the original ṛṣi, and because your mind is always fixed on Me, even though you will be engaged in generating various progeny, the vicious mode of passion will never encroach upon you., SB 3.11.39plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.11.39

Eternal time is certainly the controller of different dimensions, from that of the atom up to the superdivisions of the duration of Brahmā's life; but, nevertheless, it is controlled by the Supreme. Time can control only those who are body conscious, even up to the Satyaloka or the other higher planets of the universe., SB 3.12.30plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.12.30

O father, this performance in which you are endeavoring to complicate yourself was never attempted by any other Brahmā, nor by anyone else, nor by you in previous kalpas, nor will anyone dare to attempt it in the future. You are the supreme being in the universe, so how is it that you want to have sex with your daughter and cannot control your desire?, SB 3.13.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.13.13

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Janārdana [Lord Kṛṣṇa], is the form to accept all the results of sacrifice. If He is not satisfied, then one's labor for advancement is futile. He is the ultimate Self, and therefore one who does not satisfy Him certainly neglects his own interests., SB 3.13.43plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.13.43

Who else but You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, could deliver the earth from within the water? It is not very wonderful for You, however, because You acted most wonderfully in the creation of the universe. By Your energy You have created this wonderful cosmic manifestation., SB 3.14.1plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.14.1

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: After hearing from the great sage Maitreya about the Lord's incarnation as Varāha, Vidura, who had taken a vow, begged him with folded hands to please narrate further transcendental activities of the Lord, since he [Vidura] did not yet feel satisfied., SB 3.14.21plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.14.21

O queen of the home, we are not able to act like you, nor could we repay you for what you have done, even if we worked for our entire life or even after death. To repay you is not possible, even for those who are admirers of personal qualities., SB 3.14.26plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.14.26

Lord Śiva regards no one as his relative, yet there is no one who is not connected with him; he does not regard anyone as very favorable or abominable. We respectfully worship the remnants of his foodstuff, and we vow to accept what is rejected by him., SB 3.14.43plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.14.43

A person who is condemned by a brāhmaṇa or is always fearful to other living entities is not favored either by those who are already in hell or by those in the species in which he is born., SB 3.15.23plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.15.23

It is very much regrettable that unfortunate people do not discuss the description of the Vaikuṇṭha planets but engage in topics which are unworthy to hear and which bewilder one's intelligence. Those who give up the topics of Vaikuṇṭha and take to talk of the material world are thrown into the darkest region of ignorance., SB 3.25.34plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.25.34

A pure devotee, who is attached to the activities of devotional service and who always engages in the service of My lotus feet, never desires to become one with Me. Such a devotee, who is unflinchingly engaged, always glorifies My pastimes and activities., SB 3.27.28-29plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.27.28-29

My devotee actually becomes self-realized by My unlimited causeless mercy, and thus, when freed from all doubts, he steadily progresses towards his destined abode, which is directly under the protection of My spiritual energy of unadulterated bliss. That is the ultimate perfectional goal of the living entity. After giving up the present material body, the mystic devotee goes to that transcendental abode and never comes back., SB 4.6.48plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.6.48

My dear lord, if in some places materialists, who are already bewildered by the insurmountable illusory energy of the Supreme Godhead, sometimes commit offenses, a saintly person, with compassion, does not take this seriously. Knowing that they commit offenses because they are overpowered by the illusory energy, he does not show his prowess to counteract them., SB 4.7.11plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.7.11

King Dakṣa wanted to offer prayers to Lord Śiva, but as he remembered the ill-fated death of his daughter Satī, his eyes filled with tears, and in bereavement his voice choked up, and he could not say anything., SB 4.8.31plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.8.31

Nārada Muni continued: After trying this process for many, many births and remaining unattached to material contamination, placing themselves continually in trance and executing many types of austerities, many mystic yogīs were unable to find the end of the path of God realization., SB 4.8.52plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.8.52

One who meditates in this way, concentrating his mind upon the always auspicious form of the Lord, is very soon freed from all material contamination, and he does not come down from meditation upon the Lord., SB 4.9.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.9.12

O Lord who have a lotus navel, if a person happens to associate with a devotee whose heart always hankers after Your lotus feet, seeking always their fragrance, he is never attached to the material body or, in a bodily relationship, to offspring, friends, home, wealth and wife, which are very, very dear to materialistic persons. Indeed, he does not care for them., SB 4.9.20-21plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.9.20-21

The Supreme Personality of Godhead continued: My dear Dhruva, I shall award you the glowing planet known as the polestar, which will continue to exist even after the dissolution at the end of the millennium. No one has ever ruled this planet, which is surrounded by all the solar systems, planets and stars. All the luminaries in the sky circumambulate this planet, just as bulls tread around a central pole for the purpose of crushing grains. Keeping the polestar to their right, all the stars inhabited by the great sages like Dharma, Agni, Kaśyapa and Śukra circumambulate this planet, which continues to exist even after the dissolution of all others., SB 4.9.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.9.25

The Personality of Godhead continued: My dear Dhruva, after your material life in this body, you will go to My planet, which is always offered obeisances by the residents of all other planetary systems. It is situated above the planets of the seven ṛṣis, and having gone there you will never have to come back again to this material world., SB 4.9.30plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.9.30

Dhruva Mahārāja thought to himself: To endeavor to be situated in the shade of the lotus feet of the Lord is not an ordinary task because even the great brahmacārīs headed by Sanandana, who practiced aṣṭāṅga-yoga in trance, attained the shelter of the Lord's lotus feet only after many, many births. Within six months I achieved the same result, yet due to my thinking differently from the Lord, I fell down from my position., SB 4.9.36plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.9.36

The great sage Maitreya continued: My dear Vidura, persons like you, who are pure devotees of the lotus feet of Mukunda [the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who can offer liberation] and who are always attached to the honey of His lotus feet, are always satisfied in serving at the lotus feet of the Lord. In any condition of life, such persons remain satisfied, and thus they never ask the Lord for material prosperity., SB 4.11.10plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.11.10

One should not accept the body as the self and thus, like the animals, kill the bodies of others. This is especially forbidden by saintly persons, who follow the path of devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead., SB 4.11.23plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.11.23

The Absolute Truth, Transcendence, is never subject to the understanding of imperfect sensory endeavor, nor is He subject to direct experience. He is the master of varieties of energies, like the full material energy, and no one can understand His plans or actions; therefore it should be concluded that although He is the original cause of all causes, no one can know Him by mental speculation., SB 4.11.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.11.24

My dear son, those Yakṣas, who are descendants of Kuvera, are not actually the killers of your brother; the birth and death of every living entity are caused by the Supreme, who is certainly the cause of all causes., SB 4.11.32plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.11.32

A person who desires liberation from this material world should not fall under the control of anger because when bewildered by anger one becomes a source of dread for all others., SB 4.12.41plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.12.41

The great sage Nārada said: Simply by the influence of his spiritual advancement and powerful austerity, Dhruva Mahārāja, the son of Sunīti, who was devoted to her husband, acquired an exalted position not possible to attain even for the so-called Vedāntists or strict followers of the Vedic principles, not to speak of ordinary human beings., SB 4.13.23plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.13.23

It is the duty of all citizens in a state never to insult the king, even though he sometimes appears to have done something very sinful. Because of his prowess, the king is always more influential than all other ruling chiefs., SB 4.14.32plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.14.32

The saintly sages continued: This impious, impudent man does not deserve to sit on the throne at all. He is so shameless that he even dared insult the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Viṣṇu., SB 4.15.23plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.15.23

O gentle reciters, offer such prayers in due course of time, when the qualities of which you have spoken actually manifest themselves in me. The gentle who offer prayers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead do not attribute such qualities to a human being, who does not actually have them., SB 4.16.11plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.16.11

King Pṛthu was born of the dead body of King Vena as fire is produced from araṇi wood. Thus King Pṛthu will always remain just like fire, and his enemies will not be able to approach him. Indeed, he will be unbearable to his enemies, for although staying very near him, they will never be able to approach him but will have to remain as if far away. No one will be able to overcome the strength of King Pṛthu., SB 4.17.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.17.20

Even if a woman does commit some sinful activity, no one should place his hand upon her. And what to speak of you, dear King, who are so merciful. You are a protector, and you are affectionate to the poor., SB 4.17.23plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.17.23

Although you are eating green grass every day, you are not filling your milk bag so we can utilize your milk. Since you are willfully committing offenses, it cannot be said that you are not punishable due to your assuming the form of a cow., SB 4.17.32plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.17.32

My dear Lord, although You are one, by Your inconceivable potencies You have expanded Yourself in many forms. Through the agency of Brahmā, You have created this universe. You are therefore directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Those who are not sufficiently experienced cannot understand Your transcendental activities because these persons are covered by Your illusory energy., SB 4.17.36plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.17.36

My dear Lord, I am also the creation of one of Your energies, composed of the three modes of material nature. Consequently I am bewildered by Your activities. Even the activities of Your devotees cannot be understood, and what to speak of Your pastimes. Thus everything appears to us to be contradictory and wonderful., SB 4.18.32plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.18.32

Before the reign of King Pṛthu there was no planned arrangement for different cities, villages, pasturing grounds, etc. Every thing was scattered, and everyone constructed his residential quarters according to his own convenience. However, since King Pṛthu plans were made for towns and villages., SB 4.20.3plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.20.3

O King, one who is advanced in intelligence and eager to perform welfare activities for others is considered best amongst human beings. An advanced human being is never malicious to others. Those with advanced intelligence are always conscious that this material body is different from the soul., SB 4.20.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.20.5

Those who are in full knowledge of the bodily conception of life, who know that this body is composed of nescience, desires and activities resulting from illusion, do not become addicted to the body., SB 4.20.8plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.20.8

Although within the material nature, one who is thus situated in full knowledge of the Paramātmā and ātmā is never affected by the modes of material nature, for he is always situated in My transcendental loving service., SB 4.20.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.20.12

Lord Viṣṇu told King Pṛthu: My dear King, the constant change of this material world is due to the interaction of the three modes of material nature. The five elements, the senses, the demigods who control the senses, as well as the mind, which is agitated by the spirit soul—all these taken together comprise the body. Since the spirit soul is completely different from this combination of gross and subtle material elements, My devotee who is connected with Me in intense friendship and affection, being completely in knowledge, is never agitated by material happiness and distress., SB 4.21.32plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.21.32

When a devotee takes shelter at the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he is completely cleansed of all misunderstanding or mental speculation, and he manifests renunciation. This is possible only when one is strengthened by practicing bhakti-yoga. Once having taken shelter at the root of the lotus feet of the Lord, a devotee never comes back to this material existence, which is full of the threefold miseries., SB 4.21.41plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.21.41

Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Ananta, eats through the fire sacrifices offered in the names of the different demigods, He does not take as much pleasure in eating through fire as He does in accepting offerings through the mouths of learned sages and devotees, for then He does not leave the association of devotees., SB 4.22.14plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.22.14

Pṛthu Mahārāja continued: My dear sirs, there is no need to ask about your good and bad fortune because you are always absorbed in spiritual bliss. The mental concoction of the auspicious and inauspicious does not exist in you., SB 4.22.36plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.22.36

We accept as blessings different states of higher life, distinguishing them from lower states of life, but we should know that such distinctions exist only in relation to the interchange of the modes of material nature. Actually these states of life have no permanent existence, for all of them will be destroyed by the supreme controller., SB 4.22.39plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.22.39

The devotees, who are always engaged in the service of the toes of the lotus feet of the Lord, can very easily overcome hard-knotted desires for fruitive activities. Because this is very difficult, the nondevotees—the jñānīs and yogīs—although trying to stop the waves of sense gratification, cannot do so. Therefore you are advised to engage in the devotional service of Kṛṣṇa, the son of Vasudeva., SB 4.22.52plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.22.52

Mahārāja Pṛthu, who was very opulent due to the prosperity of his entire empire, remained at home as a householder. Since he was never inclined to utilize his opulences for the gratification of his senses, he remained unattached, exactly like the sun, which is unaffected in all circumstances., SB 4.23.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.23.12

When he became completely free from the conception of bodily life, Mahārāja Pṛthu realized Lord Kṛṣṇa sitting in everyone's heart as the Paramātmā. Being thus able to get all instructions from Him, he gave up all other practices of yoga and jñāna. He was not even interested in the perfection of the yoga and jñāna systems, for he thoroughly realized that devotional service to Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate goal of life and that unless the yogīs and jñānīs become attracted to kṛṣṇa-kathā [narrations about Kṛṣṇa], their illusions concerning existence can never be dispelled., SB 4.24.57plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.24.57

If one by chance associates with a devotee, even for a fraction of a moment, he no longer is subject to attraction by the results of karma or jñāna. What interest then can he have in the benedictions of the demigods, who are subject to the laws of birth and death?, SB 4.24.59plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.24.59

The devotee whose heart has been completely cleansed by the process of devotional service and who is favored by Bhaktidevī does not become bewildered by the external energy, which is just like a dark well. Being completely cleansed of all material contamination in this way, a devotee is able to understand very happily Your name, fame, form, activities, etc., SB 4.25.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.25.4

Nārada Muni asked King Prācīnabarhiṣat: My dear King, what do you desire to achieve by performing these fruitive activities? The chief aim of life is to get rid of all miseries and enjoy happiness, but these two things cannot be realized by fruitive activity., SB 4.25.11plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.25.11

King Purañjana began to search for a suitable place to live, and thus he traveled all over the world. Even after a great deal of traveling, he could not find a place just to his liking. Finally he became morose and disappointed., SB 4.25.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.25.12

King Purañjana had unlimited desires for sense enjoyment; consequently he traveled all over the world to find a place where all his desires could be fulfilled. Unfortunately he found a feeling of insufficiency everywhere., SB 4.25.39plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.25.39

The woman continued: In this material world, a householder's life brings all kinds of happiness in religion, economic development, sense gratification and the begetting of children, sons and grandsons. After that, one may desire liberation as well as material reputation. The householder can appreciate the results of sacrifices, which enable him to gain promotion to superior planetary systems. All this material happiness is practically unknown to the transcendentalists. They cannot even imagine such happiness., SB 4.26.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.26.7

Nārada Muni continued to speak to King Prācīnabarhiṣat: My dear King, any person who works according to the directions of the Vedic scriptures does not become involved in fruitive activities., SB 4.26.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.26.25

My dear wife, until this day I have never seen your face without tilaka decorations, nor have I seen you so morose and without luster or affection. Nor have I seen your two nice breasts wet with tears from your eyes. Nor have I ever before seen your lips, which are ordinarily as red as the bimba fruit, without their reddish hue., SB 4.26.26plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.26.26

My dear Queen, due to my sinful desires I went to the forest to hunt without asking you. Therefore I must admit that I have offended you. Nonetheless, thinking of me as your most intimate subordinate, you should still be very much pleased with me. Factually I am very much bereaved, but being pierced by the arrow of Cupid, I am feeling lusty. But where is the beautiful woman who would give up her lusty husband and refuse to unite with him?, SB 4.27.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.27.19

My dear King Prācīnabarhiṣat, at this time the daughter of formidable Time was seeking her husband throughout the three worlds. Although no one agreed to accept her, she came., SB 4.27.22plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.27.22

The great sage Nārada continued: When I refused to accept her request, she became very angry at me and cursed me severely. Because I refused her request, she said that I would not be able to stay in one place for a long time., SB 4.27.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.27.24

Approaching the King of the Yavanas, Kālakanyā addressed him as a great hero, saying: My dear sir, you are the best of the untouchables. I am in love with you, and I want you as my husband. I know that no one is baffled if he makes friends with you., SB 4.27.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.27.25

One who does not give charity according to the customs or injunctions of the scriptures and one who does not accept charity in that way are considered to be in the mode of ignorance. Such persons follow the path of the foolish. Surely they must lament at the end., SB 4.27.28plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.27.28

The King of the Yavanas replied: After much consideration, I have arrived at a husband for you. Actually, as far as everyone is concerned, you are inauspicious and mischievous. Since no one likes you, how can anyone accept you as his wife?, SB 4.28.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.28.19

King Purañjana then began to think of his past dealings with his wife. He recalled that his wife would not take her dinner until he had finished his, that she would not take her bath until he had finished his, and that she was always very much attached to him, so much so that if he would sometimes become angry and chastise her, she would simply remain silent and tolerate his misbehavior., SB 4.29.1plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.29.1

King Prācīnabarhi replied: My dear lord, we could not appreciate completely the purport of your allegorical story of King Purañjana. Actually, those who are perfect in spiritual knowledge can understand, but for us, who are overly attached to fruitive activities, to realize the purpose of your story is very difficult., SB 4.29.3plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.29.3

The person I have described as unknown is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master and eternal friend of the living entity. Since the living entities cannot realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead by material names, activities or qualities, He remains everlastingly unknown to the conditioned soul., SB 4.29.22plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.29.22

What was described as Kālakanyā should be understood as old age. No one wants to accept old age, but Yavaneśvara [Yavana-rāja], who is death, accepts Jarā [old age] as his sister., SB 4.29.32plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.29.32

The living entities are trying to counteract different miserable conditions pertaining to providence, other living entities or the body and mind. Still, they must remain conditioned by the laws of nature, despite all attempts to counter these laws., SB 4.29.34plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.29.34

Nārada continued: O you who are free from all sinful activity! No one can counteract the effects of fruitive activity simply by manufacturing a different activity devoid of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. All such activity is due to our ignorance. When we have a troublesome dream, we cannot relieve it with a troublesome hallucination. One can counteract a dream only by awaking. Similarly, our material existence is due to our ignorance and illusion. Unless we awaken to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we cannot be relieved of such dreams. For the ultimate solution to all problems, we must awaken to Kṛṣṇa consciousness., SB 4.29.39-40plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.29.39-40

My dear King, in the place where pure devotees live, following the rules and regulations and thus purely conscious and engaged with great eagerness in hearing and chanting the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in that place if one gets a chance to hear their constant flow of nectar, which is exactly like the waves of a river, one will forget the necessities of life—namely hunger and thirst—and become immune to all kinds of fear, lamentation and illusion., SB 4.29.48plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.29.48

Those who are less intelligent accept the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies as all in all. They do not know that the purpose of the Vedas is to understand one's own home, where the Supreme Personality of Godhead lives. Not being interested in their real home, they are illusioned and search after other homes., SB 4.29.51plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.29.51

One who is engaged in devotional service has not the least fear in material existence. This is because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Supersoul and friend of everyone. One who knows this secret is actually educated, and one thus educated can become the spiritual master of the world. One who is an actually bona fide spiritual master, representative of Kṛṣṇa, is not different from Kṛṣṇa., SB 4.29.64plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.29.64

Sometimes we suddenly experience something that was never experienced in the present body by sight or hearing. Sometimes we see such things suddenly in dreams., SB 4.29.65plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.29.65

Therefore, my dear King, the living entity, who has a subtle mental covering, develops all kinds of thoughts and images because of his previous body. Take this from me as certain. There is no possibility of concocting anything mentally without having perceived it in the previous body., SB 4.29.73plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.29.73

When the living entity dreams, the sense objects are not actually present. However, because one has associated with the sense objects, they become manifest. Similarly, the living entity with undeveloped senses does not cease to exist materially, even though he may not be exactly in contact with the sense objects., SB 4.29.84plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.29.84

This narration spoken by the great sage Nārada is full of the transcendental fame of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Consequently this narration, when described, certainly sanctifies this material world. It purifies the heart of the living entity and helps him attain his spiritual identity. One who relates this transcendental narration will be liberated from all material bondage and will no longer have to wander within this material world., SB 4.30.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.30.20

Always engaging in the activities of devotional service, devotees feel ever-increasingly fresh and new in all their activities. The all-knower, the Supersoul within the heart of the devotee, makes everything increasingly fresh. This is known as the Brahman position by the advocates of the Absolute Truth. In such a liberated stage [brahma-bhūta], one is never bewildered. Nor does one lament or become unnecessarily jubilant. This is due to the brahma-bhūta situation., SB 4.31.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.31.12

Transcendental practices that do not ultimately help one realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead are useless, be they mystic yoga practices, the analytical study of matter, severe austerity, the acceptance of sannyāsa, or the study of Vedic literature. All these may be very important aspects of spiritual advancement, but unless one understands the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, all these processes are useless., SB 4.31.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.31.20

Being completely cleansed of all material desires, the devotees are freed from all mental contamination. Thus they can always think of the Lord constantly and address Him very feelingly. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, knowing Himself to be controlled by His devotees, does not leave them for a second, just as the sky overhead never becomes invisible., SB 4.31.21plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.31.21

The Supreme Personality of Godhead becomes very dear to those devotees who have no material possessions but are fully happy in possessing the devotional service of the Lord. Indeed, the Lord relishes the devotional activities of such devotees. Those who are puffed up with material education, wealth, aristocracy and fruitive activity are very proud of possessing material things, and they often deride the devotees. Even if such people offer the Lord worship, the Lord never accepts them., SB 4.31.22plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.31.22

Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead is self-sufficient, He becomes dependent on His devotees. He does not care for the goddess of fortune, nor for the kings and demigods who are after the favors of the goddess of fortune. Where is that person who is actually grateful and will not worship the Personality of Godhead?, SB 5.1.3plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.1.3

Elevated mahātmās who have taken shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are fully satiated by the shade of those lotus feet. Their consciousness cannot possibly become attached to family members., SB 5.1.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.1.12

One cannot avoid the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, not by the strength of severe austerities, an exalted Vedic education, or the power of mystic yoga, physical prowess or intellectual activities. Nor can one use his power of religion, his material opulence or any other means, either by himself or with the help of others, to defy the orders of the Supreme Lord. That is not possible for any living being, from Brahmā down to the ant., SB 5.1.16plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.1.16

Even if one is liberated, he nevertheless accepts the body he has received according to his past karma. Without misconceptions, however, he regards his enjoyment and suffering due to that karma the way an awakened person regards a dream he had while sleeping. He thus remains steadfast and never works to achieve another material body under the influence of the three modes of material nature., SB 5.6.3plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.6.3

All the learned scholars have given their opinion. The mind is by nature very restless, and one should not make friends with it. If we place full confidence in the mind, it may cheat us at any moment. Even Lord Śiva became agitated upon seeing the Mohinī form of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and Saubhari Muni also fell down from the mature stage of yogic perfection., SB 5.17.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.17.19

We cannot control the force of our anger. Therefore when we look at material things, we cannot avoid feeling attraction or repulsion for them. But the Supreme Lord is never affected in this way. Although He glances over the material world for the purpose of creating, maintaining and destroying it, He is not affected, even to the slightest degree. Therefore, one who desires to conquer the force of the senses must take shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord. Then he will be victorious., SB 6.16.58plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.16.58

A human being can attain perfection in life by self-realization through the Vedic literature and its practical application. This is possible especially for a human being born in India, the land of piety. A man who obtains birth in such a convenient position but does not understand his self is unable to achieve the highest perfection, even if he is exalted to life in the higher planetary systems., SB 7.3.37-38plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.3.37-38

Grant me that I not meet death from any entity, living or nonliving. Grant me, further, that I not be killed by any demigod or demon or by any great snake from the lower planets. Since no one can kill you in the battlefield, you have no competitor. Therefore, grant me the benediction that I too may have no rival. Give me sole lordship over all the living entities and presiding deities, and give me all the glories obtained by that position. Furthermore, give me all the mystic powers attained by long austerities and the practice of yoga, for these cannot be lost at any time., SB 7.4.22-23plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.4.22-23

"Let us offer our respectful obeisances unto that direction where the Supreme Personality of Godhead is situated, where those purified souls in the renounced order of life, the great saintly persons, go, and from which, having gone, they never return." Without sleep, fully controlling their minds, and living on only their breath, the predominating deities of the various planets began worshiping Hṛṣīkeśa with this meditation., SB 7.5.30plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.5.30

Prahlāda Mahārāja replied: Because of their uncontrolled senses, persons too addicted to materialistic life make progress toward hellish conditions and repeatedly chew that which has already been chewed. Their inclinations toward Kṛṣṇa are never aroused, either by the instructions of others, by their own efforts, or by a combination of both., SB 7.6.17-18plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.6.17-18

My dear friends, O sons of the demons, it is certain that no one bereft of knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead has been able to liberate himself from material bondage at any time or in any country. Rather, those bereft of knowledge of the Lord are bound by the material laws. They are factually addicted to sense gratification, and their target is woman. Indeed, they are actually playthings in the hands of attractive women. Victimized by such a conception of life, they become surrounded by children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and thus they are shackled to material bondage. Those who are very much addicted to this conception of life are called demons. Therefore, although you are sons of demons, keep aloof from such persons and take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa, the origin of all the demigods, because the ultimate goal for the devotees of Nārāyaṇa is liberation from the bondage of material existence., SB 7.9.45plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.45

Sex life is compared to the rubbing of two hands to relieve an itch. Gṛhamedhis, so-called gṛhasthas who have no spiritual knowledge, think that this itching is the greatest platform of happiness, although actually it is a source of distress. The kṛpaṇas, the fools who are just the opposite of brāhmaṇas, are not satisfied by repeated sensuous enjoyment. Those who are dhīra, however, who are sober and who tolerate this itching, are not subjected to the sufferings of fools and rascals., SB 7.9.47plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.47

By authorized Vedic knowledge one can see that the forms of cause and effect in the cosmic manifestation belong to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for the cosmic manifestation is His energy. Both cause and effect are nothing but energies of the Lord. Therefore, O my Lord, just as a wise man, by considering cause and effect, can see how fire pervades wood, those engaged in devotional service understand how You are both the cause and effect., SB 7.10.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.10.20

My dear Prahlāda, King of the Daityas, because of being attached to devotional service to Me, My devotee does not distinguish between lower and higher living entities. In all respects, he is never jealous of anyone., SB 7.11.18-20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.11.18-20

In time of emergency, one may accept any of the various types of professions known as ṛta, amṛta, mṛta, pramṛta and satyānṛta, but one should not at any time accept the profession of a dog. The profession of uñchaśila, collecting grains from the field, is called ṛta. Collecting without begging is called amṛta, begging grains is called mṛta, tilling the ground is called pramṛta, and trade is called satyānṛta. Engaging in the service of low-grade persons, however, is called śva-vṛtti, the profession of the dogs. Specifically, brāhmaṇas and kṣatriyas should not engage in the low and abominable service of śūdras. Brāhmaṇas should be well acquainted with all the Vedic knowledge, and kṣatriyas should be well acquainted with the worship of demigods., SB 7.12.8plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.12.8

If the wife of the spiritual master is young, a young brahmacārī should not allow her to care for his hair, massage his body with oil, or bathe him with affection like a mother., SB 7.15.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.15.7

A person fully aware of religious principles should never offer anything like meat, eggs or fish in the śrāddha ceremony, and even if one is a kṣatriya, he himself should not eat such things. When suitable food prepared with ghee is offered to saintly persons, the function is pleasing to the forefathers and the Supreme Lord, who are never pleased when animals are killed in the name of sacrifice., SB 7.15.8plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.15.8

Persons who want to advance in superior religion are advised to give up all envy of other living entities, whether in relationship to the body, words or mind. There is no religion superior to this., SB 7.15.56plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.15.56

Even though situated in a material body, one who is fully aware of the paths known as pitṛ-yāna and deva-yāna, and who thus opens his eyes in terms of Vedic knowledge, is never bewildered in this material world., SB 8.1.11plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.1.11

Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead constantly watches the activities of the world, no one sees Him. However, one should not think that because no one sees Him, He does not see, for His power to see is never diminished. Therefore, everyone should worship the Supersoul, who always stays with the individual soul as a friend., SB 8.9.9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.9.9

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, in the form of Mohinī, told the demons: O sons of Kaśyapa Muni, I am only a prostitute. How is it that you have so much faith in Me? A learned person never puts his faith in a woman., SB 8.17.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.17.17

Yet because I have been satisfied by the activities of your vow, O goddess Aditi, I must find some means to favor you, for worship of Me never goes in vain but certainly gives the desired result according to what one deserves., SB 8.21.22plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.21.22

No one can surpass the time representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead by material power, by the counsel of ministers, by intelligence, by diplomacy, by fortresses, by mystic mantras, by drugs, by herbs or by any other means., SB 8.24.30plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.24.30

O my Lord, possessing eyes like the petals of a lotus, the worship of the demigods, who are in the bodily concept of life, is fruitless in all respects. But because You are the supreme friend and dearmost Supersoul of everyone, worship of Your lotus feet is never useless. You have therefore manifested Your form as a fish., SB 10.3.39plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.3.39

Being husband and wife but always sonless, you were attracted by sexual desires, for by the influence of devamāyā, transcendental love, you wanted to have Me as your son. Therefore you never desired to be liberated from this material world., SB 10.6.39-40plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.6.39-40

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is the bestower of many benedictions, including liberation [kaivalya], or oneness with the Brahman effulgence. For that Personality of Godhead, the gopīs always felt maternal love, and Kṛṣṇa sucked their breasts with full satisfaction. Therefore, because of their relationship as mother and son, although the gopīs were engaged in various family activities, one should never think that they returned to this material world after leaving their bodies., SB 10.11.57plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.11.57

The words of persons in full knowledge of Brahman never become untrue. It is very wonderful that whatever Gargamuni predicted we are now actually experiencing in all detail., Ādi 1.46plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 1.46

"One should know the ācārya as Myself and never disrespect him in any way. One should not envy him, thinking him an ordinary man, for he is the representative of all the demigods.", Ādi 1.53plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 1.53

"Prior to the cosmic creation, only I exist, and no phenomena exist, either gross, subtle or primordial. After creation, only I exist in everything, and after annihilation, only I remain eternally., Ādi 9.46plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 9.46

" 'Just see how these trees are maintaining every living entity! Their birth is successful. Their behavior is just like that of great personalities, for anyone who asks anything from a tree never goes away disappointed.' ", Ādi 17.76plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 17.76

"[The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, said:] 'My dear Uddhava, neither through aṣṭāṅga-yoga [the mystic yoga system to control the senses], nor through impersonal monism or an analytical study of the Absolute Truth, nor through study of the Vedas, nor through practice of austerities, nor through charity, nor through acceptance of sannyāsa can one satisfy Me as much as one can by developing unalloyed devotional service unto Me.' ", Madhya 2.45plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 2.45

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu continued, " 'My dear friends, I have not the slightest tinge of love of Godhead within My heart. When you see Me crying in separation, I am just falsely exhibiting a demonstration of My great fortune. Indeed, not seeing the beautiful face of Kṛṣṇa playing His flute, I continue to live My life like an insect, without purpose.', Madhya 6.84plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 6.84

" 'My Lord, if one is favored by even a slight trace of the mercy of Your lotus feet, he can understand the greatness of Your personality. But those who speculate in order to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead are unable to know You, even though they continue to study the Vedas for many years.' ", Madhya 9.268plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 9.268

" 'Pure devotees always reject the five kinds of liberation, which include living in the spiritual Vaikuṇṭha planets, possessing the same opulences as those possessed by the Supreme Lord, having the same bodily features as the Lord's, associating with the Lord and merging into the body of the Lord. The pure devotees do not accept these benedictions without the service of the Lord.', Madhya 9.270plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 9.270

" 'A person who is a devotee of Lord Nārāyaṇa is not afraid of a hellish condition because he considers it the same as elevation to the heavenly planets or liberation. The devotees of Lord Nārāyaṇa are accustomed to seeing all these things on the same level.', Madhya 11.104plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 11.104

" 'My Lord, if one is favored by even a slight trace of the mercy of Your lotus feet, he can understand the greatness of Your personality. But those who speculate to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead are unable to know You, even though they continue to study the Vedas for many years.' ", Madhya 20.137plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 20.137

[The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, said:] " 'My dear Uddhava, neither through aṣṭāṅga-yoga [the mystic yoga system to control the senses], nor through impersonal monism or an analytical study of the Absolute Truth, nor through study of the Vedas, nor through practice of austerities, nor through charity, nor through acceptance of sannyāsa can one satisfy Me as much as one can by developing unalloyed devotional service unto Me.', Madhya 22.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 22.20

" 'Those who perform severe austerities and penances, those who give away all their possessions out of charity, those who are very famous for their auspicious activity, those who are engaged in meditation and mental speculation, and even those who are very expert in reciting the Vedic mantras, are not able to obtain any auspicious results, although they are engaged in auspicious activities, if they do not dedicate their activities to the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I therefore repeatedly offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose glories are always auspicious.', Madhya 24.76plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 24.76

" 'Prior to the cosmic creation, only I exist, and no phenomena exist, either gross, subtle or primordial. After creation, only I exist in everything, and after annihilation only I remain eternally.', Madhya 24.132plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 24.132

" 'One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman and is fully joyful. Be never laments nor desires to have anything; he is equally disposed to every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me.', Madhya 25.113plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 25.113

" 'Prior to the cosmic manifestation, only I exist, and no phenomena exist, either gross, subtle or primordial. After creation, only I exist in everything, and after annihilation, only I remain eternally., Madhya 25.137plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 25.137

" 'The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, said: "My dear Uddhava, neither through aṣṭāṅga-yoga [the mystic yoga system to control the senses], nor through impersonalism or an analytical study of the Absolute Truth, nor through study of the Vedas, nor through practice of austerities, nor through charity, nor through acceptance of sannyāsa, can one satisfy Me as much as one can by developing unalloyed devotional service unto Me.' ", Madhya 25.146plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 25.146

" 'Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is accepted as the essence of all Vedic literature and Vedānta philosophy. Whoever tastes the transcendental mellow of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is never attracted to any other literature.', Madhya 25.152plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 25.152

" 'We never tire of hearing the transcendental pastimes of the Personality of Godhead, who is glorified by hymns and prayers. Those who enjoy association with Him relish hearing His pastimes at every moment.' ", Madhya 25.283plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 25.283

The Caitanya-caritāmṛta pastimes of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu constitute a very secret literature. It is the life and soul of all devotees. Those who are not fit to relish this literature, who are envious like hogs and pigs, will certainly not adore it. However, this will not harm my attempt. These pastimes of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu will certainly please all saintly people who have clear hearts. They will certainly enjoy it. We wish that this will enhance their enjoyment more and more., Antya 4.59plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā 4.59

[The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, said:] " 'My dear Uddhava, neither through aṣṭāṅga-yoga [the mystic yoga system to control the senses], nor through impersonal monism or an analytical study of the Absolute Truth, nor through study of the Vedas, nor through austerities, charity or acceptance of sannyāsa can one satisfy Me as much as by developing unalloyed devotional service unto Me.'

never does — Bg. 4.14plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 4.14

There is no work that affects Me; nor do I aspire for the fruits of action. One who understands this truth about Me also does not become entangled in the fruitive reactions of work.

never to be — SB 2.7.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.7.17

The Lord, although transcendental to all material modes, still surpassed all the qualities of the sons of Aditi, known as the Ādityas. The Lord appeared as the youngest son of Aditi. And because He surpassed all the planets of the universe, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. On the pretense of asking for a measurement of three footsteps of land, He took away all the lands of Bali Mahārāja. He asked simply because without begging, no authority can take one's rightful possession.

no — Bg. 3.22plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 3.22

O son of Pṛthā, there is no work prescribed for Me within all the three planetary systems. Nor am I in want of anything, nor have I need to obtain anything—and yet I am engaged in work., Bg. 11.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 11.24

O all-pervading Viṣṇu, I can no longer maintain my equilibrium. Seeing Your radiant colors fill the skies and beholding Your eyes and mouths, I am afraid., Bg. 18.69plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 18.69

There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear., SB 1.8.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.8.4

Citing the stringent laws of the Almighty and their reactions upon living beings, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and the munis began to pacify those who were shocked and affected., SB 1.12.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.12.17

For this reason this child will be well known in the world as one who is protected by the Personality of Godhead. O most fortunate one, there is no doubt that this child will become a first-class devotee and will be qualified with all good qualities., SB 2.7.38plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.7.38

Thereafter, at the end of Kali-yuga, when there exist no topics on the subject of God, even at the residences of so-called saints and respectable gentlemen of the three higher castes, and when the power of government is transferred to the hands of ministers elected from the lowborn śūdra class or those less than them, and when nothing is known of the techniques of sacrifice, even by word, at that time the Lord will appear as the supreme chastiser., SB 3.27.18plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.27.18

As there is no separate existence of the earth and its aroma or of water and its taste, there cannot be any separate existence of intelligence and consciousness., SB 5.19.22plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.19.22

The demigods continue: After performing the very difficult tasks of executing Vedic ritualistic sacrifices, undergoing austerities, observing vows and giving charity, we have achieved this position as inhabitants of the heavenly planets. But what is the value of this achievement? Here we are certainly very engaged in material sense gratification, and therefore we can hardly remember the lotus feet of Lord Nārāyaṇa. Indeed, because of our excessive sense gratification, we have almost forgotten His lotus feet., SB 6.10.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.10.6

Those who are too self-interested beg something from others, not knowing of others' pain. But if the beggar knew the difficulty of the giver, he would not ask for anything. Similarly, he who is able to give charity does not know the beggar's difficulty, for otherwise he would not refuse to give the beggar anything he might want as charity., SB 6.17.34-35plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.17.34-35

This magnanimous Citraketu is a dear devotee of the Lord. He is equal to all living entities and is free from attachment and hatred. Similarly, I am also very dear to Lord Nārāyaṇa. Therefore, no one should be astonished to see the activities of the most exalted devotees of Nārāyaṇa, for they are free from attachment and envy. They are always peaceful, and they are equal to everyone., Īśo 2plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Īśopaniṣad, Mantra 2

One may aspire to live for hundreds of years if he continuously goes on working in that way, for that sort of work will not bind him to the law of karma. There is no alternative to this way for man.

no one — Bg. 9.29plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 9.29

I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him.

none — Bg. 3.22plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 3.22

O son of Pṛthā, there is no work prescribed for Me within all the three planetary systems. Nor am I in want of anything, nor have I need to obtain anything—and yet I am engaged in work.

nor — Bg. 1.30plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 1.30

I am now unable to stand here any longer. I am forgetting myself, and my mind is reeling. I foresee only evil, O killer of the Keśī demon., Bg. 1.31plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 1.31

I do not see how any good can come from killing my own kinsmen in this battle, nor can I, my dear Kṛṣṇa, desire any subsequent victory, kingdom, or happiness., Bg. 2.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.6

Nor do we know which is better—conquering them or being conquered by them. The sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, whom if we killed we should not care to live, are now standing before us on this battlefield., Bg. 2.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.19

He who thinks that the living entity is the slayer or that he is slain, does not understand. One who is in knowledge knows that the self slays not nor is slain., Bg. 3.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 3.4

Not by merely abstaining from work can one achieve freedom from reaction, nor by renunciation alone can one attain perfection., Bg. 3.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 3.5

All men are forced to act helplessly according to the impulses born of the modes of material nature; therefore no one can refrain from doing something, not even for a moment., Bg. 3.18plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 3.18

A self-realized man has no purpose to fulfill in the discharge of his prescribed duties, nor has he any reason not to perform such work. Nor has he any need to depend on any other living being., Bg. 4.14plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 4.14

There is no work that affects Me; nor do I aspire for the fruits of action. One who understands this truth about Me also does not become entangled in the fruitive reactions of work., Bg. 5.3plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 5.3

One who neither hates nor desires the fruits of his activities is known to be always renounced. Such a person, liberated from all dualities, easily overcomes material bondage and is completely liberated, O mighty-armed Arjuna., Bg. 5.14plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 5.14

The embodied spirit, master of the city of his body, does not create activities, nor does he induce people to act, nor does he create the fruits of action. All this is enacted by the modes of material nature., Bg. 5.15plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 5.15

Nor does the Supreme Spirit assume anyone's sinful or pious activities. Embodied beings, however, are bewildered because of the ignorance which covers their real knowledge., Bg. 6.1plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 6.1

The Blessed Lord said: One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and who works as he is obligated is in the renounced order of life, and he is the true mystic: not he who lights no fire and performs no work., Bg. 6.11-12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 6.11-12

To practice yoga, one should go to a secluded place and should lay kuśa-grass on the ground and then cover it with a deerskin and a soft cloth. The seat should neither be too high nor too low and should be situated in a sacred place. The yogī should then sit on it very firmly and should practice yoga by controlling the mind and the senses, purifying the heart and fixing the mind on one point., Bg. 6.16plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 6.16

There is no possibility of one's becoming a yogī, O Arjuna, if one eats too much, or eats too little, sleeps too much or does not sleep enough., Bg. 6.30plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 6.30

For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me., Bg. 7.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 7.25

I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My eternal creative potency [yoga-māyā]; and so the deluded world knows Me not, who am unborn and infallible., Bg. 9.29plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 9.29

I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him., Bg. 10.14plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 10.14

O Kṛṣṇa, I totally accept as truth all that You have told me. Neither the gods nor demons, O Lord, know Thy personality., Bg. 10.40plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 10.40

O mighty conqueror of enemies, there is no end to My divine manifestations. What I have spoken to you is but a mere indication of My infinite opulences., Bg. 13.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 13.13

I shall now explain the knowable, knowing which you will taste the eternal. This is beginningless, and it is subordinate to Me. It is called Brahman, the spirit, and it lies beyond the cause and effect of this material world., Bg. 14.2plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 14.2

By becoming fixed in this knowledge, one can attain to the transcendental nature, which is like My own nature. Thus established, one is not born at the time of creation nor disturbed at the time of dissolution., Bg. 15.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 15.6

That abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by electricity. One who reaches it never returns to this material world., Bg. 16.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 16.7

Those who are demoniac do not know what is to be done and what is not to be done. Neither cleanliness nor proper behavior nor truth is found in them., Bg. 18.10plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 18.10

Those who are situated in the mode of goodness, who neither hate inauspicious work nor are attached to auspicious work, have no doubts about work., SB 1.7.51plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.7.51

Bhīma, however, disagreed with them and recommended killing this culprit who, in an angry mood, had murdered sleeping children for no purpose and for neither his nor his master's interest., SB 1.8.37plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.8.37

O my Lord, You have executed all duties Yourself. Are you leaving us today, though we are completely dependent on Your mercy and have no one else to protect us, now when all kings are at enmity with us?, SB 1.14.42plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.14.42

Have you contacted a woman of impeachable character, or have you not properly treated a deserving woman? Or have you been defeated on the way by someone who is inferior or equal to you?, SB 1.18.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.18.13

The value of a moment's association with the devotee of the Lord cannot even be compared to the attainment of heavenly planets or liberation from matter, and what to speak of worldly benedictions in the form of material prosperity, which are for those who are meant for death., SB 1.18.50plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.18.50

Generally the transcendentalists, even though engaged by others in the dualities of the material world, are not distressed. Nor do they take pleasure [in worldly things], for they are transcendentally engaged., SB 1.19.23plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.19.23

The King said: O great sages, you have all very kindly assembled here, having come from all parts of the universe. You are all as good as supreme knowledge personified, who resides in the planet above the three worlds [Satyaloka]. Consequently you are naturally inclined to do good to others, and but for this you have no interest, either in this life or in the next., SB 2.2.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.2.17

In that transcendental state of labdhopaśānti, there is no supremacy of devastating time, which controls even the celestial demigods who are empowered to rule over mundane creatures. (And what to speak of the demigods themselves?) Nor is there the mode of material goodness, nor passion, nor ignorance, nor even the false ego, nor the material Causal Ocean, nor the material nature., SB 2.2.27plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.2.27

In that planet of Satyaloka, there is neither bereavement, nor old age nor death. There is no pain of any kind, and therefore there are no anxieties, save that sometimes, due to consciousness, there is a feeling of compassion for those unaware of the process of devotional service, who are subjected to unsurpassable miseries in the material world., SB 2.5.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.5.6

Whatever we can understand by the nomenclature, characteristics and features of a particular thing—superior, inferior or equal, eternal or temporary—is not created from any source other than that of Your Lordship, thou so great., SB 2.6.34plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.6.34

O Nārada, because I have caught hold of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, with great zeal, whatever I say has never proved to have been false. Nor is the progress of my mind ever deterred. Nor are my senses ever degraded by temporary attachment to matter., SB 2.6.37plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.6.37

Since neither Lord Śiva nor you nor I could ascertain the limits of spiritual happiness, how can other demigods know it? And because all of us are bewildered by the illusory external energy of the Supreme Lord, we can see only this manifested cosmos according to our individual ability., SB 3.4.31plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.4.31

Uddhava is not inferior to Me in any way because he is never affected by the modes of material nature. Therefore he may remain in this world in order to disseminate specific knowledge of the Personality of Godhead., SB 3.12.30plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.12.30

O father, this performance in which you are endeavoring to complicate yourself was never attempted by any other Brahmā, nor by anyone else, nor by you in previous kalpas, nor will anyone dare to attempt it in the future. You are the supreme being in the universe, so how is it that you want to have sex with your daughter and cannot control your desire?, SB 4.6.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.6.7

Lord Brahmā said that no one, not even himself, Indra, all the members assembled in the sacrificial arena, or all the sages, could know how powerful Lord Śiva is. Under the circumstances, who would dare to commit an offense at his lotus feet?., SB 5.10.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.10.6

King Rahūgaṇa told Jaḍa Bharata: How troublesome this is, my dear brother. You certainly appear very fatigued because you have carried this palanquin alone without assistance for a long time and for a long distance. Besides that, due to your old age you have become greatly troubled. My dear friend, I see that you are not very firm, nor very strong and stout. Aren't your fellow carriers cooperating with you?, SB 5.10.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.10.17

My dear sir, I am not at all afraid of the thunderbolt of King Indra, nor am I afraid of the serpentine, piercing trident of Lord Śiva. I do not care about the punishment of Yamarāja, the superintendent of death, nor am I afraid of fire, scorching sun, moon, wind, nor the weapons of Kuvera. Yet I am afraid of offending a brāhmaṇa. I am very much afraid of this., SB 5.11.11plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.11.11

The physical elements, nature, the original cause, culture, destiny and the time element are all material causes. Agitated by these material causes, the eleven functions transform into hundreds of functions and then into thousands and then into millions. But all these transformations do not take place automatically by mutual combination. Rather, they are under the direction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead., SB 5.12.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.12.12

My dear King Rahūgaṇa, unless one has the opportunity to smear his entire body with the dust of the lotus feet of great devotees, one cannot realize the Absolute Truth. One cannot realize the Absolute Truth simply by observing celibacy [brahmacarya], strictly following the rules and regulations of householder life, leaving home as a vānaprastha, accepting sannyāsa, or undergoing severe penances in winter by keeping oneself submerged in water or surrounding oneself in summer by fire and the scorching heat of the sun. There are many other processes to understand the Absolute Truth, but the Absolute Truth is only revealed to one who has attained the mercy of a great devotee., SB 5.19.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.19.7

One cannot establish a friendship with the Supreme Lord Rāmacandra on the basis of material qualities such as one's birth in an aristocratic family, one's personal beauty, one's eloquence, one's sharp intelligence or one's superior race or nation. None of these qualifications is actually a prerequisite for friendship with Lord Śrī Rāmacandra. Otherwise how is it possible that although we uncivilized inhabitants of the forest have not taken noble births, although we have no physical beauty and although we cannot speak like gentlemen, Lord Rāmacandra has nevertheless accepted us as friends?, SB 5.19.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.19.24

An intelligent person does not take interest in a place, even in the topmost planetary system, if the pure Ganges of topics concerning the Supreme Lord's activities does not flow there, if there are not devotees engaged in service on the banks of such a river of piety, or if there are no festivals of saṅkīrtana-yajña to satisfy the Lord [especially since saṅkīrtana-yajña is recommended in this age]., SB 6.3.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.3.19

Real religious principles are enacted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although fully situated in the mode of goodness, even the great ṛṣis who occupy the topmost planets cannot ascertain the real religious principles, nor can the demigods or the leaders of Siddhaloka, to say nothing of the asuras, ordinary human beings, Vidyādharas and Cāraṇas., SB 6.11.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.11.4

O demigods, these demoniac soldiers have taken birth uselessly. Indeed, they have come from the bodies of their mothers exactly like stool. What is the benefit of killing such enemies from behind while they are running in fear? One who considers himself a hero should not kill an enemy who is afraid of losing his life. Such killing is never glorious, nor can it promote one to the heavenly planets., SB 6.11.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.11.25

O my Lord, source of all opportunities, I do not desire to enjoy in Dhruvaloka, the heavenly planets or the planet where Lord Brahmā resides, nor do I want to be the supreme ruler of all the earthly planets or the lower planetary systems. I do not desire to be master of the powers of mystic yoga, nor do I want liberation if I have to give up Your lotus feet., SB 6.16.11plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.16.11

The Supreme Lord [ātmā], the creator of cause and effect, does not accept the happiness and distress that result from fruitive actions. He is completely independent of having to accept a material body, and because He has no material body, He is always neutral. The living entities, being part and parcel of the Lord, possess His qualities in a minute quantity. Therefore one should not be affected by lamentation., SB 6.16.23plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.16.23

The Supreme Brahman emanates from the Supreme Personality of Godhead and expands like the sky. Although untouched by anything material, it exists within and without. Nonetheless, the mind, intelligence, senses and living force can neither touch Him nor know Him. I offer unto Him my respectful obeisances., SB 6.17.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.17.12

Alas, Lord Brahmā, who has taken his birth from the lotus flower, does not know the principles of religion, nor do the great saints like Bhṛgu and Nārada, nor the four Kumāras, headed by Sanat-kumāra. Manu and Kapila have also forgotten the religious principles. I suppose it to be because of this that they have not tried to stop Lord Śiva from behaving improperly., SB 6.17.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.17.19

In this material world, neither the living entity himself nor others [friends and enemies] are the cause of material happiness and distress. But because of gross ignorance, the living entity thinks that he and others are the cause., SB 6.17.22plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.17.22

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is equally disposed toward all living entities. Therefore no one is very dear to Him, and no one is a great enemy for Him; no one is His friend, and no one is His relative. Being unattached to the material world, He has no affection for so-called happiness or hatred for so-called distress. The two terms happiness and distress are relative. Since the Lord is always happy, for Him there is no question of distress., SB 6.17.32plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.17.32

Neither I [Lord Śiva], nor Brahmā, nor the Aśvinī-kumāras, nor Nārada or the other great sages who are Brahmā's sons, nor even the demigods can understand the pastimes and personality of the Supreme Lord. Although we are part of the Supreme Lord, we consider ourselves independent, separate controllers, and thus we cannot understand His identity., SB 6.17.33plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.17.33

He holds no one as very dear and no one as inimical. He has no one for His own relative, and no one is alien to Him. He is actually the soul of the soul of all living entities. Thus He is the auspicious friend of all living beings and is very near and dear to all of them., SB 7.3.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.3.19

Even saintly persons like Bhṛgu, born previously, could not perform such severe austerities, nor will anyone in the future be able to do so. Who within these three worlds can sustain his life without even drinking water for one hundred celestial years?, SB 7.3.36plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.3.36

Grant me that I not die within any residence or outside any residence, during the daytime or at night, nor on the ground or in the sky. Grant me that my death not be brought by any being other than those created by you, nor by any weapon, nor by any human being or animal., SB 7.5.28plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.5.28

The son of Śukrācārya, Hiraṇyakaśipu's spiritual master, said: O enemy of King Indra, O King! Whatever your son Prahlāda has said was not taught to him by me or anyone else. His spontaneous devotional service has naturally developed in him. Therefore, please give up your anger and do not unnecessarily accuse us. It is not good to insult a brāhmaṇa in this way., SB 7.5.49plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.5.49

O lord, we know that when you simply move your eyebrows, all the commanders of the various planets are most afraid. Without the help of any assistant, you have conquered all the three worlds. Therefore, we do not find any reason for you to be morose and full of anxiety. As for Prahlāda, he is nothing but a child and cannot be a cause of anxiety. After all, his bad or good qualities have no value., SB 7.6.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.6.4

Endeavors merely for sense gratification or material happiness through economic development are not to be performed, for they result only in a loss of time and energy, with no actual profit. If one's endeavors are directed toward Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one can surely attain the spiritual platform of self-realization. There is no such benefit from engaging oneself in economic development., SB 7.7.51-52plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.7.51-52

My dear friends, O sons of the demons, you cannot please the Supreme Personality of Godhead by becoming perfect brāhmaṇas, demigods or great saints or by becoming perfectly good in etiquette or vast learning. None of these qualifications can awaken the pleasure of the Lord. Nor by charity, austerity, sacrifice, cleanliness or vows can one satisfy the Lord. The Lord is pleased only if one has unflinching, unalloyed devotion to Him. Without sincere devotional service, everything is simply a show., SB 7.8.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.8.17

To prove that the statement of His servant Prahlāda Mahārāja was substantial—in other words, to prove that the Supreme Lord is present everywhere, even within the pillar of an assembly hall—the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, exhibited a wonderful form never before seen. The form was neither that of a man nor that of a lion. Thus the Lord appeared in His wonderful form in the assembly hall., SB 7.9.11plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.11

The Supreme Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is always fully satisfied in Himself. Therefore when something is offered to Him, the offering, by the Lord's mercy, is for the benefit of the devotee, for the Lord does not need service from anyone. To give an example, if one's face is decorated, the reflection of one's face in a mirror is also seen to be decorated., SB 7.9.26plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.26

O my Lord, O Supreme, because I was born in a family full of the hellish material qualities of passion and ignorance, what is my position? And what is to be said of Your causeless mercy, which was never offered even to Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva or the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī? You never put Your lotus hand upon their heads, but You have put it upon mine., SB 7.9.32plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.32

O my Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, after the annihilation the creative energy is kept in You, who appear to sleep with half-closed eyes. Actually, however, You do not sleep like an ordinary human being, for You are always in a transcendental stage, beyond the creation of the material world, and You always feel transcendental bliss. As Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, You thus remain in Your transcendental status, not touching material objects. Although You appear to sleep, this sleeping is distinct from sleeping in ignorance., SB 7.9.49plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.49

Neither the three modes of material nature [sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa], nor the predominating deities controlling these three modes, nor the five gross elements, nor the mind, nor the demigods nor the human beings can understand Your Lordship, for they are all subjected to birth and annihilation. Considering this, the spiritually advanced have taken to devotional service. Such wise men hardly bother with Vedic study. Instead, they engage themselves in practical devotional service., SB 7.10.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.10.5

A servant who desires material profits from his master is certainly not a qualified servant or pure devotee. Similarly, a master who bestows benedictions upon his servant because of a desire to maintain a prestigious position as master is also not a pure master., SB 7.13.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.13.7

Literature that is a useless waste of time—in other words, literature without spiritual benefit—should be rejected. One should not become a professional teacher as a means of earning one's livelihood, nor should one indulge in arguments and counter-arguments. Nor should one take shelter of any cause or faction., SB 7.13.8plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.13.8

A sannyāsī must not present allurements of material benefits to gather many disciples, nor should he unnecessarily read many books or give discourses as a means of livelihood. He must never attempt to increase material opulences unnecessarily., SB 7.13.42plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.13.42

Different people are of different mentalities. Therefore it is not my business either to praise them or to blaspheme them. I only desire their welfare, hoping that they will agree to become one with the Supersoul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa., SB 7.15.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.15.7

A person fully aware of religious principles should never offer anything like meat, eggs or fish in the śrāddha ceremony, and even if one is a kṣatriya, he himself should not eat such things. When suitable food prepared with ghee is offered to saintly persons, the function is pleasing to the forefathers and the Supreme Lord, who are never pleased when animals are killed in the name of sacrifice., SB 7.15.59plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.15.59

In this world there are five elements—namely earth, water, fire, air and ether—but the body is not a reflection of them, nor a combination or transformation of them. Because the body and its ingredients are neither distinct nor amalgamated, all such theories are insubstantial., SB 8.1.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.1.12

The Supreme Personality of Godhead has no beginning, no end and no middle. Nor does He belong to a particular person or nation. He has no inside or outside. The dualities found within this material world, such as beginning and end, mine and theirs, are all absent from the personality of the Supreme Lord. The universe, which emanates from Him, is another feature of the Lord. Therefore the Supreme Lord is the ultimate truth, and He is complete in greatness., SB 8.3.8-9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.3.8-9

The Supreme Personality of Godhead has no material birth, activities, name, form, qualities or faults. To fulfill the purpose for which this material world is created and destroyed, He comes in the form of a human being like Lord Rāma or Lord Kṛṣṇa by His original internal potency. He has immense potency, and in various forms, all free from material contamination, He acts wonderfully. He is therefore the Supreme Brahman. I offer my respects to Him., SB 8.3.22-24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.3.22-24

The Supreme Personality of Godhead creates His minor parts and parcels, the jīva-tattva, beginning with Lord Brahmā, the demigods and the expansions of Vedic knowledge [Sāma, Ṛg, Yajur and Atharva] and including all other living entities, moving and nonmoving, with their different names and characteristics. As the sparks of a fire or the shining rays of the sun emanate from their source and merge into it again and again, the mind, the intelligence, the senses, the gross and subtle material bodies, and the continuous transformations of the different modes of nature all emanate from the Lord and again merge into Him. He is neither demigod nor demon, neither human nor bird or beast. He is not woman, man, or neuter, nor is He an animal. He is not a material quality, a fruitive activity, a manifestation or nonmanifestation. He is the last word in the discrimination of "not this, not this," and He is unlimited. All glories to the Supreme Personality of Godhead!, SB 8.5.22plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.5.22

For the Supreme Personality of Godhead there is no one to be killed, no one to be protected, no one to be neglected and no one to be worshiped. Nonetheless, for the sake of creation, maintenance and annihilation according to time, He accepts different forms as incarnations either in the mode of goodness, the mode of passion or the mode of ignorance., SB 8.7.34plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.7.34

Even personalities like Lord Brahmā and other demigods cannot understand your position, for you are beyond the moving and nonmoving creation. Since no one can understand you in truth, how can one offer you prayers? It is impossible. As far as we are concerned, we are creatures of Lord Brahmā's creation. Under the circumstances, therefore, we cannot offer you adequate prayers, but as far as our ability allows, we have expressed our feelings., SB 8.8.21plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.8.21

Someone may possess full knowledge of religion but still not be kind to all living entities. In someone, whether human or demigod, there may be renunciation, but that is not the cause of liberation. Someone may possess great power and yet be unable to check the power of eternal time. Someone else may have renounced attachment to the material world, yet he cannot compare to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, no one is completely freed from the influence of the material modes of nature., SB 8.11.8plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.11.8

Seeing the movements of time, those who are cognizant of the real truth neither rejoice nor lament for different circumstances. Therefore, because you are jubilant due to your victory, you should be considered not very learned., SB 8.11.37plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.11.37

Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: While the morose Indra was lamenting in this way, an ominous, unembodied voice said from the sky, "This demon Namuci is not to be annihilated by anything dry or moist.", SB 8.11.40plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.11.40

Thus Indra, King of heaven, severed Namuci's head with a weapon of foam, which was neither dry nor moist. Then all the sages satisfied Indra, the exalted personality, by showering flowers and garlands upon him, almost covering him., SB 8.12.10plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.12.10

O my Lord, I, who am considered to be the best of the demigods, and Lord Brahmā and the great ṛṣis, headed by Marīci, are born of the mode of goodness. Nonetheless, we are bewildered by Your illusory energy and cannot understand what this creation is. Aside from us, what is to be said of others, like the demons and human beings, who are in the base modes of material nature [rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa]? How will they know You?, SB 8.12.44plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.12.44

When I finished performing mystic yoga for one thousand years, you asked me upon whom I was meditating. Now, here is that Supreme Person to whom time has no entrance and who the Vedas cannot understand., SB 8.20.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.20.5

I do not fear hell, poverty, an ocean of distress, falldown from my position or even death itself as much as I fear cheating a brāhmaṇa., SB 8.22.3plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.22.3

I do not fear being deprived of all my possessions, living in hellish life, being arrested for poverty by the ropes of Varuṇa or being punished by You as much as I fear defamation., SB 8.23.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.23.6

Prahlāda Mahārāja said: O Supreme Personality of Godhead, You are universally worshiped; even Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva worship Your lotus feet. Yet although You are such a great personality, You have kindly promised to protect us, the demons. I think that such kindness has never been achieved even by Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva or the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī, what to speak of other demigods or common people., SB 9.9.43plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.9.43

Mahārāja Khaṭvāṅga thought: Not even my life is dearer to me than the brahminical culture and the brāhmaṇas, who are worshiped by my family. What then is to be said of my kingdom, land, wife, children and opulence? Nothing is dearer to me than the brāhmaṇas., SB 9.9.44plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.9.44

I was never attracted, even in my childhood, by insignificant things or irreligious principles. I did not find anything more substantial than the Supreme Personality of Godhead., SB 9.19.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.19.20

One who knows that material happiness, whether good or bad, in this life or in the next, on this planet or on the heavenly planets, is temporary and useless, and that an intelligent person should not try to enjoy or even think of such things, is the knower of the self. Such a self-realized person knows quite well that material happiness is the very cause of continued material existence and forgetfulness of one's own constitutional position., SB 9.20.29plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.20.29

As one cannot approach the heavenly planets simply by the strength of his arms (for who can touch the heavenly planets with his hands?), one cannot imitate the wonderful activities of Mahārāja Bharata. No one could perform such activities in the past, nor will anyone be able to do so in the future., SB 10.9.13-14plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.9.13-14

The Supreme Personality of Godhead has no beginning and no end, no exterior and no interior, no front and no rear. In other words, He is all-pervading. Because He is not under the influence of the element of time, for Him there is no difference between past, present and future; He exists in His own transcendental form at all times. Being absolute, beyond relativity, He is free from distinctions between cause and effect, although He is the cause and effect of everything. That unmanifested person, who is beyond the perception of the senses, had now appeared as a human child, and mother Yaśodā, considering Him her own ordinary child, bound Him to the wooden mortar with a rope., SB 10.9.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.9.20

Neither Lord Brahmā, nor Lord Śiva, nor even the goddess of fortune, who is always the better half of the Supreme Lord, can obtain from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the deliverer from this material world, such mercy as received by mother Yaśodā., Ādi 1.62plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 1.62

"Saints are My heart, and only I am their hearts. They do not know anyone but Me, and therefore I do not recognize anyone besides them as Mine.", Ādi 6.102plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 6.102

"O Uddhava! Neither Brahmā, nor Śaṅkara, nor Saṅkarṣaṇa, nor Lakṣmī, nor even My own self is as dear to Me as you.", Ādi 17.76plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 17.76

"[The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, said:] 'My dear Uddhava, neither through aṣṭāṅga-yoga [the mystic yoga system to control the senses], nor through impersonal monism or an analytical study of the Absolute Truth, nor through study of the Vedas, nor through practice of austerities, nor through charity, nor through acceptance of sannyāsa can one satisfy Me as much as one can by developing unalloyed devotional service unto Me.' ", Madhya 8.78plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 8.78

" 'The favor mother Yaśodā obtained from Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the bestower of liberation, was never obtained even by Lord Brahmā or Lord Śiva, nor even by the goddess of fortune, who always remains on the chest of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Viṣṇu.' ", Madhya 20.137plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 20.137

[The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, said:] " 'My dear Uddhava, neither through aṣṭāṅga-yoga [the mystic yoga system to control the senses], nor through impersonal monism or an analytical study of the Absolute Truth, nor through study of the Vedas, nor through practice of austerities, nor through charity, nor through acceptance of sannyāsa can one satisfy Me as much as one can by developing unalloyed devotional service unto Me.', Madhya 22.52plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 22.52

" 'O King Rahūgaṇa, without taking upon one's head the dust from the lotus feet of a pure devotee [a mahājana or mahātmā], one cannot attain devotional service. Devotional service is not possible to attain simply by undergoing severe austerities and penances, by gorgeously worshiping the Deity, or by strictly following the rules and regulations of the sannyāsa or gṛhastha order, nor by studying the Vedas, submerging oneself in water, or exposing oneself to fire or scorching sunlight.', Madhya 22.55plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 22.55

" 'The value of a moment's association with a devotee of the Lord cannot even be compared to the attainment of heavenly planets or liberation from matter, and what to speak of worldly benedictions in the form of material prosperity, which is for those who are meant for death.', Madhya 22.141plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 22.141

" 'One who has given up all material duties and taken full shelter at the lotus feet of Mukunda, who gives shelter to all, is not indebted to the demigods, great sages, ordinary living beings, relatives, friends, mankind or even one's forefathers who have passed away.', Madhya 24.313plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 24.313

"[Lord Śiva said,] 'I may know; Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the son of Vyāsadeva, may know; and Vyāsadeva may know or may not know the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. On the whole, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the spotless Purāṇa, can be learned only through devotional service, not by material intelligence, speculative methods or imaginary commentaries.' ", Madhya 25.137plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 25.137

" 'The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, said: "My dear Uddhava, neither through aṣṭāṅga-yoga [the mystic yoga system to control the senses], nor through impersonalism or an analytical study of the Absolute Truth, nor through study of the Vedas, nor through practice of austerities, nor through charity, nor through acceptance of sannyāsa, can one satisfy Me as much as one can by developing unalloyed devotional service unto Me.' ", Antya 4.59plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā 4.59

[The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, said:] " 'My dear Uddhava, neither through aṣṭāṅga-yoga [the mystic yoga system to control the senses], nor through impersonal monism or an analytical study of the Absolute Truth, nor through study of the Vedas, nor through austerities, charity or acceptance of sannyāsa can one satisfy Me as much as by developing unalloyed devotional service unto Me.', MM 5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigMukunda-mālā-stotra, Sūtra 5

O my Lord! I have no attachment for religiosity, or for accumulating wealth, or for enjoying sense gratification. Let these come as they inevitably must, in accordance with my past deeds. But I do pray for this most cherished boon: birth after birth, let me render unflinching devotional service unto Your two lotus feet.

not — Bg. 2.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.12

Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be., Bg. 2.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.20

For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain., Bg. 2.70plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.70

A person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires—that enter like rivers into the ocean which is ever being filled but is always still—can alone achieve peace, and not the man who strives to satisfy such desires., Bg. 4.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 4.5

The Blessed Lord said: Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O subduer of the enemy!, Bg. 4.40plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 4.40

But ignorant and faithless persons who doubt the revealed scriptures do not attain God consciousness. For the doubting soul there is happiness neither in this world nor in the next., Bg. 5.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 5.13

When the embodied living being controls his nature and mentally renounces all actions, he resides happily in the city of nine gates [the material body], neither working nor causing work to be done., Bg. 6.1plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 6.1

The Blessed Lord said: One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and who works as he is obligated is in the renounced order of life, and he is the true mystic: not he who lights no fire and performs no work., Bg. 6.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 6.4

A person is said to have attained to yoga when, having renounced all material desires, he neither acts for sense gratification nor engages in fruitive activities., Bg. 6.11-12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 6.11-12

To practice yoga, one should go to a secluded place and should lay kuśa-grass on the ground and then cover it with a deerskin and a soft cloth. The seat should neither be too high nor too low and should be situated in a sacred place. The yogī should then sit on it very firmly and should practice yoga by controlling the mind and the senses, purifying the heart and fixing the mind on one point., Bg. 6.16plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 6.16

There is no possibility of one's becoming a yogī, O Arjuna, if one eats too much, or eats too little, sleeps too much or does not sleep enough., Bg. 6.30plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 6.30

For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me., Bg. 6.38plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 6.38

O mighty-armed Kṛṣṇa, does not such a man, being deviated from the path of Transcendence, perish like a riven cloud, with no position in any sphere?, Bg. 7.2plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 7.2

I shall now declare unto you in full this knowledge both phenomenal and noumenal, by knowing which there shall remain nothing further to be known., Bg. 7.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 7.7

O conquerer of wealth [Arjuna], there is no Truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread., Bg. 7.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 7.12

All states of being—be they of goodness, passion or ignorance—are manifested by My energy. I am, in one sense, everything—but I am independent. I am not under the modes of this material nature., Bg. 7.15plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 7.15

Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me., Bg. 7.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 7.25

I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My eternal creative potency [yoga-māyā]; and so the deluded world knows Me not, who am unborn and infallible., Bg. 7.26plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 7.26

O Arjuna, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I know everything that has happened in the past, all that is happening in the present, and all things that are yet to come. I also know all living entities; but Me no one knows., Bg. 8.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 8.5

And whoever, at the time of death, quits his body, remembering Me alone, at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt., Bg. 9.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 9.4

By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them., Bg. 9.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 9.24

I am the only enjoyer and the only object of sacrifice. Those who do not recognize My true transcendental nature fall down., Bg. 10.39plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 10.39

Furthermore, O Arjuna, I am the generating seed of all existences. There is no being—moving or unmoving—that can exist without Me., Bg. 11.37plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 11.37

O great one, who stands above even Brahmā, You are the original master. Why should they not offer their homage up to You, O limitless one? O refuge of the universe, You are the invincible source, the cause of all causes, transcendental to this material manifestation., Bg. 12.9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 12.9

My dear Arjuna, O winner of wealth, if you cannot fix your mind upon Me without deviation, then follow the regulated principles of bhakti-yoga In this way you will develop a desire to attain to Me., Bg. 15.3-4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 15.3-4

The real form of this tree cannot be perceived in this world. No one can understand where it ends, where it begins, or where its foundation is. But with determination one must cut down this tree with the weapon of detachment. So doing, one must seek that place from which, having once gone, one never returns, and there surrender to that Supreme Personality of Godhead from whom everything has begun and in whom everything is abiding since time immemorial., Bg. 15.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 15.6

That abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by electricity. One who reaches it never returns to this material world., Bg. 16.1-3plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 16.1-3

The Blessed Lord said: Fearlessness, purification of one's existence, cultivation of spiritual knowledge, charity, self-control, performance of sacrifice, study of the Vedas, austerity and simplicity; nonviolence, truthfulness, freedom from anger; renunciation, tranquility, aversion to faultfinding, compassion and freedom from covetousness; gentleness, modesty and steady determination; vigor, forgiveness, fortitude, cleanliness, freedom from envy and the passion for honor—these transcendental qualities, O son of Bharata, belong to godly men endowed with divine nature., Bg. 18.40plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 18.40

There is no being existing, either here or among the demigods in the higher planetary systems, which is freed from the three modes of material nature., Bg. 18.58plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 18.58

If you become conscious of Me, you will pass over all the obstacles of conditional life by My grace. If, however, you do not work in such consciousness but act through false ego, not hearing Me, you will be lost., Bg. 18.59plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 18.59

If you do not act according to My direction and do not fight, then you will be falsely directed. By your nature, you will have to be engaged in warfare., Bg. 18.60plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 18.60

Under illusion you are now declining to act according to My direction. But, compelled by your own nature, you will act all the same, O son of Kuntī., SB 1.1.16plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.1.16

Who is there, desiring deliverance from the vices of the age of quarrel, who is not willing to hear the virtuous glories of the Lord?, SB 1.1.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.1.19

We never tire of hearing the transcendental pastimes of the Personality of Godhead, who is glorified by hymns and prayers. Those who have developed a taste for transcendental relationships with Him relish hearing of His pastimes at every moment., SB 1.2.8plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.2.8

The occupational activities a man performs according to his own position are only so much useless labor if they do not provoke attraction for the message of the Personality of Godhead., SB 1.2.9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.2.9

All occupational engagements are certainly meant for ultimate liberation. They should never be performed for material gain. Furthermore, according to sages, one who is engaged in the ultimate occupational service should never use material gain to cultivate sense gratification., SB 1.2.10plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.2.10

Life's desires should never be directed toward sense gratification. One should desire only a healthy life, or self-preservation, since a human being is meant for inquiry about the Absolute Truth. Nothing else should be the goal of one's works., SB 1.2.15plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.2.15

With sword in hand, intelligent men cut through the binding knots of reactionary work [karma] by remembering the Personality of Godhead. Therefore, who will not pay attention to His message?, SB 1.3.36plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.3.36

The Lord, whose activities are always spotless, is the master of the six senses and is fully omnipotent with six opulences. He creates the manifested universes, maintains them and annihilates them without being in the least affected. He is within every living being and is always independent., SB 1.3.37plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.3.37

The foolish with a poor fund of knowledge cannot know the transcendental nature of the forms, names and activities of the Lord, who is playing like an actor in a drama. Nor can they express such things, neither in their speculations nor in their words., SB 1.4.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.4.5

While Śrī Vyāsadeva was following his son, beautiful young damsels who were bathing naked covered their bodies with cloth, although Śrī Vyāsadeva himself was not naked. But they had not done so when his son had passed. The sage inquired about this, and the young ladies replied that his son was purified and when looking at them made no distinction between male and female. But the sage made such distinctions., SB 1.4.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.4.25

Out of compassion, the great sage thought it wise that this would enable men to achieve the ultimate goal of life. Thus he compiled the great historical narration called the Mahābhārata for women, laborers and friends of the twice-born., SB 1.4.26plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.4.26

O twice-born brāhmaṇas, still his mind was not satisfied, although he engaged himself in working for the total welfare of all people., SB 1.4.27plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.4.27

Thus the sage, being dissatisfied at heart, at once began to reflect, because he knew the essence of religion, and he said within himself:, SB 1.4.31plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.4.31

This may be because I did not specifically point out the devotional service of the Lord, which is dear both to perfect beings and to the infallible Lord., SB 1.5.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.5.5

Śrī Vyāsadeva said: All you have said about me is perfectly correct. Despite all this, I am not pacified. I therefore question you about the root cause of my dissatisfaction, for you are a man of unlimited knowledge due to your being the offspring of one [Brahmā] who is self-born [without mundane father and mother]., SB 1.5.9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.5.9

Although, great sage, you have very broadly described the four principles beginning with religious performances, you have not described the glories of the Supreme Personality, Vāsudeva., SB 1.5.10plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.5.10

Those words which do not describe the glories of the Lord, who alone can sanctify the atmosphere of the whole universe, are considered by saintly persons to be like unto a place of pilgrimage for crows. Since the all-perfect persons are inhabitants of the transcendental abode, they do not derive any pleasure there., SB 1.5.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.5.12

Knowledge of self-realization, even though free from all material affinity, does not look well if devoid of a conception of the Infallible [God]. What, then, is the use of fruitive activities, which are naturally painful from the very beginning and transient by nature, if they are not utilized for the devotional service of the Lord?, SB 1.6.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.6.4

O great sage, time annihilates everything in due course, so how is it that this subject matter, which happened prior to this day of Brahmā, is still fresh in your memory, undisturbed by time?, SB 1.6.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.6.7

She wanted to look after my maintenance properly, but because she was not independent, she was not able to do anything for me. The world is under the full control of the Supreme Lord; therefore everyone is like a wooden doll in the hands of a puppet master., SB 1.6.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.6.17

O Vyāsadeva, at that time, being exceedingly overpowered by feelings of happiness, every part of my body became separately enlivened. Being absorbed in an ocean of ecstasy, I could not see both myself and the Lord., SB 1.6.27plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.6.27

And so, O Brāhmaṇa Vyāsadeva, in due course of time I, who was fully absorbed in thinking of Kṛṣṇa and who therefore had no attachments, being completely freed from all material taints, met with death, as lightning and illumination occur simultaneously., SB 1.7.26plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.7.26

O Lord of lords, how is it that this dangerous effulgence is spreading all around? Where does it come from? I do not understand it., SB 1.7.27plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.7.27

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Know from Me that this is the act of the son of Droṇa. He has thrown the hymns of nuclear energy [brahmāstra], and he does not know how to retract the glare. He has helplessly done this, being afraid of imminent death., SB 1.7.28plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.7.28

O Arjuna, only another brahmāstra can counteract this weapon. Since you are expert in the military science, subdue this weapon's glare with the power of your own weapon., SB 1.7.36plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.7.36

A person who knows the principles of religion does not kill an enemy who is careless, intoxicated, insane, asleep, afraid or devoid of his chariot. Nor does he kill a boy, a woman, a foolish creature or a surrendered soul., SB 1.7.45plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.7.45

He [Droṇācārya] is certainly still existing, being represented by his son. His wife Kṛpī did not undergo a satī with him because she had a son., SB 1.7.46plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.7.46

O most fortunate one who knows the principles of religion, it is not good for you to cause grief to glorious family members who are always respectable and worshipful., SB 1.7.51plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.7.51

Bhīma, however, disagreed with them and recommended killing this culprit who, in an angry mood, had murdered sleeping children for no purpose and for neither his nor his master's interest., SB 1.7.53-54plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.7.53-54

The Personality of Godhead Sri Kṛṣṇa said: A friend of a brāhmaṇa is not to be killed, but if he is an aggressor he must be killed. All these rulings are in the scriptures, and you should act accordingly. You have to fulfill your promise to your wife, and you must also act to the satisfaction of Bhīmasena and Me., SB 1.7.57plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.7.57

Cutting the hair from his head, depriving him of his wealth and driving him from his residence are the prescribed punishments for the relative of a brāhmaṇa. There is no injunction for killing the body., SB 1.8.9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.8.9

Uttarā said: O Lord of lords, Lord of the universe! You are the greatest of mystics. Please protect me, for there is no one else who can save me from the clutches of death in this world of duality., SB 1.8.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.8.19

Being beyond the range of limited sense perception, You are the eternally irreproachable factor covered by the curtain of deluding energy. You are invisible to the foolish observer, exactly as an actor dressed as a player is not recognized., SB 1.8.39plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.8.39

O Gadādhara [Kṛṣṇa], our kingdom is now being marked by the impressions of Your feet, and therefore it appears beautiful. But when You leave, it will no longer be so., SB 1.8.46plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.8.46

King Yudhiṣṭhira, who was much aggrieved, could not be convinced, despite instructions by great sages headed by Vyāsa and the Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself, the performer of superhuman feats, and despite all historical evidence., SB 1.10.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.10.19

It was being heard here and there that the benedictions being paid to Kṛṣṇa were neither befitting nor unbefitting because they were all for the Absolute, who was now playing the part of a human being., SB 1.13.37plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.13.37

Sañjaya said: My dear descendant of the Kuru dynasty, I have no information of the determination of your two uncles and Gāndhārī. O King, I have been cheated by those great souls., SB 1.14.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.14.7

Since he departed, seven months have passed, yet he has not returned. I do not know factually how things are going there., SB 1.14.42plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.14.42

Have you contacted a woman of impeachable character, or have you not properly treated a deserving woman? Or have you been defeated on the way by someone who is inferior or equal to you?, SB 1.14.43plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.14.43

Have you not taken care of old men and boys who deserve to dine with you? Have you left them and taken your meals alone? Have you committed some unpardonable mistake which is considered to be abominable?, SB 1.15.16plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.15.16

Great generals like Bhīṣma, Droṇa, Karṇa, Bhūriśravā, Suśarmā, Śalya, Jayadratha, and Bāhlika all directed their invincible weapons against me. But by His [Lord Kṛṣṇa's] grace they could not even touch a hair on my head. Similarly, Prahlāda Mahārāja, the supreme devotee of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, was unaffected by the weapons the demons used against him., SB 1.16.8plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.16.8

As long as Yamarāja, who causes everyone's death, is present here, no one shall meet with death. The great sages have invited the controller of death, Yamarāja, who is the representative of the Lord. Living beings who are under his grip should take advantage by hearing the deathless nectar in the form of this narration of the transcendental pastimes of the Lord., SB 1.16.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.16.17

Now you may hear from me of what happened while Mahārāja Parīkṣit was passing his days hearing of the good occupations of his forefathers and being absorbed in thought of them., SB 1.17.8plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.17.8

Now for the first time in a kingdom well protected by the arms of the kings of the Kuru dynasty, I see you grieving with tears in your eyes. Up till now no one on earth has ever shed tears because of royal negligence., SB 1.17.18plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.17.18

O greatest among human beings, it is very difficult to ascertain the particular miscreant who has caused our sufferings, because we are bewildered by all the different opinions of theoretical philosophers., SB 1.17.30plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.17.30

Mahārāja Parīkṣit, who was qualified to accept surrender and worthy of being sung in history, did not kill the poor surrendered and fallen Kali, but smiled compassionately, for he was kind to the poor., SB 1.17.31plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.17.31

The King thus said: We have inherited the fame of Arjuna; therefore since you have surrendered yourself with folded hands you need not fear for your life. But you cannot remain in my kingdom, for you are the friend of irreligion., SB 1.17.33plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.17.33

Therefore, O friend of irreligion, you do not deserve to remain in a place where experts perform sacrifices according to truth and religious principles for the satisfaction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead., SB 1.18.41plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.18.41

The father heard from his son that the King had been cursed, although he should never have been condemned, for he was the best amongst all human beings. The ṛṣi did not congratulate his son, but, on the contrary, began to repent, saying: Alas! What a great sinful act was performed by my son. He has awarded heavy punishment for an insignificant offense., SB 1.18.49plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.18.49

The sage thus regretted the sin committed by his own son. He did not take the insult paid by the King very seriously., SB 1.19.2plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.19.2

[King Parīkṣit thought:] Due to my neglecting the injunctions of the Supreme Lord I must certainly expect some difficulty to overcome me in the near future. I now desire without reservation that the calamity come now, for in this way I may be freed of the sinful action and not commit such an offense again., SB 1.19.3plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.19.3

I am uncivilized and sinful due to my neglect of brahminical culture, God consciousness and cow protection. Therefore I wish that my kingdom, strength and riches burn up immediately by the fire of the brāhmaṇa's wrath so that in the future I may not be guided by such inauspicious attitudes., SB 1.19.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.19.4

While the King was thus repenting, he received news of his imminent death, which would be due to the bite of a snake-bird, occasioned by the curse spoken by the sage's son. The King accepted this as good news, for it would be the cause of his indifference toward worldly things., SB 1.19.23plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.19.23

The King said: O great sages, you have all very kindly assembled here, having come from all parts of the universe. You are all as good as supreme knowledge personified, who resides in the planet above the three worlds [Satyaloka]. Consequently you are naturally inclined to do good to others, and but for this you have no interest, either in this life or in the next., SB 1.19.39plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.19.39

O powerful brāhmaṇa, it is said that you hardly stay in the houses of men long enough to milk a cow., SB 2.1.38plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.1.38

I have thus explained to you the gross material gigantic conception of the Personality of Godhead. One who seriously desires liberation concentrates his mind on this form of the Lord, because there is nothing more than this in the material world., SB 2.2.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.2.5

Are there no torn clothes lying on the common road? Do the trees, which exist for maintaining others, no longer give alms in charity? Do the rivers, being dried up, no longer supply water to the thirsty? Are the caves of the mountains now closed, or, above all, does the Almighty Lord not protect the fully surrendered souls? Why then do the learned sages go to flatter those who are intoxicated by hard-earned wealth?, SB 2.2.15plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.2.15

O King, whenever the yogī desires to leave this planet of human beings, he should not be perplexed about the proper time or place, but should comfortably sit without being disturbed and, regulating the life air, should control the senses by the mind., SB 2.2.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.2.17

In that transcendental state of labdhopaśānti, there is no supremacy of devastating time, which controls even the celestial demigods who are empowered to rule over mundane creatures. (And what to speak of the demigods themselves?) Nor is there the mode of material goodness, nor passion, nor ignorance, nor even the false ego, nor the material Causal Ocean, nor the material nature., SB 2.5.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.5.5

As the spider very easily creates the network of its cobweb and manifests its power of creation without being defeated by others, so also you yourself, by employment of your self-sufficient energy, create without any other's help., SB 2.5.10plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.5.10

Whatever you have spoken about me is not false because unless and until one is aware of the Personality of Godhead, who is the ultimate truth beyond me, one is sure to be illusioned by observing my powerful activities., SB 2.7.30plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.7.30

When the cowherd woman [Kṛṣṇa's foster mother, Yaśodā] was trying to tie the hands of her son with ropes, she found the rope to be always insufficient in length, and when she finally gave up, Lord Kṛṣṇa, by and by, opened His mouth, wherein the mother found all the universes situated. Seeing this, she was doubtful in her mind, but she was convinced in a different manner of the mystic nature of her son., SB 2.7.41plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.7.41

Neither I nor all the sages born before you know fully the omnipotent Personality of Godhead. So what can others, who are born after us, know about Him? Even the first incarnation of the Lord, namely Śeṣa, has not been able to reach the limit of such knowledge, although He is describing the qualities of the Lord with ten hundred faces., SB 2.7.42plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.7.42

But anyone who is specifically favored by the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, due to unalloyed surrender unto the service of the Lord, can overcome the insurmountable ocean of illusion and can understand the Lord. But those who are attached to this body, which is meant to be eaten at the end by dogs and jackals, cannot do so., SB 2.7.47plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.7.47

What is realized as the Absolute Brahman is full of unlimited bliss without grief. That is certainly the ultimate phase of the supreme enjoyer, the Personality of Godhead. He is eternally void of all disturbances and fearless. He is complete consciousness as opposed to matter. Uncontaminated and without distinctions, He is the principle primeval cause of all causes and effects, in whom there is no sacrifice for fruitive activities and in whom the illusory energy does not stand., SB 2.8.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.8.4

Persons who hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam regularly and are always taking the matter very seriously will have the Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa manifested in their hearts within a short time., SB 2.9.9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.9.9

The Personality of Godhead, being thus very much satisfied with the penance of Lord Brahmā, was pleased to manifest His personal abode, Vaikuṇṭha, the supreme planet above all others. This transcendental abode of the Lord is adored by all self-realized persons freed from all kinds of miseries and fear of illusory existence., SB 2.9.34plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.9.34

O Brahmā, whatever appears to be of any value, if it is without relation to Me, has no reality. Know it as My illusory energy, that reflection which appears to be in darkness., SB 2.9.35plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.9.35

O Brahmā, please know that the universal elements enter into the cosmos and at the same time do not enter into the cosmos; similarly, I Myself also exist within everything created, and at the same time I am outside of everything., SB 2.10.44plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.10.44

The great transcendentalists thus describe the activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but the pure devotees deserve to see more glorious things in transcendence, beyond these features., SB 3.1.42plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.1.42

I am not astonished at this, having traveled over the world without being seen by others. The activities of the Personality of Godhead, which are like those of a man in this mortal world, are bewildering to others, but I know of His greatness by His grace, and thus I am happy in all respects., SB 3.2.1plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.2.1

Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: When the great devotee Uddhava was asked by Vidura to speak on the messages of the dearest [Lord Kṛṣṇa], Uddhava was unable to answer immediately due to excessive anxiety at the remembrance of the Lord., SB 3.2.2plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.2.2

He was one who even in his childhood, at the age of five years, was so absorbed in the service of Lord Kṛṣṇa that when he was called by his mother for morning breakfast, he did not wish to have it., SB 3.2.10plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.2.10

Under no circumstances can the words of persons bewildered by the illusory energy of the Lord deviate the intelligence of those who are completely surrendered souls., SB 3.3.15plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.3.15

When they quarrel among themselves, influenced by intoxication, with their eyes red like copper because of drinking [madhu], then only will they disappear; otherwise, it will not be possible. On My disappearance, this incident will take place., SB 3.4.31plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.4.31

Uddhava is not inferior to Me in any way because he is never affected by the modes of material nature. Therefore he may remain in this world in order to disseminate specific knowledge of the Personality of Godhead., SB 3.5.48plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.5.48

O Original Person, we are therefore but Yours only. Although we are Your creatures, we are born one after another under the influence of the three modes of nature, and for this reason we are separated in action. Therefore, after the creation we could not act concertedly for Your transcendental pleasure., SB 3.7.16plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.7.16

O learned sage, your explanations are very good, as they should be. Disturbances to the conditioned soul have no other basis than the movement of the external energy of the Lord., SB 3.7.41plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.7.41

O spotless one, your answers to all these questions will grant immunity from all material miseries. Such charity is greater than all Vedic charities, sacrifices, penances, etc., SB 3.8.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.8.17

Lord Brahmā, situated in that lotus, could not perfectly understand the creation, the lotus or himself. At the end of the millennium the air of devastation began to move the water and the lotus in great circular waves., SB 3.8.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.8.19

Lord Brahmā, thus contemplating, entered the water through the channel of the stem of the lotus. But in spite of entering the stem and going nearer to the navel of Viṣṇu, he could not trace out the root., SB 3.8.22plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.8.22

At the end of Brahmā's one hundred years, when his meditation was complete, he developed the required knowledge, and as a result he could see in his heart the Supreme within himself, whom he could not see before with the greatest endeavor., SB 3.8.32plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.8.32

When Lord Brahmā, the maker of the universal destination, thus saw the Lord, he simultaneously glanced over creation. Lord Brahmā saw the lake in Lord Viṣṇu's navel, and the lotus flower, as well as the devastating water, the drying air and the sky. All became visible to him., SB 3.9.1plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.9.1

Lord Brahmā said: O my Lord, today, after many, many years of penance, I have come to know about You. Oh, how unfortunate the embodied living entities are that they are unable to know Your personality! My Lord, You are the only knowable object because there is nothing supreme beyond You. If there is anything supposedly superior to You, it is not the Absolute. You exist as the Supreme by exhibiting the creative energy of matter., SB 3.9.9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.9.9

O my Lord, the material miseries are without factual existence for the soul. Yet as long as the conditioned soul sees the body as meant for sense enjoyment, he cannot get out of the entanglement of material miseries, being influenced by Your external energy., SB 3.12.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.12.5

Brahmā spoke to his sons after generating them. "My dear sons," he said, "now generate progeny." But due to their being attached to Vāsudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they aimed at liberation, and therefore they expressed their unwillingness., SB 3.13.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.13.13

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Janārdana [Lord Kṛṣṇa], is the form to accept all the results of sacrifice. If He is not satisfied, then one's labor for advancement is futile. He is the ultimate Self, and therefore one who does not satisfy Him certainly neglects his own interests., SB 3.14.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.14.4

My mind has become very inquisitive, and therefore I am not satisfied with hearing the narration of the Lord's appearance. Please, therefore, speak more and more to a devotee who is faithful., SB 3.14.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.14.17

O afflicted one, I shall forthwith gratify whatever desire is dear to you, for who else but you is the source of the three perfections of liberation?, SB 3.14.26plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.14.26

Lord Śiva regards no one as his relative, yet there is no one who is not connected with him; he does not regard anyone as very favorable or abominable. We respectfully worship the remnants of his foodstuff, and we vow to accept what is rejected by him., SB 3.14.34plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.14.34

The beautiful Diti said: My dear brāhmaṇa, kindly see that my embryo is not killed by Lord Śiva, the lord of all living entities, because of the great offense I have committed against him., SB 3.15.3plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.15.3

The fortunate demigods said: O great one, just see this darkness, which you know very well and which is causing us anxieties. Because the influence of time cannot touch you, there is nothing unmanifest before you., SB 3.15.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.15.7

There is no defeat in this material world for persons who control the mind and senses by controlling the breathing process and who are therefore experienced, mature mystics. This is because by such perfection in yoga they have attained your mercy., SB 3.15.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.15.20

The inhabitants of Vaikuṇṭha travel in their airplanes made of lapis lazuli, emerald and gold. Although crowded by their consorts, who have large hips and beautiful smiling faces, they cannot be stimulated to passion by their mirth and beautiful charms., SB 3.15.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.15.24

Lord Brahmā said: My dear demigods, the human form of life is of such importance that we also desire to have such life, for in the human form one can attain perfect religious truth and knowledge. If one in this human form of life does not understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His abode, it is to be understood that he is very much affected by the influence of external nature., SB 3.15.33plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.15.33

In the Vaikuṇṭha world there is complete harmony between the residents and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, just as there is complete harmony within space between the big and the small skies. Why then is there a seed of fear in this field of harmony? These two persons are dressed like inhabitants of Vaikuṇṭha, but wherefrom can their disharmony come into existence?, SB 3.15.42plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.15.42

The exquisite beauty of Nārāyaṇa, being many times magnified by the intelligence of His devotees, was so attractive that it defeated the pride of the goddess of fortune in being the most beautiful. My dear demigods, the Lord who thus manifested Himself is worshipable by me, by Lord Śiva and by all of you. The sages regarded Him with unsated eyes and joyously bowed their heads at His lotus feet., SB 3.15.48plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.15.48

Persons who are very expert and most intelligent in understanding things as they are engage in hearing narrations of the auspicious activities and pastimes of the Lord, which are worth chanting and worth hearing. Such persons do not care even for the highest material benediction, namely liberation, to say nothing of other less important benedictions like the material happiness of the heavenly kingdom., SB 3.16.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.16.7

The Lord continued: Because I am the servitor of My devotees, My lotus feet have become so sacred that they immediately wipe out all sin, and I have acquired such a disposition that the goddess of fortune does not leave Me, even though I have no attachment for her and others praise her beauty and observe sacred vows to secure from her even a slight favor., SB 3.16.8plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.16.8

I do not enjoy the oblations offered by the sacrificers in the sacrificial fire, which is one of My own mouths, with the same relish as I do the delicacies overflowing with ghee which are offered to the mouths of the brāhmaṇas who have dedicated to Me the results of their activities and who are ever satisfied with My prasāda., SB 3.16.9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.16.9

I am the master of My unobstructed internal energy, and the water of the Ganges is the remnant left after My feet are washed. That water sanctifies the three worlds, along with Lord Śiva, who bears it on his head. If I can take the dust of the feet of the Vaiṣṇava on My head, who will refuse to do the same?, SB 3.16.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.16.13

Brahmā continued: Even though the sages had been bitten by the serpent of anger, their souls were not satiated with hearing the Lord's lovely and illuminating speech, which was like a series of Vedic hymns., SB 3.16.14plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.16.14

The Lord's excellent speech was difficult to comprehend because of its momentous import and its most profound significance. The sages heard it with wide-open ears and pondered it as well. But although hearing, they could not understand what He intended to do., SB 3.16.16plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.16.16

The sages said: O Supreme Personality of Godhead, we are unable to know what You intend for us to do, for even though You are the supreme ruler of all, You speak in our favor as if we had done something good for You., SB 3.16.21plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.16.21

O Lord, You are exceedingly attached to the activities of Your pure devotees, yet You are never attached to the goddesses of fortune who constantly engage in Your transcendental loving service. How can You be purified, therefore, by the dust of the path traversed by the brāhmaṇas, and how can You be glorified or made fortunate by the marks of Śrīvatsa on Your chest?, SB 3.16.23plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.16.23

O Lord, You are the protector of the highest of the twice-born. If You do not protect them by offering worship and mild words, then certainly the auspicious path of worship will be rejected by people in general, who act on the strength and authority of Your Lordship., SB 3.16.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.16.24

Dear Lord, You never want the auspicious path to be destroyed, for You are the reservoir of all goodness. Just to benefit people in general, You destroy the evil element by Your mighty potency. You are the proprietor of the three creations and the maintainer of the entire universe. Therefore Your potency is not reduced by Your submissive behavior. Rather, by submission You exhibit Your transcendental pastimes., SB 3.17.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.17.6

The luminaries in the heavens were screened by masses of clouds, in which lightning sometimes flashed as though laughing. Darkness reigned everywhere, and nothing could be seen., SB 3.17.30plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.17.30

You are so skilled in war that I do not see anyone else but the most ancient person, Lord Viṣṇu, who can give satisfaction in battle to you. Therefore, O chief of the asuras, approach Him, whom even heroes like you mention with praise., SB 3.18.3plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.18.3

The demon addressed the Lord: O best of the demigods, dressed in the form of a boar, just hear me. This earth is entrusted to us, the inhabitants of the lower regions, and You cannot take it from my presence and not be hurt by me., SB 3.18.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.18.5

The demon continued: When You fall dead with Your skull smashed by the mace hurled by my arms, the demigods and sages who offer You oblations and sacrifice in devotional service will also automatically cease to exist, like trees without roots., SB 3.18.10plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.18.10

The Personality of Godhead said: Indeed, We are creatures of the jungle, and We are searching after hunting dogs like you. One who is freed from the entanglement of death has no fear from the loose talk in which you are indulging, for you are bound up by the laws of death., SB 3.18.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.18.12

You are supposed to be the commander of many foot soldiers, and now you may take prompt steps to overthrow Us. Give up all your foolish talk and wipe out the cares of your kith and kin by slaying Us. One may be proud, yet he does not deserve a seat in an assembly if he fails to fulfill his promised word., SB 3.19.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.19.4

Even though the demon had an excellent opportunity to strike his unarmed foe without obstruction, he respected the law of single combat, thereby kindling the fury of the Supreme Lord., SB 3.19.36plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.19.36

What grateful soul is there who would not render his loving service to such a great master as the Personality of Godhead? The Lord can be easily pleased by spotless devotees who resort exclusively to Him for protection, though the unrighteous man finds it difficult to propitiate Him., SB 3.20.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.20.19

Out of disgust, Brahmā threw off the body of ignorance, and taking this opportunity, Yakṣas and Rākṣasas sprang for possession of the body, which continued to exist in the form of night. Night is the source of hunger and thirst., SB 3.20.36plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.20.36

O beautiful woman, when you strike the bouncing ball against the ground with your hand again and again, your lotus feet do not stay in one place. Oppressed by the weight of your full-grown breasts, your waist becomes fatigued, and your clear vision grows dull, as it were. Pray braid your comely hair., SB 3.21.18plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.21.18

Your wheel, which has three naves, rotates around the axis of the imperishable Brahman. It has thirteen spokes, 360 joints, six rims and numberless leaves carved upon it. Though its revolution cuts short the life-span of the entire creation, this wheel of tremendous velocity cannot touch the life-span of the devotees of the Lord., SB 3.21.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.21.20

My dear Lord, although it is not Your desire, You manifest this creation of gross and subtle elements just for our sensual satisfaction. Let Your causeless mercy be upon us, for You have appeared before us in Your eternal form, adorned with a splendid wreath of tulasī leaves., SB 3.21.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.21.24

The Lord continued: My dear ṛṣi, O leader of the living entities, for those who serve Me in devotion by worshiping Me, especially persons like you who have given up everything unto Me, there is never any question of frustration., SB 3.21.45-47plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.21.45-47

Entering that most sacred spot with his daughter and going near the sage, the first monarch, Svāyambhuva Manu, saw the sage sitting in his hermitage, having just propitiated the sacred fire by pouring oblations into it. His body shone most brilliantly; though he had engaged in austere penance for a long time, he was not emaciated, for the Lord had cast His affectionate sidelong glance upon him and he had also heard the nectar flowing from the moonlike words of the Lord. The sage was tall, his eyes were large, like the petals of a lotus, and he had matted locks on his head. He was clad in rags. Svāyambhuva Manu approached and saw him to be somewhat soiled, like an unpolished gem., SB 3.21.52-54plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.21.52-54

If you did not mount your victorious jeweled chariot, whose mere presence threatens culprits, if you did not produce fierce sounds by the twanging of your bow, and if you did not roam about the world like the brilliant sun, leading a huge army whose trampling feet cause the globe of the earth to tremble, then all the moral laws governing the varṇas and āśramas created by the Lord Himself would be broken by the rogues and rascals., SB 3.22.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.22.12

To deny an offering that has come of itself is not commendable even for one absolutely free from all attachment, much less one addicted to sensual pleasure., SB 3.22.34plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.22.34

Thus Svāyambhuva Manu was a saintly king. Although absorbed in material happiness, he was not dragged to the lowest grade of life, for he always enjoyed his material happiness in a Kṛṣṇa conscious atmosphere., SB 3.23.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.23.6

Kardama Muni said: O respectful daughter of Svāyambhuva Manu, today I am very much pleased with you for your great devotion and most excellent loving service. Since the body is so dear to embodied beings, I am astonished that you have neglected your own body to use it on my behalf., SB 3.23.45plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.23.45

In that aerial mansion, Devahūti, in the company of her handsome husband, situated on an excellent bed that increased sexual desires, could not realize how much time was passing., SB 3.23.56plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.23.56

Anyone whose work is not meant to elevate him to religious life, anyone whose religious ritualistic performances do not raise him to renunciation, and anyone situated in renunciation that does not lead him to devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, must be considered dead, although he is breathing., SB 3.24.29plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.24.29

Not considering the negligence of ordinary householders like us, that very same Supreme Personality of Godhead appears in our homes just to support His devotees., SB 3.25.2plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.25.2

Śaunaka continued: There is no one who knows more than the Lord Himself. No one is more worshipable or more mature a yogī than He. He is therefore the master of the Vedas, and to hear about Him always is the actual pleasure of the senses., SB 3.25.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.25.19

Perfection in self-realization cannot be attained by any kind of yogī unless he engages in devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for that is the only auspicious path., SB 3.25.38plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.25.38

The Lord continued: My dear mother, devotees who receive such transcendental opulences are never bereft of them; neither weapons nor the change of time can destroy such opulences. Because the devotees accept Me as their friend, their relative, their son, preceptor, benefactor and Supreme Deity, they cannot be deprived of their possessions at any time., SB 3.25.41plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.25.41

The terrible fear of birth and death can never be forsaken by anyone who resorts to any shelter other than Myself, for I am the almighty Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the original source of all creation, and also the Supreme Soul of all souls., SB 3.26.62plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.26.62

When the demigods and presiding deities of the various senses were thus manifested, they wanted to wake their origin of appearance. But upon failing to do so, they reentered the body of the virāṭ-puruṣa one after another in order to wake Him., SB 3.26.63plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.26.63

The god of fire entered His mouth with the organ of speech, but the virāṭ-puruṣa could not be aroused. Then the god of wind entered His nostrils with the sense of smell, but still the virāṭ-puruṣa refused to be awakened., SB 3.26.64plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.26.64

The sun-god entered the eyes of the virāṭ-puruṣa with the sense of sight, but still the virāṭ-puruṣa did not get up. Similarly, the predominating deities of the directions entered through His ears with the sense of hearing, but still He did not get up., SB 3.26.65plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.26.65

The predominating deities of the skin, herbs and seasoning plants entered the skin of the virāṭ-puruṣa with the hair of the body, but the Cosmic Being refused to get up even then. The god predominating over water entered His organ of generation with the faculty of procreation, but the virāṭ-puruṣa still would not rise., SB 3.26.66plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.26.66

The god of death entered His anus with the organ of defecation, but the virāṭ-puruṣa could not be spurred to activity. The god Indra entered the hands with their power of grasping and dropping things, but the virāṭ-puruṣa would not get up even then., SB 3.26.67plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.26.67

Lord Viṣṇu entered His feet with the faculty of locomotion, but the virāṭ-puruṣa refused to stand up even then. The rivers entered His blood vessels with the blood and the power of circulation, but still the Cosmic Being could not be made to stir., SB 3.26.68plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.26.68

The ocean entered His abdomen with hunger and thirst, but the Cosmic Being refused to rise even then. The moon-god entered His heart with the mind, but the Cosmic Being would not be roused., SB 3.26.69plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.26.69

Brahmā also entered His heart with intelligence, but even then the Cosmic Being could not be prevailed upon to get up. Lord Rudra also entered His heart with the ego, but even then the Cosmic Being did not stir., SB 3.26.71plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.26.71

When a man is sleeping, all his material assets—namely the vital energy, the senses for recording knowledge, the senses for working, the mind and the intelligence—cannot arouse him. He can be aroused only when the Supersoul helps him., SB 3.27.1plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.27.1

The Personality of Godhead Kapila continued: When the living entity is thus unaffected by the modes of material nature, because he is unchanging and does not claim proprietorship, he remains apart from the reactions of the modes, although abiding in a material body, just as the sun remains aloof from its reflection on water., SB 3.27.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.27.4

Actually a living entity is transcendental to material existence, but because of his mentality of lording it over material nature, his material existential condition does not cease, and just as in a dream, he is affected by all sorts of disadvantages., SB 3.27.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.27.17

Śrī Devahūti inquired: My dear brāhmaṇa, does material nature ever give release to the spirit soul? Since one is attracted to the other eternally, how is their separation possible?, SB 3.27.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.27.24

By discovering the faultiness of his desiring to lord it over material nature and by therefore giving it up, the living entity becomes independent and stands in his own glory., SB 3.27.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.27.25

In the dreaming state one's consciousness is almost covered, and one sees many inauspicious things, but when he is awakened and fully conscious, such inauspicious things cannot bewilder him., SB 3.27.26plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.27.26

The influence of material nature cannot harm an enlightened soul, even though he engages in material activities, because he knows the truth of the Absolute, and his mind is fixed on the Supreme Personality of Godhead., SB 3.27.30plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.27.30

When a perfect yogī's attention is no longer attracted to the by-products of mystic powers, which are manifestations of the external energy, his progress towards Me becomes unlimited, and thus the power of death cannot overcome him., SB 3.28.18plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.28.18

The glory of the Lord is always worth singing, for His glories enhance the glories of His devotees. One should therefore meditate upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead and upon His devotees. One should meditate on the eternal form of the Lord until the mind becomes fixed., SB 3.28.33plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.28.33

With devotion steeped in love and affection, the yogī should meditate within the core of his heart upon the laughter of Lord Viṣṇu. The laughter of Viṣṇu is so captivating that it can be easily meditated upon. When the Supreme Lord is laughing, one can see His small teeth, which resemble jasmine buds rendered rosy by the splendor of His lips. Once devoting his mind to this, the yogī should no longer desire to see anything else., SB 3.28.37plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.28.37

Because he has achieved his real identity, the perfectly realized soul has no conception of how the material body is moving or acting, just as an intoxicated person cannot understand whether or not he has clothing on his body., SB 3.28.38plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.28.38

The body of such a liberated yogī, along with the senses, is taken charge of by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and it functions until its destined activities are finished. The liberated devotee, being awake to his constitutional position and thus situated in samādhi, the highest perfectional stage of yoga, does not accept the by-products of the material body as his own. Thus he considers his bodily activities to be like the activities of a body in a dream., SB 3.29.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.29.13

A pure devotee does not accept any kind of liberation—sālokya, sārṣṭi, sāmīpya, sārūpya or ekatva—even though they are offered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead., SB 3.29.23plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.29.23

One who offers Me respect but is envious of the bodies of others and is therefore a separatist never attains peace of mind, because of his inimical behavior towards other living entities., SB 3.29.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.29.24

My dear Mother, even if he worships with proper rituals and paraphernalia, a person who is ignorant of My presence in all living entities never pleases Me by the worship of My Deities in the temple., SB 3.29.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.29.25

Performing his prescribed duties, one should worship the Deity of the Supreme Personality of Godhead until one realizes My presence in his own heart and in the hearts of other living entities as well., SB 3.29.33plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.29.33

Therefore I do not find a greater person than he who has no interest outside of Mine and who therefore engages and dedicates all his activities and all his life—everything—unto Me without cessation., SB 3.29.39plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.29.39

No one is dear to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, nor is anyone His enemy or friend. But He gives inspiration to those who have not forgotten Him and destroys those who have., SB 3.29.42plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.29.42

Out of fear of the Supreme Personality of Godhead the rivers flow, and the ocean never overflows. Out of fear of Him only does fire burn and does the earth, with its mountains, not sink in the water of the universe., SB 3.30.1plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.30.1

The Personality of Godhead said: As a mass of clouds does not know the powerful influence of the wind, a person engaged in material consciousness does not know the powerful strength of the time factor, by which he is being carried., SB 3.30.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.30.4

The living entity, in whatever species of life he appears, finds a particular type of satisfaction in that species, and he is never averse to being situated in such a condition., SB 3.30.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.30.5

The conditioned living entity is satisfied in his own particular species of life; while deluded by the covering influence of the illusory energy, he feels little inclined to cast off his body, even when in hell, for he takes delight in hellish enjoyment., SB 3.30.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.30.13

Seeing him unable to support them, his wife and others do not treat him with the same respect as before, even as miserly farmers do not accord the same treatment to their old and worn-out oxen., SB 3.30.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.30.17

In this way he comes under the clutches of death and lies down, surrounded by lamenting friends and relatives, and although he wants to speak with them, he no longer can because he is under the control of time., SB 3.31.10plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.31.10

Thus endowed with the development of consciousness from the seventh month after his conception, the child is tossed downward by the airs that press the embryo during the weeks preceding delivery. Like the worms born of the same filthy abdominal cavity, he cannot remain in one place., SB 3.31.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.31.20

Therefore, my Lord, although I am living in a terrible condition, I do not wish to depart from my mother's abdomen to fall again into the blind well of materialistic life. Your external energy, called deva-māyā, at once captures the newly born child, and immediately false identification, which is the beginning of the cycle of continual birth and death, begins., SB 3.31.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.31.25

After coming out of the abdomen, the child is given to the care of persons who are unable to understand what he wants, and thus he is nursed by such persons. Unable to refuse whatever is given to him, he falls into undesirable circumstances., SB 3.31.34plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.31.34

One should not associate with a coarse fool who is bereft of the knowledge of self-realization and who is no more than a dancing dog in the hands of a woman., SB 3.31.35plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.31.35

The infatuation and bondage which accrue to a man from attachment to any other object is not as complete as that resulting from attachment to a woman or to the fellowship of men who are fond of women., SB 3.31.39plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.31.39

One who aspires to reach the culmination of yoga and has realized his self by rendering service unto Me should never associate with an attractive woman, for such a woman is declared in the scripture to be the gateway to hell for the advancing devotee., SB 3.31.47plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.31.47

Therefore, one should not view death with horror, nor have recourse to defining the body as soul, nor give way to exaggeration in enjoying the bodily necessities of life. Realizing the true nature of the living entity, one should move about in the world free from attachment and steadfast in purpose., SB 3.32.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.32.24

The exalted devotee's mind becomes equipoised in sensory activities, and he is transcendental to that which is agreeable and not agreeable., SB 3.32.38plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.32.38

There are varieties of material existence for the living entity according to the work he performs in ignorance or forgetfulness of his real identity. My dear mother, if anyone enters into that forgetfulness, he is unable to understand where his movements will end., SB 3.32.39plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.32.39

Lord Kapila continued: This instruction is not meant for the envious, for the agnostics or for persons who are unclean in their behavior. Nor is it for hypocrites or for persons who are proud of material possessions., SB 3.32.40plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.32.40

It is not to be instructed to persons who are too greedy and too attached to family life, nor to persons who are nondevotees and who are envious of the devotees and of the Personality of Godhead., SB 3.33.29plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.33.29

Because she was always absorbed in the thought of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, she was not aware that her hair was sometimes loosened or her garments were disarrayed., SB 4.2.9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.2.9

All sages, brāhmaṇas and fire-gods present, please hear me with attention, for I speak about the manners of gentle persons. I do not speak out of ignorance or envy., SB 4.2.18plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.2.18

The demigods are eligible to share in the oblations of sacrifice, but Lord Śiva, who is the lowest of all the demigods, should not have a share., SB 4.3.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.3.13

O best of the demigods, how can the body of a daughter remain undisturbed when she hears that some festive event is taking place in her father's house? Even though you may be considering that I have not been invited, there is no harm if one goes to the house of one's friend, husband, spiritual master or father without invitation., SB 4.3.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.3.17

Although the six qualities education, austerity, wealth, beauty, youth and heritage are for the highly elevated, one who is proud of possessing them becomes blind, and thus he loses his good sense and cannot appreciate the glories of great personalities., SB 4.3.18plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.3.18

One should not go to anyone's house, even on the consideration of his being a relative or a friend, when the man is disturbed in his mind and looks upon the guest with raised eyebrows and angry eyes., SB 4.3.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.3.19

Lord Śiva continued: If one is hurt by the arrows of an enemy, one is not as aggrieved as when cut by the unkind words of a relative, for such grief continues to rend one's heart day and night., SB 4.3.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.3.20

My dear white-complexioned wife, it is clear that of the many daughters of Dakṣa you are the pet, yet you will not be honored at his house because of your being my wife. Rather, you will be sorry that you are connected with me., SB 4.3.22plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.3.22

My dear young wife, certainly friends and relatives offer mutual greetings by standing up, welcoming one another and offering obeisances. But those who are elevated to the transcendental platform, being intelligent, offer such respects to the Supersoul, who is sitting within the body, not to the person who identifies with the body., SB 4.3.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.3.24

Therefore you should not see your father, although he is the giver of your body, because he and his followers are envious of me. Because of his envy, O most worshipful one, he has insulted me with cruel words although I am innocent., SB 4.3.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.3.25

If in spite of this instruction you decide to go, neglecting my words, the future will not be good for you. You are most respectable, and when you are insulted by your relative, this insult will immediately be equal to death., SB 4.4.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.4.7

When Satī, with her followers, reached the arena, because all the people assembled were afraid of Dakṣa, none of them received her well. No one welcomed her but her mother and sisters, who, with tears in their eyes and with glad faces, welcomed her and talked with her very pleasingly., SB 4.4.11plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.4.11

The blessed goddess said: Lord Śiva is the most beloved of all living entities. He has no rival. No one is very dear to him, and no one is his enemy. No one but you could be envious of such a universal being, who is free from all enmity., SB 4.4.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.4.12

Twice-born Dakṣa, a man like you can simply find fault in the qualities of others. Lord Śiva, however, not only finds no faults with others' qualities, but if someone has a little good quality, he magnifies it greatly. Unfortunately, you have found fault with such a great soul., SB 4.4.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.4.13

It is not wonderful for persons who have accepted the transient material body as the self to engage always in deriding great souls. Such envy on the part of materialistic persons is very good because that is the way they fall down. They are diminished by the dust of the feet of great personalities., SB 4.4.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.4.19

It is better to execute one's own occupational duty than to criticize others'. Elevated transcendentalists may sometimes forgo the rules and regulations of the Vedas, since they do not need to follow them, just as the demigods travel in space whereas ordinary men travel on the surface of the earth., SB 4.4.21plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.4.21

My dear father, the opulence we possess is impossible for either you or your flatterers to imagine, for persons who engage in fruitive activities by performing great sacrifices are concerned with satisfying their bodily necessities by eating foodstuff offered as a sacrifice. We can exhibit our opulences simply by desiring to do so. This can be achieved only by great personalities who are renounced, self-realized souls., SB 4.4.22plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.4.22

You are an offender at the lotus feet of Lord Śiva, and unfortunately I have a body produced from yours. I am very much ashamed of our bodily relationship, and I condemn myself because my body is contaminated by a relationship with a person who is an offender at the lotus feet of the greatest personality., SB 4.4.27plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.4.27

Satī concentrated all her meditation on the holy lotus feet of her husband, Lord Śiva, who is the supreme spiritual master of all the world. Thus she became completely cleansed of all taints of sin and quit her body in a blazing fire by meditation on the fiery elements., SB 4.5.8plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.5.8

Conjecturing on the origin of the storm, they said: There is no wind blowing, and no cows are passing, nor is it possible that this dust storm could be raised by plunderers, for there is still the strong King Barhi, who would punish them. Where is this dust storm blowing from? Is the dissolution of the planet now to occur?, SB 4.6.3plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.6.3

Both Lord Brahmā and Viṣṇu had already known that such events would occur in the sacrificial arena of Dakṣa, and knowing beforehand, they did not go to the sacrifice., SB 4.6.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.6.6

Lord Brahmā also advised them that Lord Śiva is so powerful that by his anger all the planets and their chief controllers can be destroyed immediately. Also, he said that Lord Śiva was especially sorry because he had recently lost his dear wife and was also very much afflicted by the unkind words of Dakṣa. Under the circumstances, Lord Brahmā suggested, it would behoove them to go at once and beg his pardon., SB 4.6.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.6.7

Lord Brahmā said that no one, not even himself, Indra, all the members assembled in the sacrificial arena, or all the sages, could know how powerful Lord Śiva is. Under the circumstances, who would dare to commit an offense at his lotus feet?., SB 4.6.46plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.6.46

My dear Lord, devotees who have fully dedicated their lives unto your lotus feet certainly observe your presence as Paramātmā in each and every being, and as such they do not differentiate between one living being and another. Such persons treat all living entities equally. They never become overwhelmed by anger like animals, who can see nothing without differentiation., SB 4.6.50plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.6.50

My dear Lord Śiva, you are a shareholder of a portion of the sacrifice, and you are the giver of the result. The bad priests did not deliver your share, and therefore you destroyed everything, and the sacrifice remains unfinished. Now you can do the needful and take your rightful share., SB 4.7.2plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.7.2

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 4.7.27plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.7.27

The priests addressed the Lord, saying: O Lord, transcendental to material contamination, by the curse offered by Lord Śiva's men we have become attached to fruitive activities, and thus we are now fallen and therefore do not know anything about You. On the contrary, we are now involved in the injunctions of the three departments of the Vedic knowledge under the plea of executing rituals in the name of yajña. We know that You have made arrangements for distributing the respective shares of the demigods., SB 4.7.30plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.7.30

Śrī Bhṛgu said: My dear Lord, all living entities, beginning from the highest, namely Lord Brahmā, down to the ordinary ant, are under the influence of the insurmountable spell of illusory energy, and thus they are ignorant of their constitutional position. Everyone believes in the concept of the body, and all are thus submerged in the darkness of illusion. They are actually unable to understand how You live in every living entity as the Supersoul, nor can they understand Your absolute position. But You are the eternal friend and protector of all surrendered souls. Therefore, please be kind toward us and forgive all our offenses., SB 4.7.31plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.7.31

Lord Brahmā said: My dear Lord, Your personality and eternal form cannot be understood by any person who is trying to know You through the different processes of acquiring knowledge. Your position is always transcendental to the material creation, whereas the empiric attempt to understand You is material, as are its objectives and instruments., SB 4.7.36plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.7.36

The wife of Dakṣa prayed as follows: My dear Lord, it is very fortunate that You have appeared in this arena of sacrifice. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You, and I request that You be pleased on this occasion. The sacrificial arena is not beautiful without You, just as a body is not beautiful without the head., SB 4.7.38plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.7.38

The great mystics said: Dear Lord, persons who see You as nondifferent from themselves, knowing that You are the Supersoul of all living entities, are certainly very, very dear to You. You are very favorable toward those who engage in devotional service, accepting You as the Lord and themselves as the servants. By Your mercy, You are always inclined in their favor., SB 4.7.40plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.7.40

The personified Vedas said: We offer our respectful obeisances unto You, the Lord, the shelter of the quality of goodness and therefore the source of all religion, austerity and penance, for You are transcendental to all material qualities and no one knows You or Your actual situation., SB 4.7.53plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.7.53

A person with average intelligence does not think the head and other parts of the body to be separate. Similarly, My devotee does not differentiate Viṣṇu, the all-pervading Personality of Godhead, from any thing or any living entity., SB 4.8.1plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.8.1

The great sage Maitreya said: The four great Kumāra sages headed by Sanaka, as well as Nārada, Ṛbhu, Haṁsa, Aruṇi and Yati, all sons of Brahmā, did not live at home, but became ūrdhva-retā, or naiṣṭhika-brahmacārīs, unadulterated celibates., SB 4.8.11plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.8.11

Queen Suruci told Dhruva Mahārāja: My dear child, you do not deserve to sit on the throne or on the lap of the King. Surely you are also the son of the King, but because you did not take your birth from my womb, you are not qualified to sit on your father's lap., SB 4.8.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.8.12

My dear child, you are unaware that you were born not of my womb but of another woman. Therefore you should know that your attempt is doomed to failure. You are trying to fulfill a desire which is impossible to fulfill., SB 4.8.27plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.8.27

The great sage Nārada told Dhruva: My dear boy, you are only a little boy whose attachment is to sports and other frivolities. Why are you so affected by words insulting your honor?, SB 4.8.28plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.8.28

My dear Dhruva, if you feel that your sense of honor has been insulted, you still have no cause for dissatisfaction. This kind of dissatisfaction is another feature of the illusory energy; every living entity is controlled by his previous actions, and therefore there are different varieties of life for enjoying or suffering., SB 4.8.34plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.8.34

Every man should act like this: when he meets a person more qualified than himself, he should be very pleased; when he meets someone less qualified than himself, he should be compassionate toward him; and when he meets someone equal to himself, he should make friendship with him. In this way one is never affected by the threefold miseries of this material world., SB 4.8.36plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.8.36

My dear lord, I am very impudent for not accepting your instructions, but this is not my fault. It is due to my having been born in a kṣatriya family. My stepmother, Suruci, has pierced my heart with her harsh words. Therefore your valuable instruction does not stand in my heart., SB 4.8.64plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.8.64

The great sage Nārada inquired: My dear King, your face appears to be withering up, and you look like you have been thinking of something for a very long time. Why is that? Have you been hampered in following your path of religious rites, economic development and sense gratification?, SB 4.8.67plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.8.67

Alas, just see how I was conquered by my wife! Just imagine my cruelty! Out of love and affection the boy was trying to get up on my lap, but I did not receive him, nor did I even pat him for a moment. Just imagine how hardhearted I am., SB 4.8.81plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.8.81

The demigods said: Dear Lord, You are the refuge of all moving and nonmoving living entities. We feel all living entities to be suffocating, their breathing processes choked up. We have never experienced such a thing. Since You are the ultimate shelter of all surrendered souls, we have therefore approached You; kindly save us from this danger., SB 4.9.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.9.13

My dear Lord, O Supreme Unborn, I know that the different varieties of living entities, such as animals, trees, birds, reptiles, demigods and human beings, are spread throughout the universe, which is caused by the total material energy, and I know that they are sometimes manifest and sometimes unmanifest; but I have never experienced the supreme form I behold as I see You now. Now all kinds of methods of theorizing have come to an end., SB 4.9.27plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.9.27

Despite having achieved the desired result of his determination by worshiping the lotus feet of the Lord, Dhruva Mahārāja was not very pleased. Thus he returned to his home., SB 4.9.29plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.9.29

Maitreya answered: Dhruva Mahārāja's heart, which was pierced by the arrows of the harsh words of his stepmother, was greatly aggrieved, and thus when he fixed upon his goal of life he did not forget her misbehavior. He did not demand actual liberation from this material world, but at the end of his devotional service, when the Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared before him, he was simply ashamed of the material demands he had in his mind., SB 4.9.32plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.9.32

Since all the demigods who are situated in the higher planetary system will have to come down again, they are all envious of my being elevated to Vaikuṇṭhaloka by devotional service. These intolerant demigods have dissipated my intelligence, and only for this reason could I not accept the genuine benediction of the instructions of Sage Nārada., SB 4.10.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.10.13

Dhruva Mahārāja was completely covered by an incessant shower of weapons, just as a mountain is covered by incessant rainfall., SB 4.10.21plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.10.21

Dhruva Mahārāja, the best of human beings, observed that in that great battlefield not one of the opposing soldiers was left standing with proper weapons. He then desired to see the city of Alakāpurī, but he thought to himself, "No one knows the plans of the mystic Yakṣas.", SB 4.11.8plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.11.8

My dear son, the killing of the sinless Yakṣas which you have undertaken is not at all approved by authorities, and it does not befit our family, which is supposed to know the laws of religion and irreligion., SB 4.11.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.11.20

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, in His feature of eternal time, is present in the material world and is neutral towards everyone. No one is His ally, and no one is His enemy. Within the jurisdiction of the time element, everyone enjoys or suffers the result of his own karma, or fruitive activities. As, when the wind blows, small particles of dust fly in the air, so, according to one's particular karma, one suffers or enjoys material life., SB 4.11.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.11.25

The Supreme Personality of Godhead creates this material world, maintains it, and annihilates it in due course of time, but because He is transcendental to such activities, He is never affected by ego in such action or by the modes of material nature., SB 4.12.3plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.12.3

Actually, you have not killed the Yakṣas, nor have they killed your brother, for the ultimate cause of generation and annihilation is the eternal time feature of the Supreme Lord., SB 4.12.18plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.12.18

Because of his transcendental bliss, incessant tears flowed from his eyes, his heart melted, and there was shivering and standing of the hairs all over his body. Thus transformed, in a trance of devotional service, Dhruva Mahārāja completely forgot his bodily existence, and thus he immediately became liberated from material bondage., SB 4.12.36plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.12.36

The self-effulgent Vaikuṇṭha planets, by whose illumination alone all the illuminating planets within this material world give off reflected light, cannot be reached by those who are not merciful to other living entities. Only persons who constantly engage in welfare activities for other living entities can reach the Vaikuṇṭha planets., SB 4.13.8-9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.13.8-9

By expansion of his knowledge of the Supreme Brahman, he had already attained liberation from the bondage of the body. This liberation is known as nirvāṇa. He was situated in transcendental bliss, and he continued always in that blissful existence, which expanded more and more. This was possible for him by continual practice of bhakti-yoga, which is compared to fire because it burns away all dirty, material things. He was always situated in his constitutional position of self-realization, and he could not see anything else but the Supreme Lord and himself engaged in discharging devotional service., SB 4.13.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.13.25

Śrī Maitreya replied: My dear Vidura, once the great King Aṅga arranged to perform the great sacrifice known as aśvamedha. All the expert brāhmaṇas present knew how to invite the demigods, but in spite of their efforts, no demigods participated or appeared in that sacrifice., SB 4.13.26plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.13.26

The priests engaged in the sacrifice then informed King Aṅga: O King, we are properly offering the clarified butter in the sacrifice, but despite all our efforts the demigods do not accept it., SB 4.13.28plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.13.28

Dear King, we do not find any reason that the demigods should feel insulted or neglected in any way, but still the demigods who are witnesses for the sacrifice do not accept their shares. We do not know why this is so., SB 4.13.30plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.13.30

King Aṅga addressed the priestly order: My dear priests, kindly tell me what offense I have committed. Although invited, the demigods are neither taking part in the sacrifice nor accepting their shares., SB 4.13.31plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.13.31

The head priests said: O King, in this life we do not find any sinful activity, even within your mind, so you are not in the least offensive. But we can see that in your previous life you performed sinful activities due to which, in spite of your having all qualifications, you have no son., SB 4.13.42plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.13.42

After seeing the cruel and merciless behavior of his son, Vena, King Aṅga punished him in different ways to reform him, but was unable to bring him to the path of gentleness. He thus became greatly aggrieved., SB 4.13.43plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.13.43

The King thought to himself: Persons who have no son are certainly fortunate. They must have worshiped the Lord in their previous lives so that they would not have to suffer the unbearable unhappiness caused by a bad son., SB 4.14.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.14.6

All the twice-born [brāhmaṇas] were forbidden henceforward to perform any sacrifice, and they were also forbidden to give charity or offer clarified butter. Thus King Vena sounded kettledrums throughout the countryside. In other words, he stopped all kinds of religious rituals., SB 4.14.11plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.14.11

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 4.14.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.14.12

The saintly sages continued thinking: Of course we are completely aware of his mischievous nature. Yet nevertheless we enthroned Vena. If we cannot persuade King Vena to accept our advice, he will be condemned by the public, and we will join them. Thus by our prowess we shall burn him to ashes., SB 4.14.22plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.14.22

When all the brāhmaṇas engage in performing sacrifices in your kingdom, all the demigods, who are plenary expansions of the Lord, will be very much satisfied by their activities and will give you your desired result. Therefore, O hero, do not stop the sacrificial performances. If you stop them, you will disrespect the demigods., SB 4.14.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.14.24

Those who, out of gross ignorance, do not worship the king, who is actually the Supreme Personality of Godhead, experience happiness neither in this world nor in the world after death., SB 4.14.29plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.14.29

The great sage Maitreya continued: Thus the King, who became unintelligent due to his sinful life and deviation from the right path, became actually bereft of all good fortune. He could not accept the requests of the great sages, which the sages put before him with great respect, and therefore he was condemned., SB 4.14.37plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.14.37

In those days there were various disturbances in the country that were creating a panic in society. Therefore all the sages began to talk amongst themselves: Since the King is dead and there is no protector in the world, misfortune may befall the people in general on account of rogues and thieves., SB 4.14.39-40plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.14.39-40

Upon seeing the dust storm, the saintly persons could understand that there were a great deal of irregularities due to the death of King Vena. Without government, the state was devoid of law and order, and consequently there was a great uprising of murderous thieves and rogues, who were plundering the riches of the people in general. Although the great sages could subdue the disturbance by their powers—just as they could kill the King—they considered it improper on their part to do so. Thus they did not attempt to stop the disturbance., SB 4.14.42plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.14.42

The sages decided that the descendants of the family of the saintly King Aṅga should not be stopped, for in this family the semen was very powerful and the children were prone to become devotees of the Lord., SB 4.16.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.16.13

Since this King will always remain on the path of piety, he will be neutral to both his son and the son of his enemy. If the son of his enemy is not punishable, he will not punish him, but if his own son is punishable, he will immediately punish him., SB 4.17.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.17.17

Just as a man cannot escape the cruel hands of death, the cow-shaped earth could not escape the hands of the son of Vena. At length the earth, fearful, her heart aggrieved, turned back in helplessness., SB 4.17.22plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.17.22

King Pṛthu replied to the earthly Planet: My dear earth, you have disobeyed my orders and rulings. In the form of a demigod you accepted your share of the yajñas we performed, but in return you have not produced sufficient food grains. For this reason I must kill you., SB 4.17.23plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.17.23

Although you are eating green grass every day, you are not filling your milk bag so we can utilize your milk. Since you are willfully committing offenses, it cannot be said that you are not punishable due to your assuming the form of a cow., SB 4.19.2plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.19.2

When the most powerful Indra, the King of heaven, saw this, he considered the fact that King Pṛthu was going to exceed him in fruitive activities. Thus Indra could not tolerate the great sacrificial ceremonies performed by King Pṛthu., SB 4.19.14plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.19.14

King Indra was fraudulently dressed as a sannyāsī, having knotted his hair on his head and smeared ashes all over his body. Upon seeing such dress, the son of King Pṛthu considered Indra a religious man and pious sannyāsī. Therefore he did not release his arrows., SB 4.19.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.19.20

The great sage Atri again pointed out to the son of King Pṛthu that Indra was fleeing through the sky. The great hero, the son of Pṛthu, chased him again. But when he saw that Indra was carrying in his hand a staff with a skull at the top and was again wearing the dress of a sannyāsī, he still chose not to kill him., SB 4.19.27plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.19.27

When the priests and all the others saw Mahārāja Pṛthu very angry and prepared to kill Indra, they requested him: O great soul, do not kill him, for only sacrificial animals can be killed in a sacrifice. Such are the directions given by śāstra., SB 4.19.30plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.19.30

Lord Brahmā addressed them thus: My dear sacrificial performers, you cannot kill Indra, the King of heaven. It is not your duty. You should know that Indra is as good as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Indeed, he is one of the most powerful assistants of the Personality of Godhead. You are trying to satisfy all the demigods by the performance of this yajña, but you should know that all these demigods are but parts and parcels of Indra, the King of heaven. How, then, can you kill him in this great sacrifice?, SB 4.19.33plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.19.33

Lord Brahmā continued: Let there be good fortune to both of you, for you and King Indra are both part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore you should not be angry with King Indra, who is nondifferent from you., SB 4.20.16plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.20.16

My dear King, I am very captivated by your elevated qualities and excellent behavior, and thus I am very favorably inclined toward you. You may therefore ask from Me any benediction you like. One who does not possess elevated qualities and behavior cannot possibly achieve My favor simply by performance of sacrifices, severe austerities or mystic yoga. But I always remain equipoised in the heart of one who is also equipoised in all circumstances., SB 4.20.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.20.20

The Lord was just about to leave, but because He was so greatly inclined toward the behavior of King Pṛthu, He did not depart. Seeing the behavior of Mahārāja Pṛthu with His lotus eyes, He was detained because He is always the well-wisher of His devotees., SB 4.20.21plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.20.21

The original king, Mahārāja Pṛthu, his eyes full of tears and his voice faltering and choked up, could neither see the Lord very distinctly nor speak to address the Lord in any way. He simply embraced the Lord within his heart and remained standing in that way with folded hands., SB 4.20.23plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.20.23

My dear Lord, You are the best of the demigods who can offer benedictions. Why, therefore, should any learned person ask You for benedictions meant for living entities bewildered by the modes of nature? Such benedictions are available automatically, even in the lives of living entities suffering in hellish conditions. My dear Lord, You can certainly bestow merging into Your existence, but I do not wish to have such a benediction., SB 4.20.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.20.24

My dear Lord, I therefore do not wish to have the benediction of merging into Your existence, a benediction in which there is no existence of the nectarean beverage of Your lotus feet. I want the benediction of at least one million ears, for thus I may be able to hear about the glories of Your lotus feet from the mouths of Your pure devotees., SB 4.20.27plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.20.27

Now I wish to engage in the service of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and to serve just like the goddess of fortune, who carries a lotus flower in her hand, because His Lordship, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the reservoir of all transcendental qualities. I am afraid that the goddess of fortune and I would quarrel because both of us would be attentively engaged in the same service., SB 4.20.29plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.20.29

Great saintly persons who are always liberated take to Your devotional service because only by devotional service can one be relieved from the illusions of material existence. O my Lord, there is no reason for the liberated souls to take shelter at Your lotus feet except that such souls are constantly thinking of Your feet., SB 4.21.50plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.21.50

Our dear lord, it is your occupational duty to rule over your citizens. That is not a very wonderful task for a personality like you, who are so affectionate in seeing to the interests of the citizens, because you are full of mercy. That is the greatness of your character., SB 4.22.9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.22.9

Pṛthu Mahārāja continued: Although you are traveling in all planetary systems, people cannot know you, just as they cannot know the Supersoul, although He is within everyone's heart as the witness of everything. Even Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva cannot understand the Supersoul., SB 4.22.27plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.22.27

When a person becomes devoid of all material desires and liberated from all material qualities, he transcends distinctions between actions executed externally and internally. At that time the difference between the soul and the Supersoul, which was existing before self-realization, is annihilated. When a dream is over, there is no longer a distinction between the dream and the dreamer., SB 4.22.32plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.22.32

There is no stronger obstruction to one's self-interest than thinking other subject matters to be more pleasing than one's self-realization., SB 4.25.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.25.5

The King replied: O great soul, Nārada, my intelligence is entangled in fruitive activities; therefore I do not know the ultimate goal of life. Kindly instruct me in pure knowledge so that I can get out of the entanglement of fruitive activities., SB 4.25.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.25.6

Those who are interested only in a so-called beautiful life—namely remaining as a householder entangled by sons and a wife and searching after wealth—think that such things are life's ultimate goal. Such people simply wander in different types of bodies throughout this material existence without finding out the ultimate goal of life., SB 4.25.29plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.25.29

O greatly fortunate one, it appears that you are none of the women I have mentioned because I see that your feet are touching the ground. But if you are some woman of this planet, you can, like the goddess of fortune, who, accompanied by Lord Viṣṇu, increases the beauty of the Vaikuṇṭha planets, also increase the beauty of this city by associating with me. You should understand that I am a great hero and a very powerful king on this planet., SB 4.25.31plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.25.31

My dear girl, your face is so beautiful with your nice eyebrows and eyes and with your bluish hair scattered about. In addition, very sweet sounds are coming from your mouth. Nonetheless, you are so covered with shyness that you do not see me face to face. I therefore request you, my dear girl, to smile and kindly raise your head to see me., SB 4.25.34plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.25.34

O great hero, we only know that we are existing in this place. We do not know what will come after. Indeed, we are so foolish that we do not care to understand who has created this beautiful place for our residence., SB 4.25.41plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.25.41

O my dear hero, who in this world will not accept a husband like you? You are so famous, so magnanimous, so beautiful and so easily gotten., SB 4.25.42plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.25.42

O mighty-armed, who in this world will not be attracted by your arms, which are just like the bodies of serpents? Actually you relieve the distress of husbandless women like us by your attractive smile and your aggressive mercy. We think that you are traveling on the surface of the earth just to benefit us only., SB 4.26.15plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.26.15

King Purañjana said: I do not understand why my household paraphernalia does not attract me as before. I think that if there is neither a mother nor devoted wife at home, the home is like a chariot without wheels. Where is the fool who will sit down on such an unworkable chariot?, SB 4.26.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.26.24

O hero's wife, kindly tell me if someone has offended you. I am prepared to give such a person punishment as long as he does not belong to the brāhmaṇa caste. But for the servant of Muraripu [Kṛṣṇa], I excuse no one within or beyond these three worlds. No one can freely move after offending you, for I am prepared to punish him., SB 4.27.3plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.27.3

Queen Purañjanī embraced the King, and the King also responded by embracing her shoulders. In this way, in a solitary place, they enjoyed joking words. Thus King Purañjana became very much captivated by his beautiful wife and deviated from his good sense. He forgot that the passing of days and nights meant that his span of life was being reduced without profit., SB 4.27.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.27.4

In this way, increasingly overwhelmed by illusion, King Purañjana, although advanced in consciousness, remained always lying down with his head on the pillow of his wife's arms. In this way he considered woman to be his ultimate life and soul. Becoming thus overwhelmed by the mode of ignorance, he could not understand the meaning of self-realization, of his self or of the Supreme Personality of Godhead., SB 4.28.8plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.28.8

When King Purañjana saw that all his family members, relatives, followers, servants, secretaries and everyone else had turned against him, he certainly became very anxious. But he could not counteract the situation because he was thoroughly overwhelmed by Kālakanyā., SB 4.28.14plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.28.14

As a serpent living within the cavity of a tree wishes to leave when there is a forest fire, so the city's police superintendent, the snake, wished to leave the city due to the fire's severe heat., SB 4.28.39plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.28.39

In this way he stayed immovable in one place for one hundred years by the calculations of the demigods. After this time, he developed pure devotional attraction for Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and remained fixed in that position., SB 4.28.46plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.28.46

While she was serving her husband by massaging his legs, she could feel that his feet were no longer warm and could thus understand that he had already passed from the body. She felt great anxiety upon being left alone. Bereft of her husband's company, she felt exactly as the deer feels upon being separated from its mate., SB 4.28.60plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.28.60

Actually, you are not the daughter of Vidarbha, nor is this man, Malayadhvaja, your well-wishing husband. Nor were you the actual husband of Purañjanī. You were simply captivated in this body of nine gates., SB 4.28.61plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.28.61

Sometimes you think yourself a man, sometimes a chaste woman and sometimes a neutral eunuch. This is all because of the body, which is created by the illusory energy. This illusory energy is My potency, and actually both of us—you and I—are pure spiritual identities. Now just try to understand this. I am trying to explain our factual position., SB 4.28.62plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.28.62

My dear friend, I, the Supersoul, and you, the individual soul, are not different in quality, for we are both spiritual. In fact, My dear friend, you are qualitatively not different from Me in your constitutional position. Just try to consider this subject. Those who are actually advanced scholars, who are in knowledge, do not find any qualitative difference between you and Me., SB 4.29.29plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.29.29

Covered by the mode of ignorance in material nature, the living entity is sometimes a male, sometimes a female, sometimes a eunuch, sometimes a human being, sometimes a demigod, sometimes a bird, an animal, and so on. In this way he is wandering within the material world. His acceptance of different types of bodies is brought about by his activities under the influence of the modes of nature., SB 4.29.35plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.29.35

Sometimes we suffer because we see a tiger in a dream or a snake in a vision, but actually there is neither a tiger nor a snake. Thus we create some situation in a subtle form and suffer the consequences. These sufferings cannot be mitigated unless we are awakened from our dream., SB 4.29.56plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.29.56

The King replied: My dear brāhmaṇa, whatever you have said I have heard with great attention and, considering all of it, have come to the conclusion that the ācāryas [teachers] who engaged me in fruitive activity did not know this confidential knowledge. If they were aware of it, why did they not explain it to me?, SB 4.29.57plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.29.57

My dear brāhmaṇa, there are contradictions between your instructions and those of my spiritual teachers who engaged me in fruitive activities. I now can understand the distinction between devotional service, knowledge and renunciation. I had some doubts about them, but you have now very kindly dissipated all these doubts. I can now understand how even the great sages are bewildered by the real purpose of life. Of course, there is no question of sense gratification., SB 4.29.66plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.29.66

O King, all good fortune unto you! The mind is the cause of the living entity's attaining a certain type of body in accordance with his association with material nature. According to one's mental composition, one can understand what the living entity was in his past life as well as what kind of body he will have in the future. Thus the mind indicates the past and future bodies., SB 4.29.70plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.29.70

As long as there exists the subtle material body composed of intelligence, mind, senses, sense objects, and the reactions of the material qualities, the consciousness of false identification and its relative objective, the gross body, exist as well., SB 4.29.71plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.29.71

When the living entity is in deep sleep, when he faints, when there is some great shock on account of severe loss, at the time of death, or when the body temperature is very high, the movement of the life air is arrested. At that time the living entity loses knowledge of identifying the body with the self., SB 4.29.72plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.29.72

When one is a youth, all the ten senses and the mind are completely visible. However, in the mother's womb or in the boyhood state, the sense organs and the mind remain covered, just as the full moon is covered by the darkness of the dark-moon night., SB 4.29.76-77plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.29.76-77

The caterpillar transports itself from one leaf to another by capturing one leaf before giving up the other. Similarly, according to his previous work, the living entity must capture another body before giving up the one he has. This is because the mind is the reservoir of all kinds of desires., SB 4.30.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.30.19

Those who are engaged in auspicious activities in devotional service certainly understand that the ultimate enjoyer or beneficiary of all activities is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus when one acts, he offers the results to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and passes life always engaged in the topics of the Lord. Even though such a person may be participating in family life, he is not affected by the results of his actions., SB 4.30.29plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.30.29

When the Lord, out of His natural compassion, thinks of His devotee, by that process only are all desires of the neophyte devotee fulfilled. The Lord is situated in every living entity's heart, although the living entity may be very insignificant. The Lord knows everything about the living entity, including all his desires. Although we are very insignificant, why should the Lord not know our desires?, SB 4.30.31plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.30.31

Dear Lord, we shall therefore pray for Your benediction because You are the Supreme, beyond all transcendence, and because there is no end to Your opulences. Consequently, You are celebrated by the name Ananta., SB 4.30.34plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.30.34

Even a moment's association with a pure devotee cannot be compared to being transferred to heavenly planets or even merging into the Brahman effulgence in complete liberation. For living entities who are destined to give up the body and die, association with pure devotees is the highest benediction., SB 4.30.35plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.30.35

Whenever pure topics of the transcendental world are discussed, the members of the audience forget all kinds of material hankerings, at least for the time being. Not only that, but they are no longer envious of one another, nor do they suffer from anxiety or fear., SB 4.30.37plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.30.37

Dear Lord, Your personal associates, devotees, wander all over the world to purify even the holy places of pilgrimage. Is not such activity pleasing to those who are actually afraid of material existence?, SB 5.1.2plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.1.2

Devotees are certainly liberated persons. Therefore, O greatest of the brāhmaṇas, they cannot possibly be absorbed in family affairs., SB 5.1.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.1.6

Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: My dear King, Prince Priyavrata was a great devotee because he sought the lotus feet of Nārada, his spiritual master, and thus achieved the highest perfection in transcendental knowledge. With advanced knowledge, he always engaged in discussing spiritual subjects and did not divert his attention to anything else. The Prince's father then asked him to take charge of ruling the world. He tried to convince Priyavrata that this was his duty as indicated in the revealed scriptures. Prince Priyavrata, however, was continuously practicing bhakti-yoga by constantly remembering the Supreme Personality of Godhead, thus engaging all his senses in the service of the Lord. Therefore, although the order of his father could not be rejected, the Prince did not welcome it. Thus he very conscientiously raised the question of whether he might be diverted from devotional service by accepting the responsibility of ruling over the world., SB 5.1.35plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.1.35

My dear King, a devotee who has taken shelter of the dust from the lotus feet of the Lord can transcend the influence of the six material whips—namely hunger, thirst, lamentation, illusion, old age and death—and he can conquer the mind and five senses. However, this is not very wonderful for a pure devotee of the Lord because even a person beyond the jurisdiction of the four castes—in other words, an untouchable—is immediately relieved of bondage to material existence if he utters the holy name of the Lord even once., SB 5.2.14plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.2.14

My mind is already restless, and by playing with a ball, moving it all about with your lotuslike palm, you are also agitating my eyes. Your curling black hair is now scattered, but you are not attentive to arranging it. Are you not going to arrange it? Like a man attached to women, the most cunning wind is trying to take off your lower garment. Are you not mindful of it?, SB 5.2.16plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.2.16

Lord Brahmā, who is worshiped by the brāhmaṇas, has very mercifully given you to me, and that is why I have met you. I do not want to give up your company, for my mind and eyes are fixed upon you and cannot be drawn away. O woman with beautiful raised breasts, I am your follower. You may take me wherever you like, and your friends may also follow me., SB 5.3.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.3.7

We have engaged in Your worship with many things and have offered sacrifices unto You, but we think that there is no need for so many arrangements to please Your Lordship., SB 5.3.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.3.17

The Supreme Personality of Godhead replied: O great sages, I am certainly very pleased with your prayers. You are all truthful. You have prayed for the benediction of a son like Me for King Nābhi, but this is very difficult to obtain. Since I am the Supreme Person without a second and since no one is equal to Me, another personality like Me is not possible to find. In any case, because you are all qualified brāhmaṇas, your vibrations should not prove untrue. I consider the brāhmaṇas who are well qualified with brahminical qualities to be as good as My own mouth., SB 5.4.18plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.4.18

No one likes to possess anything that is like a will-o'-the-wisp or a flower in the sky, for everyone knows very well that such things do not exist. When Lord Ṛṣabhadeva ruled this planet of Bhāratavarṣa, even common men did not want to ask for anything, at any time or by any means. No one ever asks for a will-o'-the-wisp. In other words, everyone was completely satisfied, and therefore there was no chance of anyone's asking for anything. The people were absorbed in great affection for the King. Since this affection was always expanding, they were not inclined to ask for anything., SB 5.5.1plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.5.1

Lord Ṛṣabhadeva told His sons: My dear boys, of all the living entities who have accepted material bodies in this world, one who has been awarded this human form should not work hard day and night simply for sense gratification, which is available even for dogs and hogs that eat stool. One should engage in penance and austerity to attain the divine position of devotional service. By such activity, one's heart is purified, and when one attains this position, he attains eternal, blissful life, which is transcendental to material happiness and which continues forever., SB 5.5.3plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.5.3

Those who are interested in reviving Kṛṣṇa consciousness and increasing their love of Godhead do not like to do anything that is not related to Kṛṣṇa. They are not interested in mingling with people who are busy maintaining their bodies, eating, sleeping, mating and defending. They are not attached to their homes, although they may be householders. Nor are they attached to wives, children, friends or wealth. At the same time, they are not indifferent to the execution of their duties. Such people are interested in collecting only enough money to keep the body and soul together., SB 5.5.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.5.4

When a person considers sense gratification the aim of life, he certainly becomes mad after materialistic living and engages in all kinds of sinful activity. He does not know that due to his past misdeeds he has already received a body which, although temporary, is the cause of his misery. Actually the living entity should not have taken on a material body, but he has been awarded the material body for sense gratification. Therefore I think it not befitting an intelligent man to involve himself again in the activities of sense gratification by which he perpetually gets material bodies one after another., SB 5.5.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.5.5

As long as one does not inquire about the spiritual values of life, one is defeated and subjected to miseries arising from ignorance. Be it sinful or pious, karma has its resultant actions. If a person is engaged in any kind of karma, his mind is called karmātmaka, colored with fruitive activity. As long as the mind is impure, consciousness is unclear, and as long as one is absorbed in fruitive activity, he has to accept a material body., SB 5.5.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.5.6

When the living entity is covered by the mode of ignorance, he does not understand the individual living being and the supreme living being, and his mind is subjugated to fruitive activity. Therefore, until one has love for Lord Vāsudeva, who is none other than Myself, he is certainly not delivered from having to accept a material body again and again., SB 5.5.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.5.7

Even though one may be very learned and wise, he is mad if he does not understand that the endeavor for sense gratification is a useless waste of time. Being forgetful of his own interest, he tries to be happy in the material world, centering his interests around his home, which is based on sexual intercourse and which brings him all kinds of material miseries. In this way one is no better than a foolish animal., SB 5.5.15plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.5.15

If one is serious about going back home, back to Godhead, he must consider the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead the summum bonum and chief aim of life. If he is a father instructing his sons, a spiritual master instructing his disciples, or a king instructing his citizens, he must instruct them as I have advised. Without being angry, he should continue giving instructions, even if his disciple, son or citizen is sometimes unable to follow his order. Ignorant people who engage in pious and impious activities should be engaged in devotional service by all means. They should always avoid fruitive activity. If one puts into the bondage of karmic activity his disciple, son or citizen who is bereft of transcendental vision, how will one profit? It is like leading a blind man to a dark well and causing him to fall in., SB 5.5.18plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.5.18

"One who cannot deliver his dependents from the path of repeated birth and death should never become a spiritual master, a father, a husband, a mother or a worshipable demigod., SB 5.5.23plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.5.23

O respectful brāhmaṇas, as far as I am concerned, no one is equal or superior to the brāhmaṇas in this world. I do not find anyone comparable to them. When people know My motive after performing rituals according to the Vedic principles, they offer food to Me with faith and love through the mouth of a brāhmaṇa. When food is thus offered unto Me, I eat it with full satisfaction. Indeed, I derive more pleasure from food offered in that way than from the food offered in the sacrificial fire., SB 5.5.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.5.25

I am fully opulent, almighty and superior to Lord Brahmā and Indra, the King of the heavenly planets. I am also the bestower of all happiness obtained in the heavenly kingdom and by liberation. Nonetheless, the brāhmaṇas do not seek material comforts from Me. They are very pure and do not want to possess anything. They simply engage in My devotional service. What is the need of their asking for material benefits from anyone else?, SB 5.5.27plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.5.27

The true activity of the sense organs—mind, sight, words and all the knowledge-gathering and working senses—is to engage fully in My service. Unless his senses are thus engaged, a living entity cannot think of getting out of the great entanglement of material existence, which is exactly like Yamarāja's stringent rope., SB 5.5.35plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.5.35

O King Parīkṣit, just to show all the yogīs the mystic process, Lord Ṛṣabhadeva, the partial expansion of Lord Kṛṣṇa, performed wonderful activities. Actually He was the master of liberation and was fully absorbed in transcendental bliss, which increased a thousandfold. Lord Kṛṣṇa, Vāsudeva, the son of Vasudeva, is the original source of Lord Ṛṣabhadeva. There is no difference in Their constitution, and consequently Lord Ṛṣabhadeva awakened the loving symptoms of crying, laughing and shivering. He was always absorbed in transcendental love. Due to this, all mystic powers automatically approached Him, such as the ability to travel in outer space at the speed of mind, to appear and disappear, to enter the bodies of others, and to see things far, far away. Although He could do all this, He did not exercise these powers., SB 5.6.1plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.6.1

King Parīkṣit asked Śukadeva Gosvāmī: My dear Lord, for those who are completely pure in heart, knowledge is attained by the practice of bhakti-yoga, and attachment for fruitive activity is completely burned to ashes. For such people, the powers of mystic yoga automatically arise. They do not cause distress. Why, then, did Ṛṣabhadeva neglect them?, SB 5.6.2plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.6.2

Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī replied: My dear King, you have spoken correctly. However, after capturing animals, a cunning hunter does not put faith in them, for they might run away. Similarly, those who are advanced in spiritual life do not put faith in the mind. Indeed, they always remain vigilant and watch the mind's action., SB 5.6.18plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.6.18

Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: My dear King, the Supreme Person, Mukunda, is actually the maintainer of all the members of the Pāṇḍava and Yadu dynasties. He is your spiritual master, worshipable Deity, friend, and the director of your activities. To say nothing of this, He sometimes serves your family as a messenger or servant. This means He worked just as ordinary servants do. Those engaged in getting the Lord's favor attain liberation from the Lord very easily, but He does not very easily give the opportunity to render direct service unto Him., SB 5.7.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.7.12

That most exalted devotee, Mahārāja Bharata, in this way engaged constantly in the devotional service of the Lord. Naturally his love for Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, increased more and more and melted his heart. Consequently he gradually lost all attachment for regulative duties. The hairs of his body stood on end, and all the ecstatic bodily symptoms were manifest. Tears flowed from his eyes, so much so that he could not see anything. Thus he constantly meditated on the reddish lotus feet of the Lord. At that time, his heart, which was like a lake, was filled with the water of ecstatic love. When his mind was immersed in that lake, he even forgot the regulative service to the Lord., SB 5.8.9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.8.9

The great King Mahārāja Bharata began to think: Alas, this helpless young deer, by the force of time, an agent of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has now lost its relatives and friends and has taken shelter of me. It does not know anyone but me, as I have become its father, mother, brother and relatives. This deer is thinking in this way, and it has full faith in me. It does not know anyone but me; therefore I should not be envious and think that for the deer my own welfare will be destroyed. I should certainly raise, protect, gratify and fondle it. When it has taken shelter with me, how can I neglect it? Even though the deer is disturbing my spiritual life, I realize that a helpless person who has taken shelter cannot be neglected. That would be a great fault., SB 5.8.18plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.8.18

I do not know, but the deer might have been eaten by a wolf or a dog or by the boars that flock together or the tiger who travels alone., SB 5.8.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.8.19

Alas, when the sun rises, all auspicious things begin. Unfortunately, they have not begun for me. The sun-god is the Vedas personified, but I am bereft of all Vedic principles. That sun-god is now setting, yet the poor animal who trusted in me since its mother died has not returned., SB 5.8.27plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.8.27

At the time of death, the King saw that the deer was sitting by his side, exactly like his own son, and was lamenting his death. Actually the mind of the King was absorbed in the body of the deer, and consequently—like those bereft of Kṛṣṇa consciousness—he left the world, the deer, and his material body and acquired the body of a deer. However, there was one advantage. Although he lost his human body and received the body of a deer, he did not forget the incidents of his past life., SB 5.9.8plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.9.8

After the father died, the nine stepbrothers of Jaḍa Bharata, who considered Jaḍa Bharata dull and brainless, abandoned the father's attempt to give Jaḍa Bharata a complete education. The stepbrothers of Jaḍa Bharata were learned in the three Vedas—the Ṛg Veda, Sāma Veda and Yajur Veda—which very much encourage fruitive activity. The nine brothers were not at all spiritually enlightened in devotional service to the Lord. Consequently they could not understand the highly exalted position of Jaḍa Bharata., SB 5.9.9-10plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.9.9-10

Degraded men are actually no better than animals. The only difference is that animals have four legs and such men have only two. These two-legged, animalistic men used to call Jaḍa Bharata mad, dull, deaf and dumb. They mistreated him, and Jaḍa Bharata behaved for them like a madman who was deaf, blind or dull. He did not protest or try to convince them that he was not so. If others wanted him to do something, he acted according to their desires. Whatever food he could acquire by begging or by wages, and whatever came of its own accord—be it a small quantity, palatable, stale or tasteless—he would accept and eat. He never ate anything for sense gratification because he was already liberated from the bodily conception, which induces one to accept palatable or unpalatable food. He was full in the transcendental consciousness of devotional service, and therefore he was unaffected by the dualities arising from the bodily conception. Actually his body was as strong as a bull's, and his limbs were very muscular. He didn't care for winter or summer, wind or rain, and he never covered his body at any time. He lay on the ground, and never smeared oil on his body or took a bath. Because his body was dirty, his spiritual effulgence and knowledge were covered, just as the splendor of a valuable gem is covered by dirt. He only wore a dirty loincloth and his sacred thread, which was blackish. Understanding that he was born in a brāhmaṇa family, people would call him a brahma-bandhu and other names. Being thus insulted and neglected by materialistic people, he wandered here and there., SB 5.9.11plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.9.11

Jaḍa Bharata used to work only for food. His stepbrothers took advantage of this and engaged him in agricultural field work in exchange for some food, but actually he did not know how to work very well in the field. He did not know where to spread dirt or where to make the ground level or uneven. His brothers used to give him broken rice, oil cakes, the chaff of rice, worm-eaten grains and burned grains that had stuck to the pot, but he gladly accepted all this as if it were nectar. He did not hold any grudges and ate all this very gladly., SB 5.9.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.9.20

Śukadeva Gosvāmī then said to Mahārāja Parīkṣit: O Viṣṇudatta, those who already know that the soul is separate from the body, who are liberated from the invincible knot in the heart, who are always engaged in welfare activities for all living entities and who never contemplate harming anyone are always protected by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who carries His disc [the Sudarśana cakra] and acts as supreme time to kill the demons and protect His devotees. The devotees always take shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord. Therefore at all times, even if threatened by decapitation, they remain unagitated. For them, this is not at all wonderful., SB 5.10.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.10.4

O lord, please note that we are not at all negligent in discharging our duties. We have been faithfully carrying this palanquin according to your desire, but this man who has been recently engaged to work with us cannot walk very swiftly. Therefore we are not able to carry the palanquin with him., SB 5.10.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.10.6

King Rahūgaṇa told Jaḍa Bharata: How troublesome this is, my dear brother. You certainly appear very fatigued because you have carried this palanquin alone without assistance for a long time and for a long distance. Besides that, due to your old age you have become greatly troubled. My dear friend, I see that you are not very firm, nor very strong and stout. Aren't your fellow carriers cooperating with you?, SB 5.10.9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.10.9

The great brāhmaṇa Jaḍa Bharata said: My dear King and hero, whatever you have spoken sarcastically is certainly true. Actually these are not simply words of chastisement, for the body is the carrier. The load carried by the body does not belong to me, for I am the spirit soul. There is no contradiction in your statements because I am different from the body. I am not the carrier of the palanquin; the body is the carrier. Certainly, as you have hinted, I have not labored carrying the palanquin, for I am detached from the body. You have said that I am not stout and strong, and these words are befitting a person who does not know the distinction between the body and the soul. The body may be fat or thin, but no learned man would say such things of the spirit soul. As far as the spirit soul is concerned, I am neither fat nor skinny; therefore you are correct when you say that I am not very stout. Also, if the object of this journey and the path leading there were mine, there would be many troubles for me, but because they relate not to me but to my body, there is no trouble at all., SB 5.10.10plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.10.10

Fatness, thinness, bodily and mental distress, thirst, hunger, fear, disagreement, desires for material happiness, old age, sleep, attachment for material possessions, anger, lamentation, illusion and identification of the body with the self are all transformations of the material covering of the spirit soul. A person absorbed in the material bodily conception is affected by these things, but I am free from all bodily conceptions. Consequently I am neither fat nor skinny nor anything else you have mentioned., SB 5.10.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.10.12

My dear King, if you still think that you are the King and that I am your servant, you should order me, and I should follow your order. I can then say that this differentiation is temporary, and it expands only from usage or convention. I do not see any other cause. In that case, who is the master, and who is the servant? Everyone is being forced by the laws of material nature; therefore no one is master, and no one is servant. Nonetheless, if you think that you are the master and that I am the servant, I shall accept this. Please order me. What can I do for you?, SB 5.10.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.10.17

My dear sir, I am not at all afraid of the thunderbolt of King Indra, nor am I afraid of the serpentine, piercing trident of Lord Śiva. I do not care about the punishment of Yamarāja, the superintendent of death, nor am I afraid of fire, scorching sun, moon, wind, nor the weapons of Kuvera. Yet I am afraid of offending a brāhmaṇa. I am very much afraid of this., SB 5.10.18plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.10.18

My dear sir, it appears that the influence of your great spiritual knowledge is hidden. Factually you are bereft of all material association and fully absorbed in the thought of the Supreme. Consequently you are unlimitedly advanced in spiritual knowledge. Please tell me why you are wandering around like a dullard. O great, saintly person, you have spoken words approved by the yogic process, but it is not possible for us to understand what you have said. Therefore kindly explain it., SB 5.10.23plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.10.23

My dear sir, you have said that the relationship between the king and the subject or between the master and the servant are not eternal, but although such relationships are temporary, when a person takes the position of a king, his duty is to rule the citizens and punish those who are disobedient to the laws. By punishing them, he teaches the citizens to obey the laws of the state. Again, you have said that punishing a person who is deaf and dumb is like chewing the chewed or grinding the pulp; that is to say, there is no benefit in it. However, if one is engaged in his own occupational duty as ordered by the Supreme Lord, his sinful activities are certainly diminished. Therefore if one is engaged in his occupational duty by force, he benefits because he can vanquish all his sinful activities in that way., SB 5.10.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.10.25

O my dear lord, you are the friend of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the friend of all living entities. You are therefore equal to everyone, and you are free from the bodily conception. Although I have committed an offense by insulting you, I know that there is no loss or gain for you due to my insult. You are fixed in your determination, but I have committed an offense. Because of this, even though I may be as strong as Lord Śiva, I shall be vanquished without delay due to my offense at the lotus feet of a Vaiṣṇava., SB 5.11.1plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.11.1

The brāhmaṇa Jaḍa Bharata said: My dear King, although you are not at all experienced, you are trying to speak like a very experienced man. Consequently you cannot be considered an experienced person. An experienced person does not speak the way you are speaking about the relationship between a master and a servant or about material pains and pleasures. These are simply external activities. Any advanced, experienced man, considering the Absolute Truth, does not talk in this way., SB 5.11.2plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.11.2

My dear King, talks of the relationship between the master and the servant, the king and the subject and so forth are simply talks about material activities. People interested in material activities, which are expounded in the Vedas, are intent on performing material sacrifices and placing faith in their material activities. For such people, spiritual advancement is definitely not manifest., SB 5.11.3plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.11.3

A dream becomes automatically known to a person as false and immaterial, and similarly one eventually realizes that material happiness in this life or the next, on this planet or a higher planet, is insignificant. When one realizes this, the Vedas, although an excellent source, are insufficient to bring about direct knowledge of the truth., SB 5.11.11plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.11.11

The physical elements, nature, the original cause, culture, destiny and the time element are all material causes. Agitated by these material causes, the eleven functions transform into hundreds of functions and then into thousands and then into millions. But all these transformations do not take place automatically by mutual combination. Rather, they are under the direction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead., SB 5.11.15plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.11.15

My dear King Rahūgaṇa, as long as the conditioned soul accepts the material body and is not freed from the contamination of material enjoyment, and as long as he does not conquer his six enemies and come to the platform of self-realization by awakening his spiritual knowledge, he has to wander among different places and different species of life in this material world., SB 5.11.16plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.11.16

The soul's designation, the mind, is the cause of all tribulations in the material world. As long as this fact is unknown to the conditioned living entity, he has to accept the miserable condition of the material body and wander within this universe in different positions. Because the mind is affected by disease, lamentation, illusion, attachment, greed and enmity, it creates bondage and a false sense of intimacy within this material world., SB 5.12.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.12.4

O master of yogic power, you said that fatigue resulting from moving the body here and there is appreciated by direct perception, but actually there is no fatigue. It simply exists as a matter of formality. By such inquiries and answers, no one can come to the conclusion of the Absolute Truth. Because of your presentation of this statement, my mind is a little disturbed., SB 5.12.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.12.12

My dear King Rahūgaṇa, unless one has the opportunity to smear his entire body with the dust of the lotus feet of great devotees, one cannot realize the Absolute Truth. One cannot realize the Absolute Truth simply by observing celibacy [brahmacarya], strictly following the rules and regulations of householder life, leaving home as a vānaprastha, accepting sannyāsa, or undergoing severe penances in winter by keeping oneself submerged in water or surrounding oneself in summer by fire and the scorching heat of the sun. There are many other processes to understand the Absolute Truth, but the Absolute Truth is only revealed to one who has attained the mercy of a great devotee., SB 5.13.1plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.13.1

Jaḍa Bharata, who had fully realized Brahman, continued: My dear King Rahūgaṇa, the living entity wanders on the path of the material world, which is very difficult for him to traverse, and he accepts repeated birth and death. Being captivated by the material world under the influence of the three modes of material nature (sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa), the living entity can see only the three fruits of activities under the spell of material nature. These fruits are auspicious, inauspicious and mixed. He thus becomes attached to religion, economic development, sense gratification and the monistic theory of liberation (merging with the Supreme). He works very hard day and night exactly like a merchant who enters a forest to acquire some articles to sell later for profit. However, he cannot really achieve happiness within this material world., SB 5.13.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.13.4

My dear King, the merchant on the forest path of the material world, his intelligence victimized by home, wealth, relatives and so forth, runs from one place to another in search of success. Sometimes his eyes are covered by the dust of a whirlwind—that is to say, in his lust he is captivated by the beauty of his wife, especially during her menstrual period. Thus his eyes are blinded, and he cannot see where to go or what he is doing., SB 5.13.9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.13.9

The conditioned soul in the material forest is sometimes swallowed by a python or crushed. At such a time he is left lying in the forest like a dead person, devoid of consciousness and knowledge. Sometimes other poisonous snakes bite him. Being blind to his consciousness, he falls down into a dark well of hellish life with no hope of being rescued., SB 5.13.14plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.13.14

My dear King, on the forest path of material life, first a person is bereft of his father and mother, and after their death he becomes attached to his newly born children. In this way he wanders on the path of material progress and is eventually embarrassed. Nonetheless, no one knows how to get out of this, even up to the moment of death., SB 5.13.15plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.13.15

There were and are many political and social heroes who have conquered enemies of equal power, yet due to their ignorance in believing that the land is theirs, they fight one another and lay down their lives in battle. They are not able to take up the spiritual path accepted by those in the renounced order. Although they are big heroes and political leaders, they cannot take to the path of spiritual realization., SB 5.13.21plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.13.21

King Rahūgaṇa said: This birth as a human being is the best of all. Even birth among the demigods in the heavenly planets is not as glorious as birth as a human being on this earth. What is the use of the exalted position of a demigod? In the heavenly planets, due to profuse material comforts, there is no possibility of associating with devotees., SB 5.13.22plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.13.22

It is not at all wonderful that simply by being covered by the dust of your lotus feet, one immediately attains the platform of pure devotional service to Adhokṣaja, which is not available even to great demigods like Brahmā. By associating with you just for a moment, I am now freed from all argument, false prestige and lack of discrimination, which are the roots of entanglement in the material world. Now I am free from all these problems., SB 5.13.26plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.13.26

King Parīkṣit then told Śukadeva Gosvāmī: My dear lord, O great devotee sage, you are omniscient. You have very nicely described the position of the conditioned soul, who is compared to a merchant in the forest. From these instructions intelligent men can understand that the senses of a person in the bodily conception are like rogues and thieves in that forest, and one's wife and children are like jackals and other ferocious animals. However, it is not very easy for the unintelligent to understand the purport of this story because it is difficult to extricate the exact meaning from the allegory. I therefore request Your Holiness to give the direct meaning., SB 5.14.1plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.14.1

When King Parīkṣit asked Śukadeva Gosvāmī about the direct meaning of the material forest, Śukadeva Gosvāmī replied as follows: My dear King, a man belonging to the mercantile community [vaṇik] is always interested in earning money. Sometimes he enters the forest to acquire some cheap commodities like wood and earth and sell them in the city at good prices. Similarly, the conditioned soul, being greedy, enters this material world for some material profit. Gradually he enters the deepest part of the forest, not really knowing how to get out. Having entered the material world, the pure soul becomes conditioned by the material atmosphere, which is created by the external energy under the control of Lord Viṣṇu. Thus the living entity comes under the control of the external energy, daivī māyā. Living independently and bewildered in the forest, he does not attain the association of devotees who are always engaged in the service of the Lord. Once in the bodily conception, he gets different types of bodies one after the other under the influence of material energy and impelled by the modes of material nature [sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa]. In this way the conditioned soul goes sometimes to the heavenly planets, sometimes to the earthly planets and sometimes to the lower planets and lower species. Thus he suffers continuously due to different types of bodies. These sufferings and pains are sometimes mixed. Sometimes they are very severe, and sometimes they are not. These bodily conditions are acquired due to the conditioned soul's mental speculation. He uses his mind and five senses to acquire knowledge, and these bring about the different bodies and different conditions. Using the senses under the control of the external energy, māyā, the living entity suffers the miserable conditions of material existence. He is actually searching for relief, but he is generally baffled, although sometimes he is relieved after great difficulty. Struggling for existence in this way, he cannot get the shelter of pure devotees, who are like bumblebees engaged in loving service at the lotus feet of Lord Viṣṇu., SB 5.14.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.14.4

Every year the plowman plows over his grain field, completely uprooting all weeds. Nonetheless, the seeds lie there and, not being completely burned, again come up with the plants sown in the field. Even after being plowed under, the weeds come up densely. Similarly, the gṛhastha-āśrama [family life] is a field of fruitive activity. Unless the desire to enjoy family life is completely burned out, it grows up again and again. Even though camphor may be removed from a pot, the pot nonetheless retains the aroma of camphor. As long as the seeds of desire are not destroyed, fruitive activities are not destroyed., SB 5.14.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.14.20

Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued speaking to Mahārāja Parīkṣit: My dear King, sleep is exactly like a python. Those who wander in the forest of material life are always devoured by the python of sleep. Being bitten by this python, they always remain in the darkness of ignorance. They are like dead bodies thrown in a distant forest. Thus the conditioned souls cannot understand what is going on in life., SB 5.14.38plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.14.38

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 5.14.39plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.14.39

Saintly persons, who are friends to all living entities, have a peaceful consciousness. They have controlled their senses and minds, and they easily attain the path of liberation, the path back to Godhead. Being unfortunate and attached to the miserable material conditions, a materialistic person cannot associate with them., SB 5.14.42plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.14.42

Having summarized the teachings of Jaḍa Bharata, Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: My dear King Parīkṣit, the path indicated by Jaḍa Bharata is like the path followed by Garuḍa, the carrier of the Lord, and ordinary kings are just like flies. Flies cannot follow the path of Garuḍa, and to date none of the great kings and victorious leaders could follow this path of devotional service, not even mentally., SB 5.14.44plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.14.44

Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: My dear King, the activities of Bharata Mahārāja are wonderful. He gave up everything difficult for others to give up. He gave up his kingdom, his wife and his family. His opulence was so great that even the demigods envied it, yet he gave it up. It was quite befitting a great personality like him to be a great devotee. He could renounce everything because he was so attracted to the beauty, opulence, reputation, knowledge, strength and renunciation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is so attractive that one can give up all desirable things for His sake. Indeed, even liberation is considered insignificant for those whose minds are attracted to the loving service of the Lord., SB 5.14.46plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.14.46

Devotees interested in hearing and chanting [śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam] regularly discuss the pure characteristics of Bharata Mahārāja and praise his activities. If one submissively hears and chants about the all-auspicious Mahārāja Bharata, one's life span and material opulences certainly increase. One can become very famous and easily attain promotion to the heavenly planets, or attain liberation by merging into the existence of the Lord. Whatever one desires can be attained simply by hearing, chanting and glorifying the activities of Mahārāja Bharata. In this way, one can fulfill all his material and spiritual desires. One does not have to ask anyone else for these things, for simply by studying the life of Mahārāja Bharata, one can attain all desirable things., SB 5.16.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.16.4

The great ṛṣi Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: My dear King, there is no limit to the expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead's material energy. This material world is a transformation of the material qualities [sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa], yet no one could possibly explain it perfectly, even in a lifetime as long as that of Brahmā No one in the material world is perfect, and an imperfect person could not describe this material universe accurately, even after continued speculation. O King, I shall nevertheless try to explain to you the principal regions, such as Bhū-goloka [Bhūloka], with their names, forms, measurements and various symptoms., SB 5.16.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.16.25

The residents of the material world who enjoy the products of these flowing rivers have no wrinkles on their bodies and no grey hair. They never feel fatigue, and perspiration does not give their bodies a bad odor. They are not afflicted by old age, disease or untimely death, they do not suffer from chilly cold or scorching heat, nor do their bodies lose their luster. They all live very happily, without anxieties, until death., SB 5.17.9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.17.9

Similarly, the branch of the Ganges known as Alakanandā flows from the southern side of Brahmapurī [Brahma-sadana]. Passing over the tops of mountains in various lands, it falls down with fierce force upon the peaks of the mountains Hemakūṭa and Himakūṭa. After inundating the tops of those mountains, the Ganges falls down onto the tract of land known as Bhārata-varṣa, which she also inundates. Then the Ganges flows into the ocean of salt water in the south. Persons who come to bathe in this river are fortunate. It is not very difficult for them to achieve with every step the results of performing great sacrifices like the Rājasūya and Aśvamedha yajñas., SB 5.17.15plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.17.15

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: In the tract of land known as Ilāvṛta-varṣa, the only male person is Lord Śiva, the most powerful demigod. Goddess Durgā, the wife of Lord Śiva, does not like any man to enter that land. If any foolish man dares to do so, she immediately turns him into a woman. I shall explain this later [in the Ninth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam]., SB 5.17.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.17.19

We cannot control the force of our anger. Therefore when we look at material things, we cannot avoid feeling attraction or repulsion for them. But the Supreme Lord is never affected in this way. Although He glances over the material world for the purpose of creating, maintaining and destroying it, He is not affected, even to the slightest degree. Therefore, one who desires to conquer the force of the senses must take shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord. Then he will be victorious., SB 5.17.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.17.20

For persons with impure vision, the Supreme Lord's eyes appear like those of someone who indiscriminately drinks intoxicating beverages. Thus bewildered, such unintelligent persons become angry at the Supreme Lord, and due to their angry mood the Lord Himself appears angry and very fearful. However, this is an illusion. When the wives of the serpent demon were agitated by the touch of the Lord's lotus feet, due to shyness they could proceed no further in their worship of Him. Yet the Lord remained unagitated by their touch, for He is equipoised in all circumstances. Therefore who will not worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead ?, SB 5.17.21plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.17.21

Lord Śiva continued: All the great sages accept the Lord as the source of creation, maintenance and destruction, although He actually has nothing to do with these activities. Therefore the Lord is called unlimited. Although the Lord in His incarnation as Śeṣa holds all the universes on His hoods, each universe feels no heavier than a mustard seed to Him. Therefore, what person desiring perfection will not worship the Lord?, SB 5.17.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.17.24

The illusory energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead binds all of us conditioned souls to this material world. Therefore, without being favored by Him, persons like us cannot understand how to get out of that illusory energy. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the Lord, who is the cause of creation and annihilation., SB 5.18.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.18.5

O Lord, although You are completely detached from the creation, maintenance and annihilation of this material world and are not directly affected by these activities, they are all attributed to You. We do not wonder at this, for Your inconceivable energies perfectly qualify You to be the cause of all causes. You are the active principle in everything, although You are separate from everything. Thus we can realize that everything is happening because of Your inconceivable energy., SB 5.18.10plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.18.10

My dear Lord, we pray that we may never feel attraction for the prison of family life, consisting of home, wife, children, friends, bank balance, relatives and so on. If we do have some attachment, let it be for devotees, whose only dear friend is Kṛṣṇa. A person who is actually self-realized and who has controlled his mind is perfectly satisfied with the bare necessities of life. He does not try to gratify his senses. Such a person quickly advances in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, whereas others, who are too attached to material things, find advancement very difficult., SB 5.18.11plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.18.11

By associating with persons for whom the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Mukunda, is the all in all, one can hear of His powerful activities and soon come to understand them. The activities of Mukunda are so potent that simply by hearing of them one immediately associates with the Lord. For a person who constantly and very eagerly hears narrations of the Lord's powerful activities, the Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead in the form of sound vibrations, enters within his heart and cleanses it of all contamination. On the other hand, although bathing in the Ganges diminishes bodily contaminations and infections, this process and the process of visiting holy places can cleanse the heart only after a long time. Therefore who is the sane man who will not associate with devotees to quickly perfect his life?, SB 5.18.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.18.19

My dear Lord, You are certainly the fully independent master of all the senses. Therefore all women who worship You by strictly observing vows because they wish to acquire a husband to satisfy their senses are surely under illusion. They do not know that such a husband cannot actually give protection to them or their children. Nor can he protect their wealth or duration of life, for he himself is dependent on time, fruitive results and the modes of nature, which are all subordinate to You., SB 5.18.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.18.20

He alone who is never afraid but who, on the contrary, gives complete shelter to all fearful persons can actually become a husband and protector. Therefore, my Lord, you are the only husband, and no one else can claim this position. If you were not the only husband, You would be afraid of others. Therefore persons learned in all Vedic literature accept only Your Lordship as everyone's master, and they think no one else a better husband and protector than You., SB 5.18.22plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.18.22

O supreme unconquerable Lord, when they become absorbed in thoughts of material enjoyment, Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva, as well as other demigods and demons, undergo severe penances and austerities to receive my benedictions. But I do not favor anyone, however great he may be; unless he is always engaged in the service of Your lotus feet. Because I always keep You within my heart, I cannot favor anyone but a devotee., SB 5.18.27plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.18.27

My Lord, from the great leaders of the universe, such as Lord Brahmā and other demigods, down to the political leaders of this world, all are envious of Your authority. Without Your help, however, they could neither separately nor concertedly maintain the innumerable living entities within the universe. You are actually the only maintainer of all human beings, of animals like cows and asses, and of plants, reptiles, birds, mountains and whatever else is visible within this material world., SB 5.18.31plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.18.31

My dear Lord, this visible cosmic manifestation is a demonstration of Your own creative energy. Since the countless varieties of forms within this cosmic manifestation are simply a display of Your external energy, this virāṭ-rūpa [universal body] is not Your real form. Except for a devotee in transcendental consciousness, no one can perceive Your actual form. Therefore I offer my respectful obeisances unto You., SB 5.18.38plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.18.38

O Lord, You do not desire the creation, maintenance or annihilation of this material world, but You perform these activities for the conditioned souls by Your creative energy. Exactly as a piece of iron moves under the influence of a lodestone, inert matter moves when You glance over the total material energy., SB 5.19.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.19.5

It was ordained that Rāvaṇa, chief of the Rākṣasas, could not be killed by anyone but a man, and for this reason Lord Rāmacandra, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appeared in the form of a human being. Lord Rāmacandra's mission, however, was not only to kill Rāvaṇa but also to teach mortal beings that material happiness centered around sex life or centered around one's wife is the cause of many miseries. He is the self-sufficient Supreme Personality of Godhead, and nothing is lamentable for Him. Therefore why else could He be subjected to tribulations by the kidnapping of mother Sītā?, SB 5.19.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.19.6

Since Lord Śrī Rāmacandra is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva, He is not attached to anything in this material world. He is the most beloved Supersoul of all self-realized souls, and He is their very intimate friend. He is full of all opulences. Therefore He could not possibly have suffered because of separation from His wife, nor could He have given up His wife and Lakṣmaṇa, His younger brother. To give up either would have been absolutely impossible., SB 5.19.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.19.7

One cannot establish a friendship with the Supreme Lord Rāmacandra on the basis of material qualities such as one's birth in an aristocratic family, one's personal beauty, one's eloquence, one's sharp intelligence or one's superior race or nation. None of these qualifications is actually a prerequisite for friendship with Lord Śrī Rāmacandra. Otherwise how is it possible that although we uncivilized inhabitants of the forest have not taken noble births, although we have no physical beauty and although we cannot speak like gentlemen, Lord Rāmacandra has nevertheless accepted us as friends?, SB 5.19.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.19.12

Nārada, the most powerful saintly sage, also worships Nara-Nārāyaṇa by chanting the following mantra: The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the master of the creation, maintenance and annihilation of this visible cosmic manifestation, yet He is completely free from false prestige. Although to the foolish He appears to have accepted a material body like us, He is unaffected by bodily tribulations like hunger, thirst and fatigue. Although He is the witness who sees everything, His senses are unpolluted by the objects He sees. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto that unattached, pure witness of the world, the Supreme Soul, the Personality of Godhead., SB 5.19.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.19.24

An intelligent person does not take interest in a place, even in the topmost planetary system, if the pure Ganges of topics concerning the Supreme Lord's activities does not flow there, if there are not devotees engaged in service on the banks of such a river of piety, or if there are no festivals of saṅkīrtana-yajña to satisfy the Lord [especially since saṅkīrtana-yajña is recommended in this age]., SB 5.19.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.19.25

Bhārata-varṣa offers the proper land and circumstances in which to execute devotional service, which can free one from the results of jñāna and karma. If one obtains a human body in the land of Bhārata-varṣa, with clear sensory organs with which to execute the saṅkīrtana-yajña, but in spite of this opportunity he does not take to devotional service, he is certainly like liberated forest animals and birds that are careless and are therefore again bound by a hunter., SB 5.19.27plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.19.27

The Supreme Personality of Godhead fulfills the material desires of a devotee who approaches Him with such motives, but He does not bestow benedictions upon the devotee that will cause him to demand more benedictions again. However, the Lord willingly gives the devotee shelter at His own lotus feet, even though such a person does not aspire for it, and that shelter satisfies all his desires. That is the Supreme Personality's special mercy., SB 5.20.35plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.20.35

Beyond the ocean of sweet water is a tract of land as broad as the area between the middle of Mount Sumeru and the boundary of Mānasottara Mountain. In that tract of land there are many living beings. Beyond it, extending to Lokāloka Mountain, is another land, which is made of gold. Because of its golden surface, it reflects light like the surface of a mirror, and any physical article that falls on that land can never be perceived again. All living entities, therefore, have abandoned that golden land., SB 5.20.37plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.20.37

By the supreme will of Kṛṣṇa, the mountain known as Lokāloka has been installed as the outer border of the three worlds—Bhūrloka, Bhuvarloka and Svarloka—to control the rays of the sun throughout the universe. All the luminaries, from the sun up to Dhruvaloka, distribute their rays throughout the three worlds, but only within the boundary formed by this mountain. Because it is extremely high, extending even higher than Dhruvaloka, it blocks the rays of the luminaries, which therefore can never extend beyond it., SB 5.22.14plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.22.14

Situated 1,600,000 miles above Mercury, or 8,800,000 miles above earth, is the planet Mars. If this planet does not travel in a crooked way, it crosses through each sign of the zodiac in three fortnights and in this way travels through all twelve, one after another. It almost always creates unfavorable conditions in respect to rainfall and other influences., SB 5.22.15plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.22.15

Situated 1,600,000 miles above Mars, or 10,400,000 miles above earth, is the planet Jupiter, which travels through one sign of the zodiac within the period of a Parivatsara. If its movement is not curved, the planet Jupiter is very favorable to the brāhmaṇas of the universe., SB 5.23.3plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.23.3

When bulls are yoked together and tied to a central post to thresh rice, they tread around that pivot without deviating from their proper positions—one bull being closest to the post, another in the middle, and a third on the outside. Similarly, all the planets and all the hundreds and thousands of stars revolve around the polestar, the planet of Mahārāja Dhruva, in their respective orbits, some higher and some lower. Fastened by the Supreme Personality of Godhead to the machine of material nature according to the results of their fruitive acts, they are driven around the polestar by the wind and will continue to be so until the end of creation. These planets float in the air within the vast sky, just as clouds with hundreds of tons of water float in the air or as the great śyena eagles, due to the results of past activities, fly high in the sky and have no chance of falling to the ground., SB 5.24.11plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.24.11

Since there is no sunshine in those subterranean planets, time is not divided into days and nights, and consequently fear produced by time does not exist., SB 5.24.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.24.13

Since the residents of these planets drink and bathe in juices and elixirs made from wonderful herbs, they are freed from all anxieties and physical diseases. They have no experience of grey hair, wrinkles or invalidity, their bodily lusters do not fade, their perspiration does not cause a bad smell, and they are not troubled by fatigue or by lack of energy or enthusiasm due to old age., SB 5.24.22plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.24.22

The Supreme Personality of Godhead did not award His mercy to Bali Mahārāja by giving him material happiness and opulence, for these make one forget loving service to the Lord. The result of material opulence is that one can no longer absorb his mind in the Supreme Personality of Godhead., SB 5.24.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.24.24

Alas, how pitiable it is for Indra, the King of heaven, that although he is very learned and powerful and although he chose Bṛhaspati as his prime minister to instruct him, he is completely ignorant concerning spiritual advancement. Bṛhaspati is also unintelligent because he did not properly instruct his disciple Indra. Lord Vāmanadeva was standing at Indra's door, but King Indra, instead of begging Him for an opportunity to render transcendental loving service, engaged Him in asking me for alms to gain the three worlds for his sense gratification. Sovereignty over the three worlds is very insignificant because whatever material opulence one may possess lasts only for an age of Manu, which is but a tiny fraction of endless time., SB 5.24.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.24.25

Bali Mahārāja said: My grandfather Prahlāda Mahārāja is the only person who understood his own self-interest. Upon the death of Prahlāda's father, Hiraṇyakaśipu, Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva wanted to offer Prahlāda his father's kingdom and even wanted to grant him liberation from material bondage, but Prahlāda accepted neither. Liberation and material opulence, he thought, are obstacles to devotional service, and therefore such gifts from the Supreme Personality of Godhead are not His actual mercy. Consequently, instead of accepting the results of karma and jñāna, Prahlāda Mahārāja simply begged the Lord for engagement in the service of His servant., SB 5.26.22plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.26.22

A person who is born into a responsible family—such as a kṣatriya, a member of royalty or a government servant—but who neglects to execute his prescribed duties according to religious principles, and who thus becomes degraded, falls down at the time of death into the river of hell known as Vaitaraṇī. This river, which is a moat surrounding hell, is full of ferocious aquatic animals. When a sinful man is thrown into the River Vaitaraṇī, the aquatic animals there immediately begin to eat him, but because of his extremely sinful life, he does not leave his body. He constantly remembers his sinful activities and suffers terribly in that river, which is full of stool, urine, pus, blood, hair, nails, bones, marrow, flesh and fat., SB 5.26.30plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.26.30

A lowborn and abominable person who in this life becomes falsely proud, thinking "I am great," and who thus fails to show proper respect to one more elevated than he by birth, austerity, education, behavior, caste or spiritual order, is like a dead man even in this lifetime, and after death he is thrown headfirst into the hell known as Kṣārakardama. There he must great suffer great tribulation at the hands of the agents of Yamarāja., SB 6.1.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.1.7

Śukadeva Gosvāmī replied: My dear King, if before one's next death whatever impious acts one has performed in this life with his mind, words and body are not counteracted through proper atonement according to the description of the Manu-saṁhitā and other dharma-śāstras, one will certainly enter the hellish planets after death and undergo terrible suffering, as I have previously described to you., SB 6.1.11plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.1.11

Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the son of Vedavyāsa, answered: My dear King, since acts meant to neutralize impious actions are also fruitive, they will not release one from the tendency to act fruitively. Persons who subject themselves to the rules and regulations of atonement are not at all intelligent. Indeed, they are in the mode of darkness. Unless one is freed from the mode of ignorance, trying to counteract one action through another is useless because this will not uproot one's desires. Thus even though one may superficially seem pious, he will undoubtedly be prone to act impiously. Therefore real atonement is enlightenment in perfect knowledge, Vedānta, by which one understands the Supreme Absolute Truth., SB 6.1.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.1.12

My dear King, if a diseased person eats the pure, uncontaminated food prescribed by a physician, he is gradually cured, and the infection of disease can no longer touch him. Similarly, if one follows the regulative principles of knowledge, he gradually progresses toward liberation from material contamination., SB 6.1.16plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.1.16

My dear King, if a sinful person engages in the service of a bona fide devotee of the Lord and thus learns how to dedicate his life unto the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, he can be completely purified. One cannot be purified merely by undergoing austerity, penance, brahmacarya and the other methods of atonement I have previously described., SB 6.1.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.1.19

Although not having fully realized Kṛṣṇa, persons who have even once surrendered completely unto His lotus feet and who have become attracted to His name, form, qualities and pastimes are completely freed of all sinful reactions, for they have thus accepted the true method of atonement. Even in dreams, such surrendered souls do not see Yamarāja or his order carriers, who are equipped with ropes to bind the sinful., SB 6.1.26plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.1.26

When Ajāmila chewed food and ate it, he called the child to chew and eat, and when he drank he called the child to drink also. Always engaged in taking care of the child and calling his name, Nārāyaṇa, Ajāmila could not understand that his own time was now exhausted and that death was upon him., SB 6.1.44plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.1.44

O inhabitants of Vaikuṇṭha, you are sinless, but those within this material world are all karmīs, whether acting piously or impiously. Both kinds of action are possible for them because they are contaminated by the three modes of nature and must act accordingly. One who has accepted a material body cannot be inactive, and sinful action is inevitable for one acting under the modes of material nature. Therefore all the living entities within this material world are punishable., SB 6.1.53plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.1.53

Not a single living entity can remain unengaged even for a moment. One must act by his natural tendency according to the three modes of material nature because this natural tendency forcibly makes him work in a particular way., SB 6.1.55plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.1.55

Since the living entity is associated with material nature, he is in an awkward position, but if in the human form of life he is taught how to associate with the Supreme Personality of Godhead or His devotee, this position can be overcome., SB 6.1.62plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.1.62

As far as possible he patiently tried to remember the instructions of the śāstras not even to see a woman. With the help of this knowledge and his intellect, he tried to control his lusty desires, but because of the force of Cupid within his heart, he failed to control his mind., SB 6.2.5-6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.2.5-6

People in general are not very advanced in knowledge by which to discriminate between religion and irreligion. The innocent, unenlightened citizen is like an ignorant animal sleeping in peace with its head on the lap of its master, faithfully believing in the master's protection. If a leader is actually kindhearted and deserves to be the object of a living entity's faith, how can he punish or kill a foolish person who has fully surrendered in good faith and friendship?, SB 6.2.11plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.2.11

By following the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies or undergoing atonement, sinful men do not become as purified as by chanting once the holy name of Lord Hari. Although ritualistic atonement may free one from sinful reactions, it does not awaken devotional service, unlike the chanting of the Lord's names, which reminds one of the Lord's fame, qualities, attributes, pastimes and paraphernalia., SB 6.2.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.2.12

The ritualistic ceremonies of atonement recommended in the religious scriptures are insufficient to cleanse the heart absolutely because after atonement one's mind again runs toward material activities. Consequently, for one who wants liberation from the fruitive reactions of material activities, the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, or glorification of the name, fame and pastimes of the Lord, is recommended as the most perfect process of atonement because such chanting eradicates the dirt from one's heart completely., SB 6.2.15plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.2.15

If one chants the holy name of Hari and then dies because of an accidental misfortune, such as falling from the top of a house, slipping and suffering broken bones while traveling on the road, being bitten by a serpent, being afflicted with pain and high fever, or being injured by a weapon, one is immediately absolved from having to enter hellish life, even though he is sinful., SB 6.2.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.2.17

Although one may neutralize the reactions of sinful life through austerity, charity, vows and other such methods, these pious activities cannot uproot the material desires in one's heart. However, if one serves the lotus feet of the Personality of Godhead, he is immediately freed from all such contaminations., SB 6.2.33plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.2.33

Were it not for my past devotional service, how could I, a most unclean keeper of a prostitute, have gotten an opportunity to chant the holy name of Vaikuṇṭhapati when I was just ready to die? Certainly it could not have been possible., SB 6.2.35plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.2.35

I am such a sinful person, but since I have now gotten this opportunity, I must completely control my mind, life and senses and always engage in devotional service so that I may not fall again into the deep darkness and ignorance of material life., SB 6.2.46plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.2.46

Therefore one who desires freedom from material bondage should adopt the process of chanting and glorifying the name, fame, form and pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, at whose feet all the holy places stand. One cannot derive the proper benefit from other methods, such as pious atonement, speculative knowledge and meditation in mystic yoga, because even after following such methods one takes to fruitive activities again, unable to control his mind, which is contaminated by the base qualities of nature, namely passion and ignorance., SB 6.2.47-48plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.2.47-48

Because this very confidential historical narration has the potency to vanquish all sinful reactions, one who hears or describes it with faith and devotion is no longer doomed to hellish life, regardless of his having a material body and regardless of how sinful he may have been. Indeed, the Yamadūtas, who carry out the orders of Yamarāja, do not approach him even to see him. After giving up his body, he returns home, back to Godhead, where he is very respectfully received and worshiped., SB 6.3.2plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.3.2

O great sage, never before has it been heard anywhere that an order from Yamarāja has been baffled. Therefore I think that people will have doubts about this that no one but you can eradicate. Since that is my firm conviction, kindly explain the reasons for these events., SB 6.3.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.3.5

If in this universe there are many rulers and justices who disagree about punishment and reward, their contradictory actions will neutralize each other, and no one will be punished or rewarded. Otherwise, if their contradictory acts fail to neutralize each other, everyone will have to be both punished and rewarded., SB 6.3.8plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.3.8

But now we see that the punishment ordained under your authority is no longer effective, since your order has been transgressed by four wonderful and perfect persons., SB 6.3.16plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.3.16

As the different limbs of the body cannot see the eyes, the living entities cannot see the Supreme Lord, who is situated as the Supersoul in everyone's heart. Not by the senses, by the mind, by the life air, by thoughts within the heart, or by the vibration of words can the living entities ascertain the real situation of the Supreme Lord., SB 6.3.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.3.19

Real religious principles are enacted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although fully situated in the mode of goodness, even the great ṛṣis who occupy the topmost planets cannot ascertain the real religious principles, nor can the demigods or the leaders of Siddhaloka, to say nothing of the asuras, ordinary human beings, Vidyādharas and Cāraṇas., SB 6.3.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.3.25

Because they are bewildered by the illusory energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Yājñavalkya and Jaimini and other compilers of the religious scriptures cannot know the secret, confidential religious system of the twelve mahājanas. They cannot understand the transcendental value of performing devotional service or chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. Because their minds are attracted to the ritualistic ceremonies mentioned in the Vedas—especially the Yajur Veda, Sāma Veda and Ṛg Veda—their intelligence has become dull. Thus they are busy collecting the ingredients for ritualistic ceremonies that yield only temporary benefits, such as elevation to Svargaloka for material happiness. They are not attracted to the saṅkīrtana movement; instead, they are interested in dharma, artha, kāma and mokṣa., SB 6.3.26plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.3.26

Considering all these points, therefore, intelligent men decide to solve all problems by adopting the devotional service of chanting the holy name of the Lord, who is situated in everyone's heart and who is a mine of all auspicious qualities. Such persons are not within my jurisdiction for punishment. Generally they never commit sinful activities, but even if by mistake or because of bewilderment or illusion they sometimes commit sinful acts, they are protected from sinful reactions because they always chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra., SB 6.3.27plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.3.27

My dear servants, please do not approach such devotees, for they have fully surrendered to the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They are equal to everyone, and their narrations are sung by the demigods and the inhabitants of Siddhaloka. Please do not even go near them. They are always protected by the club of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore Lord Brahmā and I and even the time factor are not competent to chastise them., SB 6.3.29plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.3.29

My dear servants, please bring to me only those sinful persons who do not use their tongues to chant the holy name and qualities of Kṛṣṇa, whose hearts do not remember the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa even once, and whose heads do not bow down even once before Lord Kṛṣṇa. Send me those who do not perform their duties toward Viṣṇu, which are the only duties in human life. Please bring me all such fools and rascals., SB 6.3.32plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.3.32

One who constantly hears and chants the holy name of the Lord and hears and chants about His activities can very easily attain the platform of pure devotional service, which can cleanse the dirt from one's heart. One cannot achieve such purification merely by observing vows and performing Vedic ritualistic ceremonies., SB 6.3.33plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.3.33

Devotees who always lick the honey from the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa do not care at all for material activities, which are performed under the three modes of material nature and which bring only misery. Indeed, devotees never give up the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa to return to material activities. Others, however, who are addicted to Vedic rituals because they have neglected the service of the Lord's lotus feet and are enchanted by lusty desires, sometimes perform acts of atonement. Nevertheless, being incompletely purified, they return to sinful activities again and again., SB 6.3.34plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.3.34

After hearing from the mouth of their master about the extraordinary glories of the Lord and His name, fame and attributes, the Yamadūtas were struck with wonder. Since then, as soon as they see a devotee, they fear him and dare not look at him again., SB 6.4.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.4.7

O greatly fortunate ones, you should not kill these poor trees by burning them to ashes. Your duty is to wish the citizens [prajās] all prosperity and to act as their protectors., SB 6.4.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.4.24

As the sense objects [form, taste, touch, smell and sound] cannot understand how the senses perceive them, so the conditioned soul, although residing in his body along with the Supersoul, cannot understand how the supreme spiritual person, the master of the material creation, directs his senses. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto that Supreme Person, who is the supreme controller., SB 6.4.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.4.25

Because they are only matter, the body, the life airs, the external and internal senses, the five gross elements and the subtle sense objects [form, taste, smell, sound and touch] cannot know their own nature, the nature of the other senses or the nature of their controllers. But the living being, because of his spiritual nature, can know his body, the life airs, the senses, the elements and the sense objects, and he can also know the three qualities that form their roots. Nevertheless, although the living being is completely aware of them, he is unable to see the Supreme Being, who is omniscient and unlimited. I therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto Him., SB 6.4.32plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.4.32

There are two parties—namely, the theists and the atheists. The theist, who accepts the Supersoul, finds the spiritual cause through mystic yoga. The Sāṅkhyite, however, who merely analyzes the material elements, comes to a conclusion of impersonalism and does not accept a supreme cause—whether Bhagavān, Paramātmā or even Brahman. Instead, he is preoccupied with the superfluous, external activities of material nature. Ultimately, however, both parties demonstrate the Absolute Truth because although they offer opposing statements, their object is the same ultimate cause. They are both approaching the same Supreme Brahman, to whom I offer my respectful obeisances., SB 6.4.41plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.4.41

As rivers are filled by water flowing from a mountain, all of Dakṣa's senses were filled with pleasure. Because of his highly elevated happiness, Dakṣa could not say anything, but simply remained flat on the ground., SB 6.4.47plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.4.47

Before the creation of this cosmic manifestation, I alone existed with My specific spiritual potencies. Consciousness was then unmanifested, just as one's consciousness is unmanifested during the time of sleep., SB 6.5.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.5.13

[Nārada Muni had described that there is a bila, or hole, from which, having entered, one does not return. The Haryaśvas understood the meaning of this allegory.] Hardly once has a person who has entered the lower planetary system called Pātāla been seen to return. Similarly, if one enters the Vaikuṇṭha-dhāma [pratyag-dhāma], he does not return to this material world. If there is such a place, from which, having gone, one does not return to the miserable material condition of life, what is the use of jumping like monkeys in the temporary material world and not seeing or understanding that place? What will be the profit?, SB 6.5.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.5.20

[Nārada Muni had asked how one could ignorantly defy one's own father. The Haryaśvas understood the meaning of this question.] One must accept the original instructions of the śāstra. According to Vedic civilization, one is offered a sacred thread as a sign of second birth. One takes his second birth by dint of having received instructions in the śāstra from a bona fide spiritual master. Therefore, śāstra, scripture, is the real father. All the śāstras instruct that one should end his material way of life. If one does not know the purpose of the father's orders, the śāstras, he is ignorant. The words of a material father who endeavors to engage his son in material activities are not the real instructions of the father., SB 6.5.33plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.5.33

The Savalāśvas took to the correct path, which is obtainable by a mode of life meant to achieve devotional service, or the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Like nights that have gone to the west, they have not returned even until now., SB 6.5.40plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.5.40

Prajāpati Dakṣa continued: If you think that simply awakening the sense of renunciation will detach one from the material world, I must say that unless full knowledge is awakened, simply changing dresses as you have done cannot possibly bring detachment., SB 6.5.41plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.5.41

Material enjoyment is indeed the cause of all unhappiness, but one cannot give it up unless one has personally experienced how much suffering it is. Therefore one should be allowed to remain in so-called material enjoyment while simultaneously advancing in knowledge to experience the misery of this false material happiness. Then, without help from others, one will find material enjoyment detestful. Those whose minds are changed by others do not become as renounced as those who have personal experience., SB 6.5.43plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.5.43

You have made me lose my sons once, and now you have again done the same inauspicious thing. Therefore you are a rascal who does not know how to behave toward others. You may travel all over the universe, but I curse you to have no residence anywhere., SB 6.7.2-8plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.7.2-8

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: O King, once upon a time, the King of heaven, Indra, being extremely proud because of his great opulence of the three worlds, transgressed the law of Vedic etiquette. Seated on his throne, he was surrounded by the Maruts, Vasus, Rudras, Ādityas, Ṛbhus, Viśvadevas, Sādhyas, Aśvinī-kumāras, Siddhas, Cāraṇas and Gandharvas and by great saintly persons. Also surrounding him were the Vidyādharas, Apsarās, Kinnaras, Patagas [birds] and Uragas [snakes]. All of them were offering Indra their respects and services, and the Apsarās and Gandharvas were dancing and singing with very sweet musical instruments. Over Indra's head was a white umbrella as effulgent as the full moon. Fanned by yak-tail whisks and served with all the paraphernalia of a great king, Indra was sitting with his wife, Śacīdevī, who occupied half the throne, when the great sage Bṛhaspati appeared in that assembly. Bṛhaspati, the best of the sages, was the spiritual master of Indra and the demigods and was respected by the demigods and demons alike. Nevertheless, although Indra saw his spiritual master before him, he did not rise from his own seat or offer a seat to his spiritual master, nor did Indra offer him a respectful welcome. Indra did nothing to show him respect., SB 6.7.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.7.13

If a person says, "One who is situated on the exalted throne of a king should not stand up to show respect to another king or a brāhmaṇa," it is to be understood that he does not know the superior religious principles., SB 6.7.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.7.17

Although Indra searched vigorously with the assistance of the other demigods, he could not find Bṛhaspati. Then Indra thought, "Alas, my spiritual master has become dissatisfied with me, and now I have no means of achieving good fortune." Although Indra was surrounded by demigods, he could not find peace of mind., SB 6.7.21plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.7.21

Lord Brahmā said: O best of the demigods, unfortunately, because of madness resulting from your material opulence, you failed to receive Bṛhaspati properly when he came to your assembly. Because he is aware of the Supreme Brahman and fully in control of his senses, he is the best of the brāhmaṇas. Therefore it is very astonishing that you have acted impudently toward him., SB 6.7.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.7.24

Because of their firm determination to follow the instructions of Śukrācārya, his disciples, the demons, are now unconcerned about the demigods. In fact, kings or others who have determined faith in the mercy of brāhmaṇas, cows and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, and who always worship these three are always strong in their position., SB 6.7.33plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.7.33

The demigods continued: Do not fear criticism for being younger than us. Such etiquette does not apply in regard to Vedic mantras. Except in relationship to Vedic mantras, seniority is determined by age, but one may offer respectful obeisances even to a younger person who is advanced in chanting Vedic mantras. Therefore although you are junior in relationship to us, you may become our priest without hesitation., SB 6.7.37plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.7.37

All of you are my superiors. Therefore although accepting priesthood is sometimes reproachable, I cannot refuse even a small request from you. I agree to be your priest. I shall fulfill your request by dedicating my life and possessions., SB 6.8.37plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.8.37

This prayer, Nārāyaṇa-kavaca, constitutes subtle knowledge transcendentally connected with Nārāyaṇa. One who employs this prayer is never disturbed or put in danger by the government, by plunderers, by evil demons or by any type of disease., SB 6.9.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.9.25

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who created us by His external potency and by whose mercy we expand the creation of the universe, is always situated before us as the Supersoul, but we cannot see His form. We are unable to see Him because all of us think that we are separate and independent gods., SB 6.9.32plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.9.32

O supreme controller, You control the three destinations [promotion to the heavenly planets, birth as a human being, and condemnation in hell], yet Your supreme abode is Vaikuṇṭha-dhāma. Since we appeared after You created this cosmic manifestation, Your activities are impossible for us to understand. We therefore have nothing to offer You but our humble obeisances., SB 6.9.36plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.9.36

O Supreme Personality of Godhead, all contradictions can be reconciled in You. O Lord, since You are the Supreme Person, the reservoir of unlimited spiritual qualities, the supreme controller, Your unlimited glories are inconceivable to the conditioned souls. Many modern theologians argue about right and wrong without knowing what is actually right. Their arguments are always false and their judgments inconclusive because they have no authorized evidence with which to gain knowledge of You. Because their minds are agitated by scriptures containing false conclusions, they are unable to understand the truth concerning You. Furthermore, because of polluted eagerness to arrive at the right conclusion, their theories are incapable of revealing You, who are transcendental to their material conceptions. You are one without a second, and therefore in You contradictions like doing and not doing, happiness and distress, are not contradictory. Your potency is so great that it can do and undo anything as You like. With the help of that potency, what is impossible for You? Since there is no duality in Your constitutional position, You can do everything by the influence of Your energy., SB 6.9.39plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.9.39

Therefore, O killer of the Madhu demon, incessant transcendental bliss flows in the minds of those who have even once tasted but a drop of the nectar from the ocean of Your glories. Such exalted devotees forget the tiny reflection of so-called material happiness produced from the material senses of sight and sound. Free from all desires, such devotees are the real friends of all living entities. Offering their minds unto You and enjoying transcendental bliss, they are expert in achieving the real goal of life. O Lord, You are the soul and dear friend of such devotees, who never need return to this material world. How could they give up engagement in Your devotional service?, SB 6.9.49plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.9.49

Those who think material assets to be everything or to be the ultimate goal of life are called misers [kṛpaṇas]. They do not know the ultimate necessity of the soul. Moreover, if one awards that which is desired by such fools, he must also be considered foolish., SB 6.9.50plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.9.50

A pure devotee who is fully accomplished in the science of devotional service will never instruct a foolish person to engage in fruitive activities for material enjoyment, not to speak of helping him in such activities. Such a devotee is like an experienced physician, who never encourages a patient to eat food injurious to his health, even if the patient desires it., SB 6.9.55plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.9.55

When Vṛtrāsura is killed because of My spiritual strength, you will regain your strength, weapons and wealth. Thus there will be all good fortune for all of you. Although Vṛtrāsura can destroy all the three worlds, do not fear that he will harm you. He is also a devotee and will never be envious of you., SB 6.10.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.10.6

Those who are too self-interested beg something from others, not knowing of others' pain. But if the beggar knew the difficulty of the giver, he would not ask for anything. Similarly, he who is able to give charity does not know the beggar's difficulty, for otherwise he would not refuse to give the beggar anything he might want as charity., SB 6.10.8plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.10.8

O demigods, one who has no compassion for humanity in its suffering and does not sacrifice his impermanent body for the higher causes of religious principles or eternal glory is certainly pitied even by the immovable beings., SB 6.10.10plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.10.10

This body, which is eatable by jackals and dogs after death, does not actually do any good for me, the spirit soul. It is usable only for a short time and may perish at any moment. The body and its possessions, its riches and relatives, must all be engaged for the benefit of others, or else they will be sources of tribulation and misery., SB 6.10.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.10.12

Dadhīci Muni controlled his senses, life force, mind and intelligence and became absorbed in trance. Thus he cut all his material bonds. He could not perceive how his material body became separated from his self., SB 6.10.17-18plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.10.17-18

O King, when all the asuras came onto the battlefield, headed by Vṛtrāsura, they saw King Indra carrying the thunderbolt and surrounded by the Rudras, Vasus, Ādityas, Aśvinī-kumāras, Pitās, Vahnis, Maruts, Ṛbhus, Sādhyas and Viśvadevas. Surrounded by his company, Indra shone so brightly that his effulgence was intolerable to the demons., SB 6.10.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.10.24

As the stars in the sky cannot be seen when covered by dense clouds, the demigods, being completely covered by networks of arrows falling upon them one after another, could not be seen., SB 6.10.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.10.25

The showers of various weapons and arrows released to kill the soldiers of the demigods did not reach them because the demigods, acting quickly, cut the weapons into thousands of pieces in the sky., SB 6.10.32plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.10.32

Vṛtrāsura said: All living entities who have taken birth in this material world must die. Surely, no one in this world has found any means to be saved from death. Even providence has not provided a means to escape it. Under the circumstances, death being inevitable, if one can gain promotion to the higher planetary systems and be always celebrated here by dying a suitable death, what man will not accept such a glorious death?, SB 6.11.1plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.11.1

Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: O King, Vṛtrāsura, the commander in chief of the demons, advised his lieutenants in the principles of religion, but the cowardly demoniac commanders, intent upon fleeing the battlefield, were so disturbed by fear that they could not accept his words., SB 6.11.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.11.4

O demigods, these demoniac soldiers have taken birth uselessly. Indeed, they have come from the bodies of their mothers exactly like stool. What is the benefit of killing such enemies from behind while they are running in fear? One who considers himself a hero should not kill an enemy who is afraid of losing his life. Such killing is never glorious, nor can it promote one to the heavenly planets., SB 6.11.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.11.5

O insignificant demigods, if you truly have faith in your heroism, if you have patience in the cores of your hearts and if you are not ambitious for sense gratification, please stand before me for a moment., SB 6.11.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.11.12

When he saw Indra's carrier elephant thus fatigued and injured and when he saw Indra morose because his carrier had been harmed in that way, the great soul Vṛtrāsura, following religious principles, refrained from again striking Indra with the club. Taking this opportunity, Indra touched the elephant with his nectar-producing hand, thus relieving the animal's pain and curing its injuries. Then the elephant and Indra both stood silently., SB 6.11.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.11.19

O King of the demigods, since I, your enemy, am standing before you, why don't you hurl your thunderbolt at me? Although your attack upon me with your club was certainly useless, like a request of money from a miser, the thunderbolt you carry will not be useless. You need have no doubts about this., SB 6.11.22plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.11.22

Persons who fully surrender at the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and always think of His lotus feet are accepted and recognized by the Lord as His own personal assistants or servants. The Lord never bestows upon such servants the brilliant opulences of the upper, lower and middle planetary systems of this material world. When one possesses material opulence in any of these three divisions of the universe, his possessions naturally increase his enmity, anxiety, mental agitation, pride and belligerence. Thus one goes through much endeavor to increase and maintain his possessions, and he suffers great unhappiness when he loses them., SB 6.11.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.11.25

O my Lord, source of all opportunities, I do not desire to enjoy in Dhruvaloka, the heavenly planets or the planet where Lord Brahmā resides, nor do I want to be the supreme ruler of all the earthly planets or the lower planetary systems. I do not desire to be master of the powers of mystic yoga, nor do I want liberation if I have to give up Your lotus feet., SB 6.11.27plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.11.27

O my Lord, my master, I am wandering throughout this material world as a result of my fruitive activities. Therefore I simply seek friendship in the association of Your pious and enlightened devotees. My attachment to my body, wife, children and home is continuing by the spell of Your external energy, but I wish to be attached to them no longer. Let my mind, my consciousness and everything I have be attached only to You., SB 6.12.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.12.6

Having dropped the thunderbolt from his hand in the presence of his enemy, Indra was practically defeated and was very much ashamed. He dared not pick up his weapon again. Vṛtrāsura, however, encouraged him, saying, "Take up your thunderbolt and kill your enemy. This is not the time to lament your fate.", SB 6.12.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.12.7

Vṛtrāsura continued: O Indra, no one is guaranteed of being always victorious but the original enjoyer, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavān. He is the cause of creation, maintenance and annihilation, and He knows everything. Being dependent and being obliged to accept material bodies, belligerent subordinates are sometimes victorious and sometimes defeated., SB 6.12.11plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.12.11

The three puruṣas—Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu and Kṣīrodakaśāyī-Viṣṇu—the material nature, the total material energy, the false ego, the five material elements, the material senses, the mind, the intelligence and consciousness cannot create the material manifestation without the direction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead., SB 6.12.15plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.12.15

One who knows that the three qualities—goodness, passion and ignorance—are not qualities of the soul but qualities of material nature, and who knows that the pure soul is simply an observer of the actions and reactions of these qualities, should be understood to be a liberated person. He is not bound by these qualities., SB 6.12.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.12.17

O my enemy, consider this battle a gambling match in which our lives are the stakes, the arrows are the dice, and the animals acting as carriers are the game board. No one can understand who will be defeated and who will be victorious. It all depends on providence., SB 6.12.31plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.12.31

The protective armor of Nārāyaṇa, which Indra possessed, was identical with Nārāyaṇa Himself, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Protected by that armor and by his own mystic power, King Indra, although swallowed by Vṛtrāsura, did not die within the demon's belly., SB 6.13.8-9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.13.8-9

One who has killed a brāhmaṇa, one who has killed a cow or one who has killed his father, mother or spiritual master can be immediately freed from all sinful reactions simply by chanting the holy name of Lord Nārāyaṇa. Other sinful persons, such as dog-eaters and caṇḍālas, who are less than śūdras, can also be freed in this way. But you are a devotee, and we shall help you by performing the great horse sacrifice. If you please Lord Nārāyaṇa in that way, why should you be afraid? You will be freed even if you kill the entire universe, including the brāhmaṇas, not to speak of killing a disturbing demon like Vṛtrāsura., SB 6.13.11plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.13.11

Following the advice of the demigods, Indra killed Vṛtrāsura, and he suffered because of this sinful killing. Although the other demigods were happy, he could not derive happiness from the killing of Vṛtrāsura. Indra's other good qualities, such as tolerance and opulence, could not help him in his grief., SB 6.14.2plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.14.2

Demigods situated in the mode of goodness and great saints cleansed of the dirt of material enjoyment hardly ever render pure devotional service at the lotus feet of Mukunda. [Therefore how could Vṛtrāsura have become such a great devotee?], SB 6.14.11plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.14.11

This Citraketu had ten million wives, but although he was capable of producing children, he did not receive a child from any of them. By chance, all the wives were barren., SB 6.14.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.14.13

His queens all had beautiful faces and attractive eyes, yet neither his opulences, his hundreds and thousands of queens, nor the lands of which he was the supreme proprietor were sources of happiness for him., SB 6.14.21plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.14.21

O King Citraketu, I can observe that your mind is not pleased. You seem not to have achieved your desired goal. Is this because of you yourself, or has it been caused by others? Your pale face reflects your deep anxiety., SB 6.14.23plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.14.23

King Citraketu said: O great lord Aṅgirā, because of austerity, knowledge and transcendental samādhi, you are freed from all the reactions of sinful life. Therefore, as a perfect yogī, you can understand everything external and internal regarding embodied, conditioned souls like us., SB 6.14.38plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.14.38

As King Citraketu fostered his son very carefully, his affection for Queen Kṛtadyuti increased, but gradually he lost affection for the other wives, who had no sons., SB 6.14.50-51plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.14.50-51

When King Citraketu heard of his son's death from unknown causes, he became almost blind. Because of his great affection for his son, his lamentation grew like a blazing fire, and as he went to see the dead child, he kept slipping and falling on the ground. Surrounded by his ministers and other officers and the learned brāhmaṇas present, the King approached and fell unconscious at the child's feet, his hair and dress scattered. When the King, breathing heavily, regained consciousness, his eyes were tearful, and he could not speak., SB 6.14.55plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.14.55

My Lord, You may say that there is no law that a father must die in the lifetime of his son and that a son must be born in the lifetime of his father, since everyone lives and dies according to his own fruitive activity. However, if fruitive activity is so strong that birth and death depend upon it, there is no need of a controller, or God. Again, if You say that a controller is needed because the material energy does not have the power to act, one may answer that if the bonds of affection You have created are disturbed by fruitive action, no one will raise children with affection; instead, everyone will cruelly neglect his children. Since You have cut the bonds of affection that compel a parent to raise his child, You appear inexperienced and unintelligent., SB 6.14.56plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.14.56

My dear son, I am helpless and very much aggrieved. You should not give up my company. Just look at your lamenting father. We are helpless because without a son we shall have to suffer the distress of going to the darkest hellish regions. You are the only hope by which we can get out of these dark regions. Therefore I request you not to go any further with the merciless Yama., SB 6.14.58plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.14.58

My dear son, I am certainly most unfortunate, for I can no longer see your mild smiling. You have closed your eyes forever. I therefore conclude that you have been taken from this planet to another, from which you will not return. My dear son, I can no longer hear your pleasing voice., SB 6.15.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.15.4

When seeds are sown in the ground, they sometimes grow into plants and sometimes do not. Sometimes the ground is not fertile, and the sowing of seeds is unproductive. Similarly, sometimes a prospective father, being impelled by the potency of the Supreme Lord, can beget a child, but sometimes conception does not take place. Therefore one should not lament over the artificial relationship of parenthood, which is ultimately controlled by the Supreme Lord., SB 6.15.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.15.5

O King, both you and we—your advisers, wives and ministers—as well as everything moving and not moving throughout the entire cosmos at this time, are in a temporary situation. Before our birth this situation did not exist, and after our death it will exist no longer. Therefore our situation now is temporary, although it is not false., SB 6.15.18-19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.15.18-19

My dear King, you are an advanced devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. To be absorbed in lamentation for the loss of something material is unsuitable for a person like you. Therefore we have both come to relieve you from this false lamentation, which is due to your being merged in the darkness of ignorance. For those who are advanced in spiritual knowledge to be affected by material loss and gain is not at all desirable., SB 6.15.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.15.24

These visible objects like wife, children and property are like dreams and mental concoctions. Actually what we see has no permanent existence. It is sometimes seen and sometimes not. Only because of our past actions do we create such mental concoctions, and because of these concoctions, we perform further activities., SB 6.15.28plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.15.28

My dear King, in former days Lord Śiva and other demigods took shelter of the lotus feet of Saṅkarṣaṇa. Thus they immediately got free from the illusion of duality and achieved unequaled and unsurpassed glories in spiritual life. You will very soon attain that very same position., SB 6.16.10plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.16.10

For this living entity, no one is dear, nor is anyone unfavorable. He makes no distinction between that which is his own and that which belongs to anyone else. He is one without a second; in other words, he is not affected by friends and enemies, well-wishers or mischief-mongers. He is only an observer, a witness, of the different qualities of men., SB 6.16.11plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.16.11

The Supreme Lord [ātmā], the creator of cause and effect, does not accept the happiness and distress that result from fruitive actions. He is completely independent of having to accept a material body, and because He has no material body, He is always neutral. The living entities, being part and parcel of the Lord, possess His qualities in a minute quantity. Therefore one should not be affected by lamentation., SB 6.16.23plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.16.23

The Supreme Brahman emanates from the Supreme Personality of Godhead and expands like the sky. Although untouched by anything material, it exists within and without. Nonetheless, the mind, intelligence, senses and living force can neither touch Him nor know Him. I offer unto Him my respectful obeisances., SB 6.16.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.16.24

As iron has the power to burn when made red-hot in the association of fire, so the body, senses, living force, mind and intelligence, although merely lumps of matter, can function in their activities when infused with a particle of consciousness by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As iron cannot burn unless heated by fire, the bodily senses cannot act unless favored by the Supreme Brahman., SB 6.16.32plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.16.32

With tears of love and affection, Citraketu repeatedly moistened the resting place of the Supreme Lord's lotus feet. Because his voice was choked in ecstasy, for a considerable time he was unable to utter any of the letters of the alphabet to offer the Lord suitable prayers., SB 6.16.38plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.16.38

O Lord, O Supreme, unintelligent persons who thirst for sense enjoyment and who worship various demigods are no better than animals in the human form of life. Because of their animalistic propensities, they fail to worship Your Lordship, and instead they worship the insignificant demigods, who are but small sparks of Your glory. With the destruction of the entire universe, including the demigods, the benedictions received from the demigods also vanish, just like the nobility when a king is no longer in power., SB 6.16.39plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.16.39

O Supreme Lord, if persons obsessed with material desires for sense gratification through material opulence worship You, who are the source of all knowledge and are transcendental to material qualities, they are not subject to material rebirth, just as sterilized or fried seeds do not produce plants. Living entities are subjected to the repetition of birth and death because they are conditioned by material nature, but since You are transcendental, one who is inclined to associate with You in transcendence escapes the conditions of material nature., SB 6.16.41plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.16.41

Being full of contradictions, all forms of religion but bhāgavata-dharma work under conceptions of fruitive results and distinctions of "you and I" and "yours and mine." The followers of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam have no such consciousness. They are all Kṛṣṇa conscious, thinking that they are Kṛṣṇa's and Kṛṣṇa is theirs. There are other, low-class religious systems, which are contemplated for the killing of enemies or the gain of mystic power, but such religious systems, being full of passion and envy, are impure and temporary. Because they are full of envy, they are full of irreligion., SB 6.16.43plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.16.43

My dear Lord, one's occupational duty is instructed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Bhagavad-gītā according to Your point of view, which never deviates from the highest goal of life. Those who follow their occupational duties under Your supervision, being equal to all living entities, moving and nonmoving, and not considering high and low, are called Āryans. Such Āryans worship You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead., SB 6.16.44plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.16.44

My Lord, it is not impossible for one to be immediately freed from all material contamination by seeing You. Not to speak of seeing You personally, merely by hearing the holy name of Your Lordship only once, even caṇḍālas, men of the lowest class, are freed from all material contamination. Under the circumstances, who will not be freed from material contamination simply by seeing You?, SB 6.16.58plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.16.58

A human being can attain perfection in life by self-realization through the Vedic literature and its practical application. This is possible especially for a human being born in India, the land of piety. A man who obtains birth in such a convenient position but does not understand his self is unable to achieve the highest perfection, even if he is exalted to life in the higher planetary systems., SB 6.17.12plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.17.12

Alas, Lord Brahmā, who has taken his birth from the lotus flower, does not know the principles of religion, nor do the great saints like Bhṛgu and Nārada, nor the four Kumāras, headed by Sanat-kumāra. Manu and Kapila have also forgotten the religious principles. I suppose it to be because of this that they have not tried to stop Lord Śiva from behaving improperly., SB 6.17.14plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.17.14

This person is puffed up because of his achievements, thinking, "I am the best." He does not deserve to approach the shelter of Lord Viṣṇu's lotus feet, which are worshiped by all saintly persons, for he is impudent, thinking himself greatly important., SB 6.17.15plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.17.15

O impudent one, my dear son, now take birth in a low, sinful family of demons so that you will not commit such an offense again toward exalted, saintly persons in this world., SB 6.17.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.17.19

In this material world, neither the living entity himself nor others [friends and enemies] are the cause of material happiness and distress. But because of gross ignorance, the living entity thinks that he and others are the cause., SB 6.17.22plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.17.22

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is equally disposed toward all living entities. Therefore no one is very dear to Him, and no one is a great enemy for Him; no one is His friend, and no one is His relative. Being unattached to the material world, He has no affection for so-called happiness or hatred for so-called distress. The two terms happiness and distress are relative. Since the Lord is always happy, for Him there is no question of distress., SB 6.17.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.17.24

O mother, you are now unnecessarily angry, but since all my happiness and distress are destined by my past activities, I do not plead to be excused or relieved from your curse. Although what I have said is not wrong, please let whatever you think is wrong be pardoned., SB 6.17.28plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.17.28

Devotees solely engaged in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa, never fear any condition of life. For them the heavenly planets, liberation and the hellish planets are all the same, for such devotees are interested only in the service of the Lord., SB 6.17.31plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.17.31

Persons engaged in devotional service to Lord Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, have naturally perfect knowledge and detachment from this material world. Therefore such devotees are not interested in the so-called happiness or so-called distress of this world., SB 6.17.32plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.17.32

Neither I [Lord Śiva], nor Brahmā, nor the Aśvinī-kumāras, nor Nārada or the other great sages who are Brahmā's sons, nor even the demigods can understand the pastimes and personality of the Supreme Lord. Although we are part of the Supreme Lord, we consider ourselves independent, separate controllers, and thus we cannot understand His identity., SB 6.17.33plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.17.33

He holds no one as very dear and no one as inimical. He has no one for His own relative, and no one is alien to Him. He is actually the soul of the soul of all living entities. Thus He is the auspicious friend of all living beings and is very near and dear to all of them., SB 6.18.29plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.18.29

Although Kaśyapa Muni was a learned scholar, he was captivated by Diti's artificial behavior, which brought him under her control. Therefore he assured his wife that he would fulfill her desires. Such a promise by a husband is not at all astonishing., SB 6.18.42plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.18.42

To satisfy their own interests, women deal with men as if the men were most dear to them, but no one is actually dear to them. Women are supposed to be very saintly, but for their own interests they can kill even their husbands, sons or brothers, or cause them to be killed by others., SB 6.18.43plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.18.43

I promised to give her a benediction, and this promise cannot be violated, but Indra does not deserve to be killed. In these circumstances, the solution I have is quite suitable., SB 6.18.46plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.18.46

Diti replied: My dear brāhmaṇa, I must accept your advice and follow the vow. Now let me understand what I have to do, what is forbidden and what will not break the vow. Please clearly state all this to me., SB 6.18.47plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.18.47

Kaśyapa Muni said: My dear wife, to follow this vow, do not be violent or cause harm to anyone. Do not curse anyone, and do not speak lies. Do not cut your nails and hair, and do not touch impure things like skulls and bones., SB 6.18.48plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.18.48

Kaśyapa Muni continued: My dear gentle wife, never enter the water while bathing, never be angry, and do not even speak or associate with wicked people. Never wear clothes that have not been properly washed, and do not put on a garland that has already been worn., SB 6.18.49plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.18.49

Never eat leftover food, never eat prasāda offered to the goddess Kālī [Durgā], and do not eat anything contaminated by flesh or fish. Do not eat anything brought or touched by a śūdra nor anything seen by a woman in her menstrual period. Do not drink water by joining your palms., SB 6.18.50plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.18.50

After eating, you should not go out to the street without having washed your mouth, hands and feet. You should not go out in the evening or with your hair loose, nor should you go out unless you are properly decorated with ornaments. You should not leave the house unless you are very grave and are sufficiently covered., SB 6.18.51plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.18.51

You should not lie down without having washed both of your feet or without being purified, nor with wet feet or with your head pointed west or north. You should not lie naked, or with other women, or during the sunrise or sunset., SB 6.18.59plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.18.59

O master of the entire world, when Indra could find no faults, he thought, "How will there be good fortune for me?" Thus he was full of deep anxiety., SB 6.18.65plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.18.65

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: My dear King Parīkṣit, you were burned by the brahmāstra of Aśvatthāmā, but when Lord Kṛṣṇa entered the womb of your mother, you were saved. Similarly, although the one embryo was cut into forty-nine pieces by the thunderbolt of Indra, they were all saved by the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead., SB 6.18.71plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.18.71

Indra replied: My dear mother, because I was grossly blinded by selfish interests, I lost sight of religion. When I understood that you were observing a great vow in spiritual life, I wanted to find some fault in you. When I found such a fault, I entered your womb and cut the embryo to pieces., SB 6.18.72plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.18.72

First I cut the child in the womb into seven pieces, which became seven children. Then I cut each of the children into seven pieces again. By the grace of the Supreme Lord, however, none of them died., SB 6.19.19-20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.19.19-20

One should accept this viṣṇu-vrata, which is a vow in devotional service, and should not deviate from its execution to engage in anything else. By offering the remnants of prasāda, flower garlands, sandalwood pulp and ornaments, one should daily worship the brāhmaṇas and worship women who peacefully live with their husbands and children. Every day the wife must continue following the regulative principles to worship Lord Viṣṇu with great devotion. Thereafter, Lord Viṣṇu should be laid in His bed, and then one should take prasāda. In this way, husband and wife will be purified and will have all their desires fulfilled., SB 7.1.2plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.1.2

Lord Viṣṇu Himself, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the reservoir of all pleasure. Therefore, what benefit would He derive from siding with the demigods? What interest would He fulfill in this way? Since the Lord is transcendental, why should He fear the asuras, and how could He be envious of them?, SB 7.1.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.1.7

My dear King Parīkṣit, the material qualities—sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa—all belong to the material world and do not even touch the Supreme Personality of Godhead. These three guṇas cannot act by increasing or decreasing simultaneously., SB 7.1.9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.1.9

The all-pervading Personality of Godhead exists within the heart of every living being, and an expert thinker can perceive how He is present there to a large or small extent. Just as one can understand the supply of fire in wood, the water in a waterpot, or the sky within a pot, one can understand whether a living entity is a demon or a demigod by understanding that living entity's devotional performances. A thoughtful man can understand how much a person is favored by the Supreme Lord by seeing his actions., SB 7.1.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.1.19

Although these two men—Śiśupāla and Dantavakra—repeatedly blasphemed the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Viṣṇu [Kṛṣṇa], the Supreme Brahman, they were quite healthy. Indeed, their tongues were not attacked by white leprosy, nor did they enter the darkest region of hellish life. We are certainly most surprised by this., SB 7.1.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.1.25

Because of the bodily conception of life, the conditioned soul thinks that when the body is annihilated the living being is annihilated. Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the supreme controller, the Supersoul of all living entities. Because He has no material body, He has no false conception of "I and mine." It is therefore incorrect to think that He feels pleasure or pain when blasphemed or offered prayers. This is impossible for Him. Thus He has no enemy and no friend. When He chastises the demons it is for their good, and when He accepts the prayers of the devotees it is for their good. He is affected neither by prayers nor by blasphemy., SB 7.1.26plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.1.26

Therefore by enmity or by devotional service, by fear, by affection or by lusty desire—by all of these or any one of them—if a conditioned soul somehow or other concentrates his mind upon the Lord, the result is the same, for the Lord, because of His blissful position, is never affected by enmity or friendship., SB 7.1.27plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.1.27

Nārada Muni continued: By devotional service one cannot achieve such intense absorption in thought of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as one can through enmity toward Him. That is my opinion., SB 7.1.32plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.1.32

Somehow or other, one must consider the form of Kṛṣṇa very seriously. Then, by one of the five different processes mentioned above, one can return home, back to Godhead. Atheists like King Vena, however, being unable to think of Kṛṣṇa's form in any of these five ways, cannot attain salvation. Therefore, one must somehow think of Kṛṣṇa, whether in a friendly way or inimically., SB 7.1.38plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.1.38

Thus checked by the doorkeepers Jaya and Vijaya, Sanandana and the other great sages very angrily cursed them. "You two foolish doorkeepers," they said. "Being agitated by the material qualities of passion and ignorance, you are unfit to live at the shelter of Madhudviṣa's lotus feet, which are free from such modes. It would be better for you to go immediately to the material world and take your birth in a family of most sinful asuras.", SB 7.1.43plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.1.43

The Lord, the Supersoul of all living entities, is sober, peaceful and equal to everyone. Since the great devotee Prahlāda was protected by the Lord's potency, Hiraṇyakaśipu was unable to kill him, in spite of endeavoring to do so in various ways., SB 7.2.38plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.2.38

It is wonderful that these elderly women do not have a higher sense of life than we do. Indeed, we are most fortunate, for although we are children and have been left to struggle in material life, unprotected by father and mother, and although we are very weak, we have not been vanquished or eaten by ferocious animals. Thus we have a firm belief that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who has given us protection even in the womb of the mother, will protect us everywhere., SB 7.2.40plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.2.40

Sometimes one loses his money on a public street, where everyone can see it, and yet his money is protected by destiny and not seen by others. Thus the man who lost it gets it back. On the other hand, if the Lord does not give protection, even money maintained very securely at home is lost. If the Supreme Lord gives one protection, even though one has no protector and is in the jungle, one remains alive, whereas a person well protected at home by relatives and others sometimes dies, no one being able to protect him., SB 7.2.41plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.2.41

Every conditioned soul receives a different type of body according to his work, and when the engagement is finished the body is finished. Although the spirit soul is situated in subtle and gross material bodies in different forms of life, he is not bound by them, for he is always understood to be completely different from the manifested body., SB 7.2.43plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.2.43

As fire, although situated in wood, is perceived to be different from the wood, as air, although situated within the mouth and nostrils, is perceived to be separate, and as the sky, although all-pervading, never mixes with anything, so the living entity, although now encaged within the material body, of which it is the source, is separate from it., SB 7.2.44plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.2.44

Yamarāja continued: O lamenters, you are all fools! The person named Suyajña, for whom you lament, is still lying before you and has not gone anywhere. Then what is the cause for your lamentation? Previously he heard you and replied to you, but now, not finding him, you are lamenting. This is contradictory behavior, for you have never actually seen the person within the body who heard you and replied. There is no need for your lamentation, for the body you have always seen is lying here., SB 7.2.45plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.2.45

In the body the most important substance is the life air, but that also is neither the listener nor the speaker. Beyond even the life air, the soul also can do nothing, for the Supersoul is actually the director, in cooperation with the individual soul. The Supersoul conducting the activities of the body is different from the body and living force., SB 7.2.49plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.2.49

Those who have full knowledge of self-realization, who know very well that the spirit soul is eternal whereas the body is perishable, are not overwhelmed by lamentation. But persons who lack knowledge of self-realization certainly lament. Therefore it is difficult to educate a person in illusion., SB 7.2.57plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.2.57

Thus Yamarāja, in the guise of a small boy, told all the queens: You are all so foolish that you lament but do not see your own death. Afflicted by a poor fund of knowledge, you do not know that even if you lament for your dead husband for hundreds of years, you will never get him back alive, and in the meantime your lives will be finished., SB 7.3.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.3.6

Scorched and extremely disturbed because of Hiraṇyakaśipu's severe penances, all the demigods left the planets where they reside and went to the planet of Lord Brahmā, where they informed the creator as follows: O lord of the demigods, O master of the universe, because of the fire emanating from Hiraṇyakaśipu's head as a result of his severe austerities, we have become so disturbed that we could not stay in our planets but have come to you., SB 7.3.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.3.7

O great person, chief of the universe, if you think it proper, kindly stop these disturbances, meant to destroy everything, before all your obedient subjects are annihilated., SB 7.3.8plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.3.8

Hiraṇyakaśipu has undertaken a most severe type of austerity. Although his plan is not unknown to you, kindly listen as we submit his intentions., SB 7.3.15-16plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.3.15-16

Lord Brahmā, who is carried by a swan airplane, at first could not see where Hiraṇyakaśipu was, for Hiraṇyakaśipu's body was covered by an anthill and by grass and bamboo sticks. Because Hiraṇyakaśipu had been there for a long time, the ants had devoured his skin, fat, flesh and blood. Then Lord Brahmā and the demigods spotted him, resembling a cloud—covered sun, heating all the world by his austerity. Struck with wonder, Lord Brahmā began to smile and then addressed him as follows., SB 7.3.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.3.19

Even saintly persons like Bhṛgu, born previously, could not perform such severe austerities, nor will anyone in the future be able to do so. Who within these three worlds can sustain his life without even drinking water for one hundred celestial years?, SB 7.3.21plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.3.21

O best of the asuras, for this reason I am now prepared to give you all benedictions, according to your desire. I belong to the celestial world of demigods, who do not die like human beings. Therefore, although you are subject to death, your audience with me will not go in vain., SB 7.3.32plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.3.32

There is nothing separate from you, whether it be better or lower, stationary or moving. The knowledge derived from the Vedic literatures like the Upaniṣads, and from all the sub-limbs of the original Vedic knowledge, form your external body. You are Hiraṇyagarbha, the reservoir of the universe, but nonetheless, being situated as the supreme controller, you are transcendental to the material world, which consists of the three modes of material nature., SB 7.3.36plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.3.36

Grant me that I not die within any residence or outside any residence, during the daytime or at night, nor on the ground or in the sky. Grant me that my death not be brought by any being other than those created by you, nor by any weapon, nor by any human being or animal., SB 7.4.33plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.4.33

Although Prahlāda Mahārāja was born in a family of asuras, he himself was not an asura but a great devotee of Lord Viṣṇu. Unlike the other asuras, he was never envious of Vaiṣṇavas. He was not agitated when put into danger, and he was neither directly nor indirectly interested in the fruitive activities described in the Vedas. Indeed, he considered everything material to be useless, and therefore he was completely devoid of material desires. He always controlled his senses and life air, and being of steady intelligence and determination, he subdued all lusty desires., SB 7.4.34plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.4.34

O King, Prahlāda Mahārāja's good qualities are still glorified by learned saints and Vaiṣṇavas. As all good qualities are always found existing in the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they also exist forever in His devotee Prahlāda Mahārāja., SB 7.4.37plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.4.37

From the very beginning of his childhood, Prahlāda Mahārāja was uninterested in childish playthings. Indeed, he gave them up altogether and remained silent and dull, being fully absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Since his mind was always affected by Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he could not understand how the world goes on being fully absorbed in the activities of sense gratification., SB 7.4.38plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.4.38

Prahlāda Mahārāja was always absorbed in thought of Kṛṣṇa. Thus, being always embraced by the Lord, he did not know how his bodily necessities, such as sitting, walking, eating, lying down, drinking and talking, were being automatically performed., SB 7.4.45plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.4.45

A father and mother are always affectionate to their children. When the children are disobedient the parents chastise them, not due to enmity but only for the child's instruction and welfare. How did Hiraṇyakaśipu, the father of Prahlāda Mahārāja, chastise such a noble son? This is what I am eager to know., SB 7.5.3plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.5.3

Prahlāda certainly heard and recited the topics of politics and economics taught by the teachers, but he understood that political philosophy involves considering someone a friend and someone else an enemy, and thus he did not like it., SB 7.5.28plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.5.28

The son of Śukrācārya, Hiraṇyakaśipu's spiritual master, said: O enemy of King Indra, O King! Whatever your son Prahlāda has said was not taught to him by me or anyone else. His spontaneous devotional service has naturally developed in him. Therefore, please give up your anger and do not unnecessarily accuse us. It is not good to insult a brāhmaṇa in this way., SB 7.5.29plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.5.29

Śrī Nārada Muni continued: When Hiraṇyakaśipu received this reply from the teacher, he again addressed his son Prahlāda. Hiraṇyakaśipu said: You rascal, most fallen of our family, if you have not received this education from your teachers, where have you gotten it?, SB 7.5.31plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.5.31

Persons who are strongly entrapped by the consciousness of enjoying material life, and who have therefore accepted as their leader or guru a similar blind man attached to external sense objects, cannot understand that the goal of life is to return home, back to Godhead, and engage in the service of Lord Viṣṇu. As blind men guided by another blind man miss the right path and fall into a ditch, materially attached men led by another materially attached man are bound by the ropes of fruitive labor, which are made of very strong cords, and they continue again and again in materialistic life, suffering the threefold miseries., SB 7.5.32plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.5.32

Unless they smear upon their bodies the dust of the lotus feet of a Vaiṣṇava completely freed from material contamination, persons very much inclined toward materialistic life cannot be attached to the lotus feet of the Lord, who is glorified for His uncommon activities. Only by becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious and taking shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord in this way can one be freed from material contamination., SB 7.5.43-44plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.5.43-44

Hiraṇyakaśipu could not kill his son by throwing him beneath the feet of big elephants, throwing him among huge, fearful snakes, employing destructive spells, hurling him from the top of a hill, conjuring up illusory tricks, administering poison, starving him, exposing him to severe cold, winds, fire and water, or throwing heavy stones to crush him. When Hiraṇyakaśipu found that he could not in any way harm Prahlāda, who was completely sinless, he was in great anxiety about what to do next., SB 7.5.46plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.5.46

Although he is very near to me and is merely a child, he is situated in complete fearlessness. He resembles a dog's curved tail, which can never be straightened, because he never forgets my misbehavior and his connection with his master, Lord Viṣṇu., SB 7.5.47plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.5.47

I can see that this boy's strength is unlimited, for he has not feared any of my punishments. He appears immortal. Therefore, because of my enmity toward him, I shall die. Or maybe this will not take place., SB 7.5.49plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.5.49

O lord, we know that when you simply move your eyebrows, all the commanders of the various planets are most afraid. Without the help of any assistant, you have conquered all the three worlds. Therefore, we do not find any reason for you to be morose and full of anxiety. As for Prahlāda, he is nothing but a child and cannot be a cause of anxiety. After all, his bad or good qualities have no value., SB 7.5.50plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.5.50

Until the return of our spiritual master, Śukrācārya, arrest this child with the ropes of Varuṇa so that he will not flee in fear. In any case, by the time he is somewhat grown up and has assimilated our instructions or served our spiritual master, he will change in his intelligence. Thus there need be no cause for anxiety., SB 7.5.53plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.5.53

The teachers Ṣaṇḍa and Amarka instructed Prahlāda Mahārāja in the three kinds of material advancement called religion, economic development and sense gratification. Prahlāda, however, being situated above such instructions, did not like them, for such instructions are based on the duality of worldly affairs, which involve one in a materialistic way of life marked by birth, death, old age and disease., SB 7.6.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.6.4

Endeavors merely for sense gratification or material happiness through economic development are not to be performed, for they result only in a loss of time and energy, with no actual profit. If one's endeavors are directed toward Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one can surely attain the spiritual platform of self-realization. There is no such benefit from engaging oneself in economic development., SB 7.6.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.6.5

Therefore, while in material existence [bhavam āśritaḥ], a person fully competent to distinguish wrong from right must endeavor to achieve the highest goal of life as long as the body is stout and strong and is not embarrassed by dwindling., SB 7.6.14plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.6.14

One who is too attached cannot understand that he is wasting his valuable life for the maintenance of his family. He also fails to understand that the purpose of human life, a life suitable for realization of the Absolute Truth, is being imperceptibly spoiled. However, he is very cleverly attentive to seeing that not a single farthing is lost by mismanagement. Thus although an attached person in material existence always suffers from threefold miseries, he does not develop a distaste for the way of material existence., SB 7.6.16plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.6.16

O my friends, sons of demons! In this material world, even those who are apparently advanced in education have the propensity to consider, "This is mine, and that is for others." Thus they are always engaged in providing the necessities of life to their families in a limited conception of family life, just like uneducated cats and dogs. They are unable to take to spiritual knowledge; instead, they are bewildered and overcome by ignorance., SB 7.6.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.6.19

My dear sons of demons, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa, is the original Supersoul, the father of all living entities. Consequently there are no impediments to pleasing Him or worshiping Him under any conditions, whether one be a child or an old man. The relationship between the living entities and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is always a fact, and therefore there is no difficulty in pleasing the Lord., SB 7.6.29-30plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.6.29-30

The sons of the demons replied: Dear Prahlāda, neither you nor we know any teacher or spiritual master other than Ṣaṇḍa and Amarka, the sons of Śukrācārya. After all, we are children and they our controllers. For you especially, who always remain within the palace, it is very difficult to associate with a great personality. Dear friend, most gentle one, would you kindly explain how it was possible for you to hear Nārada? Kindly dispel our doubts in this regard., SB 7.7.4-5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.7.4-5

When the great leaders of the demons, who were being killed one after another, saw the unprecedented exertion of the demigods in fighting, they began to flee, scattering themselves in all directions. Simply to protect their lives, they hastily fled from their homes, wives, children, animals and household paraphernalia. Paying no heed to all these, the demons simply fled., SB 7.7.8plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.7.8

Nārada Muni said: O Indra, King of the demigods, this woman is certainly sinless. You should not drag her off in this merciless way. O greatly fortunate one, this chaste woman is the wife of another. You must immediately release her., SB 7.7.10plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.7.10

Nārada Muni replied: The child within this woman's womb is faultless and sinless. Indeed, he is a great devotee, a powerful servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore you will not be able to kill him., SB 7.7.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.7.13

After accepting the instructions of Devarṣi Nārada, my mother stayed in his care, without fear from any direction, as long as my father, the King of the Daityas, had not become free from his severe austerities., SB 7.7.16plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.7.16

Because of the long duration of time that has passed and because of her being a woman and therefore less intelligent, my mother has forgotten all those instructions; but the great sage Nārada blessed me, and therefore I could not forget them., SB 7.7.18plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.7.18

Just as the fruits and flowers of a tree in due course of time undergo six changes—birth, existence, growth, transformation, dwindling and then death—the material body, which is obtained by the spirit soul under different circumstances, undergoes similar changes. However, there are no such changes for the spirit soul., SB 7.7.23plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.7.23

There are two kinds of bodies for every individual soul—a gross body made of five gross elements and a subtle body made of three subtle elements. Within these bodies, however, is the spirit soul. One must find the soul by analysis, saying, "This is not it. This is not it." Thus one must separate spirit from matter., SB 7.7.40plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.7.40

It is learned from Vedic literature that by performing great sacrifices one may elevate himself to the heavenly planets. However, although life on the heavenly planets is hundreds and thousands of times more comfortable than life on earth, the heavenly planets are not pure [nirmalam], or free from the taint of material existence. The heavenly planets are also temporary, and therefore they are not the goal of life. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, however, has never been seen or heard to possess inebriety. Consequently, for your own benefit and self-realization, you must worship the Lord with great devotion, as described in the revealed scriptures., SB 7.7.51-52plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.7.51-52

My dear friends, O sons of the demons, you cannot please the Supreme Personality of Godhead by becoming perfect brāhmaṇas, demigods or great saints or by becoming perfectly good in etiquette or vast learning. None of these qualifications can awaken the pleasure of the Lord. Nor by charity, austerity, sacrifice, cleanliness or vows can one satisfy the Lord. The Lord is pleased only if one has unflinching, unalloyed devotion to Him. Without sincere devotional service, everything is simply a show., SB 7.8.1plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.8.1

Nārada Muni continued: All the sons of the demons appreciated the transcendental instructions of Prahlāda Mahārāja and took them very seriously. They rejected the materialistic instructions given by their teachers, Ṣaṇḍa and Amarka., SB 7.8.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.8.7

Prahlāda Mahārāja said: My dear King, the source of my strength, of which you are asking, is also the source of yours. Indeed, the original source of all kinds of strength is one. He is not only your strength or mine, but the only strength for everyone. Without Him, no one can get any strength. Whether moving or not moving, superior or inferior, everyone, including Lord Brahmā, is controlled by the strength of the Supreme Personality of Godhead., SB 7.8.9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.8.9

Prahlāda Mahārāja continued: My dear father, please give up your demoniac mentality. Do not discriminate in your heart between enemies and friends; make your mind equipoised toward everyone. Except for the uncontrolled and misguided mind, there is no enemy within this world. When one sees everyone on the platform of equality, one then comes to the position of worshiping the Lord perfectly., SB 7.8.10plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.8.10

In former times there were many fools like you who did not conquer the six enemies that steal away the wealth of the body. These fools were very proud, thinking, "I have conquered all enemies in all the ten directions." But if a person is victorious over the six enemies and is equipoised toward all living entities, for him there are no enemies. Enemies are merely imagined by one in ignorance., SB 7.8.16plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.8.16

While showing his extraordinary prowess, Hiraṇyakaśipu, who desired to kill his own son, heard that wonderful, tumultuous sound, which had never before been heard. Upon hearing the sound, the other leaders of the demons were afraid. None of them could find the origin of that sound in the assembly., SB 7.8.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.8.17

To prove that the statement of His servant Prahlāda Mahārāja was substantial—in other words, to prove that the Supreme Lord is present everywhere, even within the pillar of an assembly hall—the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, exhibited a wonderful form never before seen. The form was neither that of a man nor that of a lion. Thus the Lord appeared in His wonderful form in the assembly hall., SB 7.8.18plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.8.18

While Hiraṇyakaśipu looked all around to find the source of the sound, that wonderful form of the Lord, which could not be ascertained to be either a man or a lion, emerged from the pillar. In amazement, Hiraṇyakaśipu wondered, "What is this creature that is half man and half lion?", SB 7.8.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.8.24

Just as a small insect falls forcefully into a fire and the insignificant creature becomes invisible, when Hiraṇyakaśipu attacked the Lord, who was full of effulgence, Hiraṇyakaśipu became invisible. This is not at all astonishing, for the Lord is always situated in pure goodness. Formerly, during creation, He entered the dark universe and illuminated it by His spiritual effulgence., SB 7.8.34plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.8.34

Manifesting a full effulgence and a fearsome countenance, Lord Nṛsiṁha, being very angry and finding no contestant to face His power and opulence, then sat down in the assembly hall on the excellent throne of the king. Because of fear and obedience, no one could come forward to serve the Lord directly., SB 7.8.42plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.8.42

King Indra said: O Supreme Lord, You are our deliverer and protector. Our shares of sacrifices, which are actually Yours, have been recovered from the demon by You. Because the demoniac king Hiraṇyakaśipu was most fearsome, our hearts, which are Your permanent abode, were all overtaken by him. Now, by Your presence, the gloom and darkness in our hearts have been dissipated. O Lord, for those who always engage in Your service, which is more exalted than liberation, all material opulence is insignificant. They do not even care for liberation, not to speak of the benefits of kāma, artha and dharma., SB 7.8.49plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.8.49

The prajāpatis offered their prayers as follows: O Supreme Lord, Lord of even Brahmā and Śiva, we, the prajāpatis, were created by You to execute Your orders, but we were forbidden by Hiraṇyakaśipu to create any more good progeny. Now the demon is lying dead before us, his chest pierced by You. Let us therefore offer our respectful obeisances unto You, whose incarnation in this form of pure goodness is meant for the welfare of the entire universe., SB 7.9.1plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.1

The great saint Nārada Muni continued: The demigods, headed by Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva and other great demigods, dared not come forward before the Lord, who at that time was extremely angry., SB 7.9.2plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.2

The goddess of fortune, Lakṣmījī, was requested to go before the Lord by all the demigods present, who because of fear could not do so. But even she had never seen such a wonderful and extraordinary form of the Lord, and thus she could not approach Him., SB 7.9.8plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.8

Prahlāda Mahārāja prayed: How is it possible for me, who have been born in a family of asuras, to offer suitable prayers to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead? Even until now, all the demigods, headed by Lord Brahmā, and all the saintly persons could not satisfy the Lord by streams of excellent words, although such persons are very qualified, being in the mode of goodness. Then what is to be said of me? I am not at all qualified., SB 7.9.9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.9

Prahlāda Mahārāja continued: One may possess wealth, an aristocratic family, beauty, austerity, education, sensory expertise, luster, influence, physical strength, diligence, intelligence and mystic yogic power, but I think that even by all these qualifications one cannot satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. However, one can satisfy the Lord simply by devotional service. Gajendra did this, and thus the Lord was satisfied with him., SB 7.9.10plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.10

If a brāhmaṇa has all twelve of the brahminical qualifications [as they are stated in the book called Sanat-sujāta] but is not a devotee and is averse to the lotus feet of the Lord, he is certainly lower than a devotee who is a dog-eater but who has dedicated everything—mind, words, activities, wealth and life—to the Supreme Lord. Such a devotee is better than such a brāhmaṇa because the devotee can purify his whole family, whereas the so-called brāhmaṇa in a position of false prestige cannot purify even himself., SB 7.9.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.13

O my Lord, all the demigods, headed by Lord Brahmā, are sincere servants of Your Lordship, who are situated in a transcendental position. Therefore they are not like us [Prahlāda and his father, the demon Hiraṇyakaśipu]. Your appearance in this fearsome form is Your pastime for Your own pleasure. Such an incarnation is always meant for the protection and improvement of the universe., SB 7.9.15plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.15

My Lord, who are never conquered by anyone, I am certainly not afraid of Your ferocious mouth and tongue, Your eyes bright like the sun or Your frowning eyebrows. I do not fear Your sharp, pinching teeth, Your garland of intestines, Your mane soaked with blood, or Your high, wedgelike ears. Nor do I fear Your tumultuous roaring, which makes elephants flee to distant places, or Your nails, which are meant to kill Your enemies., SB 7.9.19plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.19

My Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, O Supreme, because of a bodily conception of life, embodied souls neglected and not cared for by You cannot do anything for their betterment. Whatever remedies they accept, although perhaps temporarily beneficial, are certainly impermanent. For example, a father and mother cannot protect their child, a physician and medicine cannot relieve a suffering patient, and a boat on the ocean cannot protect a drowning man., SB 7.9.24plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.24

My dear Lord, now I have complete experience concerning the worldly opulence, mystic power, longevity and other material pleasures enjoyed by all living entities, from Lord Brahmā down to the ant. As powerful time, You destroy them all. Therefore, because of my experience, I do not wish to possess them. My dear Lord, I request You to place me in touch with Your pure devotee and let me serve him as a sincere servant., SB 7.9.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.25

In this material world, every living entity desires some future happiness, which is exactly like a mirage in the desert. Where is water in the desert, or, in other words, where is happiness in this material world? As for this body, what is its value? It is merely a source of various diseases. The so-called philosophers, scientists and politicians know this very well, but nonetheless they aspire for temporary happiness. Happiness is very difficult to obtain, but because they are unable to control their senses, they run after the so-called happiness of the material world and never come to the right conclusion., SB 7.9.26plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.26

O my Lord, O Supreme, because I was born in a family full of the hellish material qualities of passion and ignorance, what is my position? And what is to be said of Your causeless mercy, which was never offered even to Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva or the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī? You never put Your lotus hand upon their heads, but You have put it upon mine., SB 7.9.27plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.27

Unlike an ordinary living entity, my Lord, You do not discriminate between friends and enemies, the favorable and the unfavorable, because for You there is no conception of higher and lower. Nonetheless, You offer Your benedictions according to the level of one's service, exactly as a desire tree delivers fruits according to one's desires and makes no distinction between the lower and the higher., SB 7.9.32plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.32

O my Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, after the annihilation the creative energy is kept in You, who appear to sleep with half-closed eyes. Actually, however, You do not sleep like an ordinary human being, for You are always in a transcendental stage, beyond the creation of the material world, and You always feel transcendental bliss. As Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, You thus remain in Your transcendental status, not touching material objects. Although You appear to sleep, this sleeping is distinct from sleeping in ignorance., SB 7.9.34plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.34

From that great lotus flower, Brahmā was generated, but Brahmā certainly could see nothing but the lotus. Therefore, thinking You to be outside, Lord Brahmā dove into the water and attempted to find the source of the lotus for one hundred years. He could find no trace of You, however, for when a seed fructifies, the original seed cannot be seen., SB 7.9.43plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.43

O best of the great personalities, I am not at all afraid of material existence, for wherever I stay I am fully absorbed in thoughts of Your glories and activities. My concern is only for the fools and rascals who are making elaborate plans for material happiness and maintaining their families, societies and countries. I am simply concerned with love for them., SB 7.9.44plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.44

My dear Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, I see that there are many saintly persons indeed, but they are interested only in their own deliverance. Not caring for the big cities and towns, they go to the Himalayas or the forest to meditate with vows of silence [mauna-vrata]. They are not interested in delivering others. As for me, however, I do not wish to be liberated alone, leaving aside all these poor fools and rascals. I know that without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, without taking shelter of Your lotus feet, one cannot be happy. Therefore I wish to bring them back to shelter at Your lotus feet., SB 7.9.46plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.46

O Supreme Personality of Godhead, there are ten prescribed methods on the path to liberation—to remain silent, not to speak to anyone, to observe vows, to amass all kinds of Vedic knowledge, to undergo austerities, to study the Vedas and other Vedic literatures, to execute the duties of varṇāśrama-dharma, to explain the śāstras, to stay in a solitary place, to chant mantras silently, and to be absorbed in trance. These different methods for liberation are generally only a professional practice and means of livelihood for those who have not conquered their senses. Because such persons are falsely proud, these procedures may not be successful., SB 7.9.47plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.47

By authorized Vedic knowledge one can see that the forms of cause and effect in the cosmic manifestation belong to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for the cosmic manifestation is His energy. Both cause and effect are nothing but energies of the Lord. Therefore, O my Lord, just as a wise man, by considering cause and effect, can see how fire pervades wood, those engaged in devotional service understand how You are both the cause and effect., SB 7.9.48plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.48

O Supreme Lord, You are actually the air, the earth, fire, sky and water. You are the objects of sense perception, the life airs, the five senses, the mind, consciousness and false ego. Indeed, You are everything, subtle and gross. The material elements and anything expressed, either by the words or by the mind, are nothing but You., SB 7.9.53plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.53

My dear Prahlāda, may you live a long time. One cannot appreciate or understand Me without pleasing Me, but one who has seen or pleased Me has nothing more for which to lament for his own satisfaction., SB 7.10.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.10.4

Otherwise, O my Lord, O supreme instructor of the entire world, You are so kind to Your devotee that You could not induce him to do something unbeneficial for him. On the other hand, one who desires some material benefit in exchange for devotional service cannot be Your pure devotee. Indeed, he is no better than a merchant who wants profit in exchange for service., SB 7.10.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.10.5

A servant who desires material profits from his master is certainly not a qualified servant or pure devotee. Similarly, a master who bestows benedictions upon his servant because of a desire to maintain a prestigious position as master is also not a pure master., SB 7.10.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.10.6

O my Lord, I am Your unmotivated servant, and You are my eternal master. There is no need of our being anything other than master and servant. You are naturally my master, and I am naturally Your servant. We have no other relationship., SB 7.10.11plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.10.11

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Prahlāda, a devotee like you never desires any kind of material opulences, either in this life or in the next. Nonetheless, I order you to enjoy the opulences of the demons in this material world, acting as their king until the end of the duration of time occupied by Manu., SB 7.10.50plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.10.50

Exalted persons like Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā could not properly describe the truth of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. May the Lord, who is always worshiped as the protector of all devotees by great saints who observe vows of silence, meditation, devotional service and renunciation, be pleased with us., SB 7.10.63plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.10.63

The demons could see the calf and cow, but because of the illusion created by the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the demons could not forbid them. The great mystic Maya Dānava became aware that the calf and cow were drinking the nectar, and he could understand this to be the unseen power of providence. Thus he spoke to the demons, who were grievously lamenting., SB 7.10.64plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.10.64

Maya Dānava said: What has been destined by the Supreme Lord for oneself, for others, or for both oneself and others cannot be undone anywhere or by anyone, whether one be a demigod, a demon, a human being or anyone else., SB 7.11.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.11.4

No one is superior to you in peaceful life and mercy, and no one knows better than you how to execute devotional service or how to become the best of the brāhmaṇas. Therefore, you know all the principles of confidential religious life, and no one knows them better than you., SB 7.11.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.11.17

Except in a time of emergency, lower persons should not accept the occupational duties of those who are higher. When there is such an emergency, of course, everyone but the kṣatriya may accept the means of livelihood of others., SB 7.12.18plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.12.18

A person in vānaprastha life should not eat grains grown by tilling of the fields. He should also not eat grains that have grown without tilling of the field but are not fully ripe. Nor should a vānaprastha eat grains cooked in fire. Indeed, he should eat only fruit ripened by the sunshine., SB 7.12.22plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.12.22

Being very thoughtful, a vānaprastha should remain in the forest for twelve years, eight years, four years, two years or at least one year. He should behave in such a way that he will not be disturbed or troubled by too much austerity., SB 7.13.2plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.13.2

A person in the renounced order of life may try to avoid even a dress to cover himself. If he wears anything at all, it should be only a loincloth, and when there is no necessity, a sannyāsī should not even accept a daṇḍa. A sannyāsī should avoid carrying anything but a daṇḍa and kamaṇḍalu., SB 7.13.5plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.13.5

During unconsciousness and consciousness, and between the two, he should try to understand the self and be fully situated in the self. In this way, he should realize that the conditional and liberated stages of life are only illusory and not actually factual. With such a higher understanding, he should see only the Absolute Truth pervading everything., SB 7.13.6plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.13.6

Since the material body is sure to be vanquished and the duration of one's life is not fixed, neither death nor life is to be praised. Rather, one should observe the eternal time factor, in which the living entity manifests himself and disappears., SB 7.13.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.13.7

Literature that is a useless waste of time—in other words, literature without spiritual benefit—should be rejected. One should not become a professional teacher as a means of earning one's livelihood, nor should one indulge in arguments and counter-arguments. Nor should one take shelter of any cause or faction., SB 7.13.8plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.13.8

A sannyāsī must not present allurements of material benefits to gather many disciples, nor should he unnecessarily read many books or give discourses as a means of livelihood. He must never attempt to increase material opulences unnecessarily., SB 7.13.9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.13.9

A peaceful, equipoised person who is factually advanced in spiritual consciousness does not need to accept the symbols of a sannyāsī, such as the tridaṇḍa and kamaṇḍalu. According to necessity, he may sometimes accept those symbols and sometimes reject them., SB 7.13.14plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.13.14

Neither by that saintly person's activities, by his bodily features, by his words nor by the symptoms of his varṇāśrama status could people understand whether he was the same person they had known., SB 7.13.16-17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.13.16-17

Seeing the saintly person to be quite fat, Prahlāda Mahārāja said: My dear sir, you undergo no endeavor to earn your livelihood, but you have a stout body, exactly like that of a materialistic enjoyer. I know that if one is very rich and has nothing to do, he becomes extremely fat by eating and sleeping and performing no work., SB 7.13.18plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.13.18

O brāhmaṇa, fully in knowledge of transcendence, you have nothing to do, and therefore you are lying down. It is also understood that you have no money for sense enjoyment. How then has your body become so fat? Under the circumstances, if you do not consider my question impudent, kindly explain how this has happened., SB 7.13.42plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.13.42

Different people are of different mentalities. Therefore it is not my business either to praise them or to blaspheme them. I only desire their welfare, hoping that they will agree to become one with the Supersoul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa., SB 7.14.10plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.14.10

Even if one is a householder rather than a brahmacārī, a sannyāsī or a vānaprastha, one should not endeavor very hard for religiosity, economic development or satisfaction of the senses. Even in householder life, one should be satisfied to maintain body and soul together with whatever is available with minimum endeavor, according to place and time, by the grace of the Lord. One should not engage oneself in ugra-karma., SB 7.14.17plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.14.17

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is the enjoyer of sacrificial offerings. Yet although His Lordship eats the oblations offered in the fire, my dear King, He is still more satisfied when nice food made of grains and ghee is offered to Him through the mouths of qualified brāhmaṇas., SB 7.14.40plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.14.40

Sometimes a neophyte devotee offers all the paraphernalia for worshiping the Lord, and he factually worships the Lord as the Deity, but because he is envious of the authorized devotees of Lord Viṣṇu, the Lord is never satisfied with his devotional service., SB 7.15.3plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.15.3

During the period for offering oblations to the demigods, one should invite only two brāhmaṇas, and while offering oblations to the forefathers, one may invite three brāhmaṇas. Or, in either case, only one brāhmaṇa will suffice. Even though one is very opulent, he should not endeavor to invite more brāhmaṇas or make various expensive arrangements on those occasions., SB 7.15.4plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.15.4

If one arranges to feed many brāhmaṇas or relatives during the śrāddha ceremony, there will be discrepancies in the time, place, respectability and ingredients, the person to be worshiped, and the method of offering worship., SB 7.15.7plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.15.7

A person fully aware of religious principles should never offer anything like meat, eggs or fish in the śrāddha ceremony, and even if one is a kṣatriya, he himself should not eat such things. When suitable food prepared with ghee is offered to saintly persons, the function is pleasing to the forefathers and the Supreme Lord, who are never pleased when animals are killed in the name of sacrifice., SB 7.15.14plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.15.14

A pretentious religious system manufactured by one who willfully neglects the prescribed duties of his order of life is called ābhāsa [a dim reflection or false similarity]. But if one performs the prescribed duties for his particular āśrama or varṇa, why are they not sufficient to mitigate all material distresses?, SB 7.15.15plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.15.15

Even if a man is poor, he should not endeavor to improve his economic condition just to maintain his body and soul together or to become a famous religionist. Just as a great python, although lying in one place, not endeavoring for its livelihood, gets the food it needs to maintain body and soul, one who is desireless also obtains his livelihood without endeavor., SB 7.15.18plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.15.18

My dear King, a self-satisfied person can be happy even with only drinking water. However, one who is driven by the senses, especially by the tongue and genitals, must accept the position of a household dog to satisfy his senses., SB 7.15.20plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.15.20

The strong bodily desires and needs of a person disturbed by hunger and thirst are certainly satisfied when he eats. Similarly, if one becomes very angry, that anger is satisfied by chastisement and its reaction. But as for greed, even if a greedy person has conquered all the directions of the world or has enjoyed everything in the world, still he will not be satisfied., SB 7.15.29plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.15.29

As professional activities or business profits cannot help one in spiritual advancement but are a source of material entanglement, the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies cannot help anyone who is not a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead., SB 7.15.35plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.15.35

When one's consciousness is uncontaminated by material lusty desires, it becomes calm and peaceful in all activities, for one is situated in eternal blissful life. Once situated on that platform, one does not return to materialistic activities., SB 7.15.55plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.15.55

This gradual process of elevation for self-realization is meant for those who are truly aware of the Absolute Truth. After repeated birth on this path, which is known as deva-yāna, one attains these consecutive stages. One who is completely free from all material desires, being situated in the self, need not traverse the path of repeated birth and death., SB 7.15.60plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.15.60

Because the body is formed of the five elements, it cannot exist without the subtle sense objects. Therefore, since the body is false, the sense objects are also naturally false or temporary., SB 7.15.66plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.15.66

In normal conditions, in the absence of danger, O King Yudhiṣṭhira, a man should perform his prescribed activities according to his status of life with the things, endeavors, process and living place that are not forbidden for him, and not by any other means., SB 7.15.77plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.15.77

Present here now is the same Supreme Personality of Godhead whose true form cannot be understood even by such great personalities as Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva. He is realized by devotees because of their unflinching surrender. May that same Personality of Godhead, who is the maintainer of His devotees and who is worshiped by silence, by devotional service and by cessation of material activities, be pleased with us., SB 8.1.9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.1.9

Lord Manu said: The supreme living being has created this material world of animation; it is not that He was created by this material world. When everything is silent, the Supreme Being stays awake as a witness. The living entity does not know Him, but He knows everything., SB 8.1.11plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.1.11

Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead constantly watches the activities of the world, no one sees Him. However, one should not think that because no one sees Him, He does not see, for His power to see is never diminished. Therefore, everyone should worship the Supersoul, who always stays with the individual soul as a friend., SB 8.1.15plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.1.15

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is full in opulence by His own gain, yet He acts as the creator, maintainer and annihilator of this material world. In spite of acting in that way, He is never entangled. Hence devotees who follow in His footsteps are also never entangled., SB 8.2.26plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.2.26

Like a human being who lacks spiritual knowledge and is too attached to the members of his family, the elephant, being illusioned by the external energy of Kṛṣṇa, had his wives and children bathe and drink the water. Indeed, he raised water from the lake with his trunk and sprayed it over them. He did not mind the hard labor involved in this endeavor., SB 8.2.28plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.2.28

Thereafter, seeing Gajendra in that grave condition, his wives felt very, very sorry and began to cry. The other elephants wanted to help Gajendra, but because of the crocodile's great strength, they could not rescue him by grasping him from behind., SB 8.2.32plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.2.32

The other elephants, who are my friends and relatives, could not rescue me from this danger. What then to speak of my wives? They cannot do anything. It is by the will of providence that I have been attacked by this crocodile, and therefore I shall seek shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is always the shelter of everyone, even of great personalities., SB 8.3.8-9plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.3.8-9

The Supreme Personality of Godhead has no material birth, activities, name, form, qualities or faults. To fulfill the purpose for which this material world is created and destroyed, He comes in the form of a human being like Lord Rāma or Lord Kṛṣṇa by His original internal potency. He has immense potency, and in various forms, all free from material contamination, He acts wonderfully. He is therefore the Supreme Brahman. I offer my respects to Him., SB 8.3.20-21plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.3.20-21

Unalloyed devotees, who have no desire other than to serve the Lord, worship Him in full surrender and always hear and chant about His activities, which are most wonderful and auspicious. Thus they always merge in an ocean of transcendental bliss. Such devotees never ask the Lord for any benediction. I, however, am in danger. Thus I pray to that Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is eternally existing, who is invisible, who is the Lord of all great personalities, such as Brahmā, and who is available only by transcendental bhakti-yoga. Being extremely subtle, He is beyond the reach of my senses and transcendental to all external realization. He is unlimited, He is the original cause, and He is completely full in everything. I offer my obeisances unto Him., SB 8.3.25plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.3.25

I do not wish to live anymore after I am released from the attack of the crocodile. What is the use of an elephant's body covered externally and internally by ignorance? I simply desire eternal liberation from the covering of ignorance. That covering is not destroyed by the influence of time., SB 8.3.29plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.3.29

I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by whose illusory energy the jīva, who is part and parcel of God, forgets his real identity because of the bodily concept of life. I take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose glories are difficult to understand., SB 8.3.30plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.3.30

Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: When the King of the elephants was describing the supreme authority, without mentioning any particular person, he did not invoke the demigods, headed by Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, Indra and Candra. Thus none of them approached him. However, because Lord Hari is the Supersoul, Puruṣottama, the Personality of Godhead, He appeared before Gajendra., SB 8.5.13plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.5.13

My heart, which is disturbed by the three miserable conditions of material life, is not yet sated with hearing you describe the glorious activities of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of God