Materialistic (SB cantos 5 - 12)

Expressions researched:
"materialistic" |"materialistitcally"

Notes from the compiler: VedaBase query: materialistic or materialistically not "materialist* person*" not "materialist person" not "materialistic people" not "materialistic life" not "materialistic * life" not "materialistic * * life" not "materialistic way of living"

SB Canto 5

SB 5.1.14, Purport:

People have been educated to worship matter. According to the direction of modern society, men think they can advance in civilization by manipulating matter to build skyscrapers, big roads, automobiles and so on. Such a civilization must certainly be called materialistic because its people do not know the goal of life. The goal of life is to reach Viṣṇu, but instead of reaching Viṣṇu, people are bewildered by the external manifestation of the material energy. Therefore progress in material advancement is blind, and the leaders of such material advancement are also blind. They are leading their followers in the wrong way.

SB 5.1.30, Purport:

According to Jyotir Veda, the science of astronomy in the Vedic literature, the sun moves for six months on the northern side of the Sumeru Hill and for six months on the southern side. We have practical experience on this planet that when there is summer in the north there is winter in the south and vice versa. Modern materialistic scientists sometimes present themselves as knowing all the ingredients of the sun, yet they are unable to offer a second sun like Mahārāja Priyavrata's.

SB 5.1.37, Purport:

When we think about this example of Mahārāja Priyavrata, we can just consider how degraded is the modern civilization of materialistic advancement. Modern so-called scientists and other materialists are very satisfied because they can construct great bridges, roads and machines, but such activities are nothing comparable to those of Mahārāja Priyavrata. If Mahārāja Priyavrata could condemn himself in spite of his wonderful activities, how condemned we are in our so-called advancement of material civilization. We can conclude that such advancement has nothing to do with the problems of the living entity entangled within this material world. Unfortunately, modern man does not understand his entanglement and how condemned he is, nor does he know what kind of body he is going to have in the next life.

SB 5.2.6, Purport:

Captivated by the material movements of women, he wants to remain in this material world. Thus one's promotion to the spiritual world is checked simply by seeing the beautiful bodily structure and movements of women. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has therefore warned all devotees to beware of the attraction of beautiful women and materialistic civilization. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu even refused to see Pratāparudra Mahārāja because he was a very opulent person in the material world. Lord Caitanya said in this connection, niṣkiñcanasya bhagavad-bhajanonmukhasya: those who are engaged in the devotional service of the Lord because they are very serious about going back home, back to Godhead, should be very careful to avoid seeing the beautiful gestures of women and should also avoid seeing persons who are very rich.

SB 5.3.4-5, Translation:

The priests began to offer prayers to the Lord, saying: O most worshipable one, we are simply Your servants. Although You are full in Yourself, please, out of Your causeless mercy, accept a little service from us, Your eternal servants. We are not actually aware of Your transcendental form, but we can simply offer our respectful obeisances again and again, as instructed by the Vedic literatures and authorized ācāryas. Materialistic living entities are very much attracted to the modes of material nature, and therefore they are never perfect, but You are above the jurisdiction of all material conceptions. Your name, form and qualities are all transcendental and beyond the conception of experimental knowledge. Indeed, who can conceive of You? In the material world we can perceive only material names and qualities. We have no other power than to offer our respectful obeisances and prayers unto You, the transcendental person. The chanting of Your auspicious transcendental qualities will wipe out the sins of all mankind. That is the most auspicious activity for us, and we can thus partially understand Your supernatural position.

SB 5.5.2, Purport:

To remain unattached to the modes of material nature, one should avoid associating with those who are asat, materialistic. There are two kinds of materialists. One is attached to women and sense gratification, and the other is simply a nondevotee. On the positive side is association with mahātmās, and on the negative side is the avoidance of nondevotees and women-hunters.

SB 5.5.4, Translation:

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 5.5.20, Translation:

My dear boys, you are all born of My heart, which is the seat of all spiritual qualities. Therefore you should not be like materialistic and envious men. You should accept your eldest brother, Bharata, who is exalted in devotional service. If you engage yourselves in Bharata's service, your service to him will include My service, and you will rule the citizens automatically.

SB 5.5.20, Purport:

Mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ: (SB 5.5.2) by serving the mahat, the exalted devotee, one's path for liberation is open. The family of Ṛṣabhadeva should not be compared to an ordinary materialistic family. Bharata Mahārāja, Ṛṣabhadeva's eldest son, was specifically very exalted. For this reason the other sons were advised to serve him for his pleasure. That was to be their duty.

The Supreme Lord was advising Bharata Mahārāja to be the chief ruler of the planet. This is the real plan of the Supreme Lord. In the Battle of Kurukṣetra, we find that Lord Kṛṣṇa wanted Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira to be the supreme emperor of this planet. He never wanted Duryodhana to take the post. As stated in the previous verse, Lord Ṛṣabhadeva's heart is hṛdayaṁ yatra dharmaḥ.

SB 5.8.17, Purport:

Regardless, he ardently desired to see the animal again within his āśrama eating the soft grass and not fearing tigers and other animals. Mahārāja Bharata could think only of the deer and how the animal could be protected from all kinds of inauspicious things. From the materialistic point of view such kind thoughts may be very laudable, but from the spiritual point of view the King was actually falling from his exalted spiritual position and unnecessarily becoming attached to an animal. Thus degrading himself, he would have to accept an animal body.

SB 5.11.6, Translation:

The materialistic mind covering the living entity's soul carries it to different species of life. This is called continued material existence. Due to the mind, the living entity suffers or enjoys material distress and happiness. Being thus illusioned, the mind further creates pious and impious activities and their karma, and thus the soul becomes conditioned.

SB 5.12 Summary:

Due to the activities of his past life, Jaḍa Bharata was being very cautious and was therefore assuming the characteristics of a deaf and dumb man to avoid mingling with the material world. Association with the material modes of nature is very powerful. The bad association of materialistic men can be avoided only in the association of devotees. In the association of devotees, one is given an opportunity to render devotional service in nine different ways-śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma-nivedanam (SB 7.5.23). In this way, in the association of devotees, one can pass over material association, cross over the ocean of nescience and return home, back to Godhead.

SB 5.12.15, Translation:

My dear heroic King, due to my past sincere service to the Lord, I could remember everything of my past life even while in the body of a deer. Because I am aware of the falldown in my past life, I always keep myself separate from the association of ordinary men. Being afraid of their bad, materialistic association, I wander alone unnoticed by others.

SB 5.14.23, Translation:

Learned scholars and transcendentalists therefore condemn the materialistic path of fruitive activity because it is the original source and breeding ground of material miseries, both in this life and in the next.

SB 5.14.24, Purport:

Riches come from Lakṣmī, the goddess of fortune, and the goddess of fortune is the property of Nārāyaṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The goddess of fortune cannot stay anywhere but by the side of Nārāyaṇa; therefore another of her names is Cañcalā, restless. She cannot be peaceful unless she is in the company of her husband, Nārāyaṇa. For example, Lakṣmī was carried away by the materialistic Rāvaṇa. Rāvaṇa kidnapped Sītā, the goddess of fortune belonging to Lord Rāma. As a result, Rāvaṇa's entire family, opulence and kingdom were smashed, and Sītā, the goddess of fortune, was recovered from his clutches and reunited with Lord Rāma. Thus all property, riches and wealth belong to Kṛṣṇa. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (5.29):

SB 5.18.3, Purport:

According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, sons always outlive their fathers in other planetary systems and other lands in this universe, especially on Svargaloka. However, on this planet earth a son often dies before his father, and the materialistic father is pleased to enjoy the possessions of his son. Neither the father nor the son can see the reality—that both of them are awaiting death. When death comes, however, all their plans for material enjoyment are finished.

SB 5.18.38, Purport:

The Supreme Lord creates this world only because the conditioned souls want to enjoy it.

The workings of nature are not going on automatically. It is only because the Lord glances over the material energy that it acts in wonderful ways, just as a lodestone causes a piece of iron to move here and there. Because materialistic scientists and so-called Sāṅkhya philosophers do not believe in God, they think that material nature is working without supervision. But that is not the fact. In Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Ādi 6.18-19) the creation of the material world is explained as follows:

SB 5.24.14, Purport:

This is the defect of material existence. Everything in the subterranean heavens is very nicely arranged. There are well situated residential quarters, there is a pleasing atmosphere, and there are no bodily inconveniences or mental anxieties, but nevertheless those who live there have to take another birth according to karma. Persons whose minds are dull cannot understand this defect of a materialistic civilization aiming at material comforts. One may make his living conditions very pleasing for the senses, but despite all favorable conditions, one must in due course of time meet death. The members of a demoniac civilization endeavor to make their living conditions very comfortable, but they cannot check death. The influence of the Sudarśana cakra will not allow their so-called material happiness to endure.

SB Canto 6

SB 6.1.31, Purport:

The order carriers of Yamarāja have jurisdiction over all sinful living entities, but the messengers of Lord Viṣṇu, the Viṣṇudūtas, are capable of punishing anyone, including Yamarāja, if he wrongs a Vaiṣṇava.

Materialistic scientists do not know where to find the soul within the body with their material instruments, but this verse clearly explains that the soul is within the core of the heart (hṛdaya); it is from the heart that the Yamadūtas were extracting the soul of Ajāmila. Similarly, we learn that the Supersoul, Lord Viṣṇu, is also situated within the heart (īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61)). In the Upaniṣads it is said that the Supersoul and the individual soul are living in the same tree of the body as two friendly birds.

SB 6.2.24-25, Purport:

Sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje. Bhakti, devotional service, is paro dharmaḥ, transcendental dharma; it is not material dharma. People generally think that religion should be pursued for material profit. This may be suitable for persons interested in material life, but one who is interested in spiritual life should be attached to paro dharmaḥ, the religious principles by which one becomes a devotee of the Supreme Lord (yato bhaktir adhokṣaje). The bhāgavata religion teaches that the Lord and the living entity are eternally related and that the duty of the living entity is to surrender to the Lord. When one is situated on the platform of devotional service, one is freed from impediments and completely satisfied (ahaituky apratihatā yayātmā suprasīdati). Having been elevated to that platform, Ajāmila began to lament for his past materialistic activities and glorify the name, fame, form and pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB 6.4.32, Purport:

One should therefore take shelter of the bhakti-mārga, the path of devotion; then everything will be clear. Jñānīs concentrate on the virāṭ-rūpa, the gigantic universal form of the Lord. This is a good system in the beginning for those who are extremely materialistic, but there is no need to think continuously of the virāṭ-rūpa. When Arjuna was shown the virāṭ-rūpa of Kṛṣṇa, he saw it, but he did not want to see it perpetually. He therefore requested the Lord to return to His original form as two-armed Kṛṣṇa. In conclusion, learned scholars find no contradictions in the devotees' concentration upon the spiritual form of the Lord (īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1)). In this regard, Śrīla Madhvācārya says that less intelligent nondevotees think that their conclusion is the ultimate, but because devotees are completely learned, they can understand that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the ultimate goal.

SB 6.5.18, Purport:

A sane man, however, can see that all such grand activities, although perhaps very important for temporary life, have nothing to do with eternal life. The entire world is imitating the materialistic civilization of the West, and therefore the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is very much interested in giving the Western people knowledge by translating the original Sanskrit Vedic literatures into Western languages.

The word vivikta-padam refers to the path of logical discourses concerning the aim of life. If one does not discuss that which is important in life, one is put into darkness and must struggle for existence. What, then, is the benefit of his advancement in knowledge? The people of the West are seeing their students becoming hippies, despite gorgeous arrangements for university education.

SB 6.5.24, Purport:

Prajāpati Dakṣa was so named because he was very expert in begetting children. (The word dakṣa means "expert.") First he begot ten thousand children in the womb of his wife, and when the children were lost—when they returned home, back to Godhead—he begot another set of children, known as the Savalāśvas. Prajāpati Dakṣa is very expert in begetting children, and Nārada Muni is very expert in delivering all the conditioned souls back home, back to Godhead. Therefore the materialistic experts do not agree with the spiritual expert Nārada Muni. but this does not mean that Nārada Muni will give up his engagement of chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra.

SB 6.5.38, Purport:

A yogī, however, especially a bhakti-yogī, is callous to the opinions of this material world. He is not interested in traveling to the higher planetary systems of the demigods to enjoy a long life in an advanced materialistic civilization. As stated by Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī, kaivalyaṁ narakāyate tridaśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate: for a devotee, merging into the Brahman existence is hellish, and life in the higher planetary systems of the demigods is a will-o'-the-wisp, a phantasmagoria with no real existence at all. A pure devotee is not interested in yogic perfection, travel to higher planetary systems, or oneness with Brahman. He is interested only in rendering service to the Personality of Godhead. Since Prajāpati Dakṣa was a karmī, he could not appreciate the great service Nārada Muni had rendered his eleven thousand sons.

SB 6.5.40, Purport:

Prajāpati Dakṣa was correct in stating that changing one's dress cannot detach one from this material world. The sannyāsīs of Kali-yuga who change their robes from white to saffron and then think they can do whatever they like are more abominable than materialistic gṛhasthas. This is not recommended anywhere. Prajāpati Dakṣa was right in pointing out this defect, but he did not know that Nārada Muni had aroused the spirit of renunciation in the Haryaśvas and Savalāśvas through full knowledge. Such enlightened renunciation is desirable. One should enter the renounced order with full knowledge (jñāna-vairāgya), for the perfection of life is possible for one who renounces this material world in that way. This elevated stage can be reached very easily, as supported by the statements of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.7):

SB 6.7.14, Purport:

Otherwise one will be cheated by unauthorized meditation and gymnastic methods of yoga. Thus one will board a boat of stone. which will sink and drown all its passengers. Unfortunately. although the American people are extremely eager to get out of materialistic chaos, they are sometimes found to patronize the makers of stone boats. That will not help them. They must take the proper boat offered by Kṛṣṇa in the form of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Then they will be easily saved. In this regard Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura comments: aśmamayaḥ plavo yeṣāṁ te yathā majjantaṁ plavam anumajjanti tatheti rāja-nīty-upadeṣṭṛṣu sva-sabhyeṣu kopo vyañjitaḥ. If society is guided by political diplomacy, with one nation maneuvering against another, it will certainly sink like a stone boat. Political maneuvering and diplomacy will not save human society.

SB 6.9.44, Purport:

The four classes of neophyte devotees who approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead to offer devotional service because of material motives are not pure devotees, but the advantage for such materialistic devotees is that they sometimes give up their material desires and become pure. When the demigods are utterly helpless, they approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead in grief and with tears in their eyes, praying to the Lord, and thus they become almost pure devotees, free from material desires. Admitting that they have forgotten pure devotional service because of extensive material opportunities, they fully surrender to the Lord, leaving to His consideration whether to maintain them or annihilate them. Such surrender is necessary. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura sings, mārabi rākhabi-yo icchā tohārā: "O Lord, I fully surrender unto Your lotus feet.

SB 6.16.9, Purport:

"The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy." The Supreme Lord gives the living entity a chance to enjoy in this material world as he desires, but He openly expresses His own desire that the living entity give up all material aspirations, fully surrender unto Him and return home, back to Godhead.

The living entity is the smallest (sūkṣma). Jīva Gosvāmī says in this connection that the living entity within the body is extremely difficult for materialistic scientists to find, although we understand from authorities that the living entity is within the body. The body is different from the living entity.

SB 6.16.35, Purport:

The so-called scientists of the modern materialistic world are proud because they have created modern facilities like great airplanes, but the credit for creating the airplanes should go to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, not to the scientists who have invented or created the so-called wonderful products. The first consideration is the intelligence of the scientist; one must be elevated by the dictation of the Supreme Lord, who says in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15), mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca: "From Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness." Because the Supreme Lord, as Supersoul, sits within the core of every living entity's heart, the dictation by which one advances in scientific knowledge or creative faculties comes from Him. Furthermore, the ingredients to manufacture wonderful machines like airplanes are also supplied by the Lord, not by the scientists. Before the airplane was created, its ingredients already existed, having been caused by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but when the manifested creation of the airplane is ruined, the remaining debris is a problem for the so-called creators.

SB 6.16.47, Translation:

My dear Lord, You are the creator, maintainer and annihilator of this cosmic manifestation, but persons who are too materialistic and who always see separateness do not have eyes with which to see You. They cannot understand Your real position, and therefore they conclude that the cosmic manifestation is independent of Your opulence. My Lord, You are the supreme pure, and You are full in all six opulences. Therefore I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.

SB 6.16.47, Purport:

Atheistic men think that the cosmic manifestation has come about by chance, by a combination of matter, without reference to God. Materialistic so-called chemists and atheistic philosophers always try to avoid even the name of God in relation to the cosmic manifestation. For them God's creation is impossible to understand because they are too materialistic. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is paramahaṁsa, or the supreme pure, whereas those who are sinful, being very much attached to material sense enjoyment and therefore engaging in material activities like asses, are the lowest of men. All their so-called scientific knowledge is null and void because of their atheistic temperament. Thus they cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB 6.18.41, Purport:

Woman is now depicted very well from the materialistic point of view by Kaśyapa Muni. Women are generally known as the fair sex, and especially in youth, at the age of sixteen or seventeen, women are very attractive to men. Therefore a woman's face is compared to a blooming lotus flower in autumn. Just as a lotus is extremely beautiful in autumn, a woman at the threshold of youthful beauty is extremely attractive. In Sanskrit a woman's voice is called nārī-svara because women generally sing and their singing is very attractive. At the present moment, cinema artists, especially female singers, are especially welcome. Some of them earn fabulous amounts of money simply by singing.

SB Canto 7

SB 7.2.60, Purport:

This is called ajñāna. As long as human society is in darkness and ignorance, men will continue to make huge arrangements in the bodily conception of life. This is described by Prahlāda Mahārāja as bharam. In the materialistic conception, modern civilization makes enormous arrangements for huge roads, houses, mills and factories, and this is man's conception of the advancement of civilization. People do not know, however, that at any time they themselves may be kicked out of the scene and forced to accept bodies that have nothing to do with these enormous houses, palaces, roads and automobiles. Therefore when Arjuna was thinking in terms of his bodily relationships with his kinsmen, Kṛṣṇa immediately chastised him, saying, kutas tvā kaśmalam idaṁ viṣame samupasthitam anārya juṣṭam: "This bodily conception of life is befitting the anāryas, the non-Āryans, who are not advanced in knowledge."

SB 7.4.44, Purport:

One cannot inquire about transcendental subject matters from a layman. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.25.25), satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ kathāḥ: only by association with devotees can one authoritatively understand the position of the Lord and His devotees. A devotee like Nārada Muni is addressed as suvrata. Su means "good," and vrata means "vow." Thus the word suvrata refers to a person who has nothing to do with the material world, which is always bad. One cannot understand anything spiritual from a materialistic scholar puffed up with academic knowledge. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (18.55), bhaktyā mām abhijānāti: one must try to understand Kṛṣṇa by devotional service and from a devotee. Therefore Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja was quite right in wanting to learn further about Prahlāda Mahārāja from Śrī Nārada Muni.

SB 7.5.53, Purport:

One must follow in the footsteps of such great personalities as Lord Brahmā, Nārada, Lord Śiva, Kapila, Manu, the Kumāras, Prahlāda Mahārāja, Bhīṣma, Janaka, Bali Mahārāja, Śukadeva Gosvāmī and Yamarāja. Those interested in spiritual life should follow Prahlāda Mahārāja in rejecting the education of religion, economic development and sense gratification. One should be interested in spiritual education. Therefore the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is spreading all over the world, following in the footsteps of Prahlāda Mahārāja, who did not like any of the materialistic education he received from his teachers.

SB 7.6 Summary:

One may wrongly think, "In the beginning of our lives let us enjoy material facilities, and in old age we may become Kṛṣṇa conscious." Such materialistic thoughts are always useless because in old age one cannot be trained in the spiritual way of life. Therefore, from the very beginning of life, one should engage in devotional service (śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ (SB 7.5.23)). This is the duty of all living entities. Material education is infected by the three modes of nature, but spiritual education, for which there is a great need in human society, is transcendental. Prahlāda Mahārāja disclosed the secret of how he had received instructions from Nārada Muni. By accepting the lotus feet of Prahlāda Mahārāja, who is in the paramparā succession, one will be able to understand the mode of spiritual life. In accepting this mode of activity, there is no need for material qualifications.

SB 7.7.24, Purport:

Thus he can understand that the head, hands, legs and indeed the entire body have grown on the basis of the soul. If the soul is within, the body, head, hands and legs grow, but otherwise they do not. A dead child does not grow up, for the soul is not present. If by a careful analysis of the body one still cannot find the existence of the soul, this is due to his ignorance. How can a gross man fully engaged in materialistic activities understand the soul, which is a small particle of spirit one ten-thousandth the size of the tip of a hair? Such a person foolishly thinks that the material body has grown from a combination of chemicals, although he cannot find them. The Vedas inform us, however, that chemical combinations do not constitute the living force; the living force is the ātmā and Paramātmā, and the body grows on the basis of that living force. The fruit of a tree grows and undergoes six kinds of change because of the presence of the tree. If there were no tree, there could be no question of the growth and maturity of fruit.

SB 7.8.1, Translation:

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 7.8.2, Purport:

The words buddhim ekānta-saṁsthitām indicate that as an effect of Prahlāda Mahārāja's preaching, the students who listened to him became fixed in the conclusion that Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the only object of human life. The fact is that anyone who associates with a pure devotee and follows his instructions becomes fixed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and is not disturbed by materialistic consciousness. The teachers particularly observed this in their students, and therefore they were afraid because the whole community of students was gradually becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious.

SB 7.8.51, Translation:

The inhabitants of the Cāraṇa planet said: O Lord, because You have destroyed the demon Hiraṇyakaśipu, who was always a stake in the hearts of all honest men, we are now relieved, and we eternally take shelter of Your lotus feet, which award the conditioned soul liberation from materialistic contamination.

SB 7.9.17, Purport:

The fact is that in material life, whether one is miserable or happy, both conditions are miserable. If one actually wants happy, blissful life, one must become Kṛṣṇa conscious and constantly engage in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. That is the real remedy. The entire world is under the illusion that people will be happy by advancing in materialistic measures to counteract the miseries of conditional life, but this attempt will never be successful. Humanity must be trained to engage in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. That is the purpose of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. There can be no happiness in changing one's material conditions, for everywhere there is trouble and misery.

SB 7.9.44, Purport:

The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement was started for this purpose. We do not teach one to meditate in a secluded place just so that one may show that he has become very much advanced and may be proud of his so-called transcendental meditation, although he engages in all sorts of foolish materialistic activity. A Vaiṣṇava like Prahlāda Mahārāja is not interested in such a bluff of spiritual advancement. Rather, he is interested in enlightening people in Kṛṣṇa consciousness because that is the only way for them to become happy. Prahlāda Mahārāja says clearly, nānyaṁ tvad asya śaraṇaṁ bhramato 'nupaśye: "I know that without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, without taking shelter of Your lotus feet, one cannot be happy." One wanders within the universe, life after life, but by the grace of a devotee, a servant of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, one can get the clue to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and then not only become happy in this world but also return home, back to Godhead. That is the real target in life.

SB 7.9.45, Purport:

This is generally found everywhere, and specifically found in the Western world, where there are regular arrangements to satisfy sex life in different ways. Actually, however, this has not made anyone happy. Even the hippies, who have given up all the materialistic comforts of their fathers and grandfathers, cannot give up the sensational happiness of sex life. Such persons are described here as kṛpaṇas, misers. The human form of life is a great asset, for in this life one can fulfill the goal of existence. Unfortunately, however, because of a lack of education and culture, people are victimized by the false happiness of sex life. Prahlāda Mahārāja therefore advises one not to be misled by this civilization of sense gratification, and especially not by sex life. Rather, one should be sober, avoid sense gratification and be Kṛṣṇa conscious. The lusty person, who is compared to a foolish miser, never gets happiness by sense gratification.

SB 7.10.3, Purport:

In spite of coming to this material world, the nitya-siddha devotee is never attracted by the allurements of material enjoyment. A perfect example is Prahlāda Mahārāja, who was a nitya-siddha, a mahā-bhāgavata devotee. Although Prahlāda was born in the family of Hiraṇyakaśipu, an atheist, he was never attached to any kind of materialistic enjoyment. Desiring to exhibit the symptoms of a pure devotee, the Lord tried to induce Prahlāda Mahārāja to take material benedictions, but Prahlāda Mahārāja did not accept them. On the contrary, by his personal example he showed the symptoms of a pure devotee. In other words, the Lord Himself has no desire to send His pure devotee to this material world, nor does a devotee have any material purpose in coming. When the Lord Himself appears as an incarnation within this material world, He is not allured by the material atmosphere, and He has nothing to do with material activity, yet by His example He teaches the common man how to become a devotee.

SB 7.10.5, Purport:

Such benedictions are possible to receive from the demigods. If one worships the Supreme Personality of Godhead, however, the Lord will never offer him such condemned benedictions. On the contrary, it is said in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.88.8), yasyāham anugṛhnāmi hariṣye tad-dhanaṁ śanaiḥ. If one is too materialistic but at the same time wants to be a servant of the Supreme Lord, the Lord, because of His supreme compassion for the devotee, takes away all his material opulences and obliges him to be a pure devotee of the Lord. Prahlāda Mahārāja distinguishes between the pure devotee and the pure master. The Lord is the pure master, the supreme master, whereas an unalloyed devotee with no material motives is the pure servant. One who has materialistic motivations cannot become a servant, and one who unnecessarily bestows benedictions upon his servant to keep his own prestigious position is not a real master.

SB 7.10.7, Purport:

"O my Lord, I do not want from You any amount of wealth, nor many followers, nor a beautiful wife, for these are all materialistic desires. But if I have to ask You for any benediction, I pray that in whatever forms of life I may take my birth, under any circumstances, I will not be bereft of Your transcendental devotional service." Devotees are always on the positive platform, in contrast to the Māyāvādīs, who want to make everything impersonal or void. One cannot remain void (śūnyavādī); rather, one must possess something. Therefore, the devotee, on the positive side, wants to possess something, and this possession is very nicely described by Prahlāda Mahārāja, who says, "If I must take some benediction from You, I pray that within the core of my heart there may be no material desires."

SB 7.10.23, Translation:

After performing the ritualistic ceremonies, take charge of your father's kingdom. Sit upon the throne and do not be disturbed by materialistic activities. Please keep your mind fixed upon Me. Without transgressing the injunctions of the Vedas, as a matter of formality you may perform your particular duties.

SB 7.10.23, Purport:

"Whatever action a great man performs, common men follow. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues." (BG 3.21) One should not be attached to any materialistic activities, but a devotee may perform such activities as an example to show the common man that one should not deviate from the Vedic injunctions.

SB 7.13 Summary:

A person who has attained the paramahaṁsa stage knows very well the distinction between matter and spirit. He is not at all interested in gratifying the material senses, for he is always deriving pleasure from devotional service to the Lord. He is not very anxious to protect his material body. Being satisfied with whatever he attains by the grace of the Lord, he is completely independent of material happiness and distress, and thus he is transcendental to all regulative principles. Sometimes he accepts severe austerities, and sometimes he accepts material opulence. His only concern is to satisfy Kṛṣṇa, and for that purpose he can do anything and everything, without reference to the regulative principles. He is never to be equated with materialistic men, nor is he subject to the judgments of such men.

SB 7.13.16-17, Translation:

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 7.13.24, Purport:

One kind of fruitive activity causes the living being to take one form of body, and because of actions performed in that body, another body is created. One must therefore stop these material activities, and the chance to do so is given in the human form of life. Specifically, our energy to act should be engaged in the service of the Lord, for then materialistic activities will automatically stop. One must fulfill one's desires by surrendering unto the Supreme Lord, for He knows how to fulfill them. Even though one may have material desires, one should therefore engage in the devotional service of the Lord. That will purify one's struggle for existence.

SB 7.13.26, Translation:

In this human form of life, men and women unite for the sensual pleasure of sex, but by actual experience we have observed that none of them are happy. Therefore, seeing the contrary results, I have stopped taking part in materialistic activities.

SB 7.13.27, Translation:

The actual form of life for the living entities is one of spiritual happiness, which is real happiness. This happiness can be achieved only when one stops all materialistic activities. Material sense enjoyment is simply imagination. Therefore, considering this subject matter, I have ceased from all material activities and am lying down here.

SB 7.13.27, Purport:

The difference between the philosophy of the Māyāvādīs and that of the Vaiṣṇavas is explained herein. Both the Māyāvādīs and Vaiṣṇavas know that in materialistic activities there is no happiness. The Māyāvādī philosophers, therefore, adhering to the slogan brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā, want to refrain from false, materialistic activities. They want to stop all activities and merge in the Supreme Brahman. According to the Vaiṣṇava philosophy, however, if one simply ceases from materialistic activity one cannot remain inactive for very long, and therefore everyone should engage himself in spiritual activities, which will solve the problem of suffering in this material world. It is said, therefore, that although the Māyāvādī philosophers strive to refrain from materialistic activities and merge in Brahman, and although they may actually merge in the Brahman existence, for want of activity they fall down again into materialistic activity (āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32)).

SB 7.13.27, Purport:

Thus the so-called renouncer, unable to remain in meditation upon Brahman, returns to materialistic activities by opening hospitals and schools and so on. Therefore, simply cultivating knowledge that materialistic activities cannot give one happiness, and that one should consequently cease from such activities, is insufficient. One should cease from materialistic activities and take up spiritual activities. Then the solution to the problem will be achieved. Spiritual activities are activities performed according to the order of Kṛṣṇa (ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanam (CC Madhya 19.167)). If one does whatever Kṛṣṇa says, his activities are not material. For example, when Arjuna fought in response to the order of Kṛṣṇa, his activities were not material. Fighting for sense gratification is a materialistic activity, but fighting by the order of Kṛṣṇa is spiritual. By spiritual activities one becomes eligible to go back home, back to Godhead, and then enjoy blissful life eternally.

SB 7.13.27, Purport:

Fighting for sense gratification is a materialistic activity, but fighting by the order of Kṛṣṇa is spiritual. By spiritual activities one becomes eligible to go back home, back to Godhead, and then enjoy blissful life eternally. Here, in the material world, everything is but a mental concoction that will never give us real happiness. The practical solution, therefore, is to cease from materialistic activities and engage in spiritual activities. Yajñārthāt karmaṇo 'nyatra loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ (BG 3.9)). If one works for the sake of pleasing the Supreme Lord—Yajña, or Viṣṇu—one is in liberated life. If one fails to do so, however, he remains in a life of bondage.

SB 7.13.29, Purport:

When one understands his real identity as a spiritual being, he can understand the supreme spiritual being, Kṛṣṇa, and the real happiness exchanged between Kṛṣṇa and one's self. It is very interesting to note how this verse points to the body's growth from the spirit soul. The modern materialistic scientist thinks that life grows from matter, but actually the fact is that matter grows from life. The life, or the spiritual soul, is compared herein to water, from which clumps of matter grow in the form of grass. One who is ignorant of scientific knowledge of the spirit soul does not look inside the body to find happiness in the soul; instead, he goes outside to search for happiness, just as a deer without knowledge of the water beneath the grass goes out to the desert to find water. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is trying to remove the ignorance of misled human beings who are trying to find water outside the jurisdiction of life. Raso vai saḥ. Raso 'ham apsu kaunteya (BG 7.8). The taste of water is Kṛṣṇa.

SB 7.13.31, Translation:

Materialistic activities are always mixed with three kinds of miserable conditions—adhyātmika, adhidaivika and adhibautika. Therefore, even if one achieves some success by performing such activities, what is the benefit of this success? One is still subjected to birth, death, old age, disease and the reactions of his fruitive activities.

SB 7.14.5, Purport:

Earning one's livelihood, therefore, is not a problem. The real problem is how to get free from the bondage of birth, death and old age. Attaining this freedom, and not inventing unnecessary necessities, is the basic principle of Vedic civilization. One should be satisfied with whatever means of life comes automatically. The modern materialistic civilization is just the opposite of the ideal civilization. Every day the so-called leaders of modern society invent something contributing to a cumbersome way of life that implicates people more and more in the cycle of birth, death, old age and disease.

SB 7.15.16, Translation:

One who is content and satisfied and who links his activities with the Supreme Personality of Godhead residing in everyone's heart enjoys transcendental happiness without endeavoring for his livelihood. Where is such happiness for a materialistic man who is impelled by lust and greed and who therefore wanders in all directions with a desire to accumulate wealth?

SB 7.15.29, Purport:

Therefore, jaghanya-guṇa-vṛtti-sthā: since people are contaminated by the lower qualities, they will lead their next lives either as animals or in other degraded forms of life. Making a show of religion without Kṛṣṇa consciousness may make one popular in the estimation of unintelligent men, but factually such a materialistic display of spiritual advancement does not help one at all; it will not prevent one from missing the goal of life.

SB 7.15.35, Translation:

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 7.15.36, Translation:

One who accepts the sannyāsa order gives up the three principles of materialistic activities in which one indulges in the field of household life—namely religion, economic development and sense gratification. One who first accepts sannyāsa but then returns to such materialistic activities is to be called a vāntāśī, or one who eats his own vomit. He is indeed a shameless person.

SB 7.15.36, Purport:

Materialistic activities are regulated by the institution of varṇāśrama-dharma. Without varṇāśrama-dharma, materialistic activities constitute animal life. Yet even in human life, while observing the principles of varṇa and āśrama-brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, brahmacarya, gṛhastha, vānaprastha and sannyāsa—one must ultimately accept sannyāsa, the renounced order, for only by the renounced order can one be situated in brahma-sukha, or transcendental bliss. In brahma-sukha one is no longer attracted by lusty desires. Indeed, when one is no longer disturbed, especially by lusty desires for sexual indulgence, he is fit to become a sannyāsī. Otherwise, one should not accept the sannyāsa order. If one accepts sannyāsa at an immature stage, there is every possibility of his being attracted by women and lusty desires and thus again becoming a so-called gṛhastha or a victim of women. Such a person is most shameless, and he is called vāntāśī, or one who eats that which he has already vomited.

SB 7.15.41, Purport:

On the other hand, tamo-dvāraṁ yoṣitāṁ saṅgi-saṅgam: if one wants to go to the darkest regions of material existence, one may continue to associate with persons who are attached to women (yoṣitāṁ saṅgi-saṅgam). The word yoṣit means "woman." Persons who are too materialistic are attached to women.

It is said, therefore, ātmānaṁ rathinaṁ viddhi śarīraṁ ratham eva ca. The body is just like a chariot or car in which one may go anywhere. One may drive well, or else one may drive whimsically, in which case it is quite possible that he may have an accident and fall into a ditch. In other words, if one takes directions from the experienced spiritual master one can go back home, back to Godhead; otherwise, one may return to the cycle of birth and death.

SB 7.15.43-44, Purport:

The actual aim of life is to go back home, back to Godhead, but there are many hindrances created by the three modes of material nature—sometimes by a combination of rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa, the modes of passion and ignorance, and sometimes by the mode of goodness. In the material world, even if one is a philanthropist, a nationalist and a good man according to materialistic estimations, these conceptions of life form a hindrance to spiritual advancement. How much more of a hindrance, then, are hostility, greed, illusion, lamentation and too much attachment to material enjoyment? To progress toward the target of Viṣṇu, which is our real self-interest, one must become very powerful in conquering these various hindrances or enemies. In other words, one should not be attached to being a good man or a bad man in this material world.

SB 7.15.52, Translation:

A twice-born brāhmaṇa (dvija) gains his life by the grace of his parents through the process of purification known as garbhādhāna. There are also other processes of purification, until the end of life, when the funeral ceremony (antyeṣṭi-kriyā) is performed. Thus in due course a qualified brāhmaṇa becomes uninterested in materialistic activities and sacrifices, but he offers the sensual sacrifices, in full knowledge, into the working senses, which are illuminated by the fire of knowledge.

SB 7.15.52, Purport:

Those interested in materialistic activities remain in the cycle of birth and death. Pravṛtti-mārga, or the inclination to stay in the material world to enjoy varieties of sense gratification, has been explained in the previous verse. Now, in this verse, it is explained that one who has perfect brahminical knowledge rejects the process of elevation to higher planets and accepts nivṛtti-mārga; in other words, he prepares himself to go back home, back to Godhead. Those who are not brāhmaṇas but atheists do not know what is pravṛtti-mārga or nivṛtti-mārga; they simply want to obtain pleasure at any cost. Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is therefore training devotees to give up the pravṛtti-mārga and accept the nivṛtti-mārga in order to return home, back to Godhead. This is a little difficult to understand, but it is very easy if one takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness seriously and tries to understand Kṛṣṇa.

SB 7.15.67, Purport:

The ultimate goal of life is Viṣṇu, Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, either by Vedic regulative principles or by materialistic activities, if one tries to reach the destination of Kṛṣṇa, that is the perfection of life. Kṛṣṇa should be the target; everyone should try to reach Kṛṣṇa, from any position of life.

SB Canto 8

SB 8.1.15, Purport:

As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (3.9), yajñārthāt karmaṇo 'nyatra loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ: "Work done as a sacrifice for Viṣṇu has to be performed, otherwise work binds one to this material world." If we do not act in Kṛṣṇa consciousness we shall be entangled, like silkworms in cocoons. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, appears in order to teach us how to work so that we will not be entangled in this material world. Our real problem is that we are entangled in materialistic activities, and because we are conditioned, our struggle continues through punishment in material existence in one body after another in different forms of life. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (15.7):

SB 8.2.6, Purport:

Although they cannot even estimate the varieties existing throughout the universe, they are very proud of their knowledge, and they are accepted as learned by persons of a similar caliber. As described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.3.19), śva-vid-varāhoṣṭra-kharaiḥ saṁstutaḥ puruṣaḥ paśuḥ: materialistic leaders are praised by dogs, hogs, camels and asses, and they themselves are also big animals. One should not be satisfied with the knowledge imparted by a big animal. Rather, one must take knowledge from a perfect person like Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ: (CC Madhya 17.186) our duty is to follow the instructions of the mahājanas. There are twelve mahājanas, and Śukadeva Gosvāmī is one of them.

SB 8.4.13, Purport:

Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Although the impersonalist rises to the Brahman effulgence and enters into that effulgence, he has no engagement in the service of the Lord, and therefore he is again attracted to materialistic philanthropic activities. Thus he comes down to open hospitals and educational institutions, feed poor men and perform similar materialistic activities, which the impersonalist thinks are more precious than serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ. The impersonalists do not think that the service of the Lord is more valuable than serving the poor man or starting a school or hospital. Although they say brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā—"Brahman is real, and the material world is false"—they are nonetheless very eager to serve the false material world and neglect the service of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB 8.5.15-16, Purport:

Durvāsā Muni immediately cursed Indra to be poverty-stricken, bereft of all material opulence. Thus the demigods, afflicted on one side by the fighting demons and on the other by the curse of Durvāsā Muni, lost all the material opulences in the three worlds.

To be extremely opulent in materialistic advancement is sometimes very risky. The materially opulent person does not care about anyone, and thus he commits offenses to great personalities, such as devotees and great saints. This is the way of material opulence. As described by Śukadeva Gosvāmī, dhana-durmadāndha: too much wealth makes one blind. This happens even to Indra in his heavenly kingdom, and what to speak of others in this material world? When one is materially opulent, he should learn to be sober and well-behaved toward Vaiṣṇavas and saintly persons; otherwise he will fall down.

SB 8.5.27, Translation:

The Supreme Personality of Godhead directly and indirectly knows how everything, including the living force, mind and intelligence, is working under His control. He is the illuminator of everything and has no ignorance. He does not have a material body subject to the reactions of previous activities, and He is free from the ignorance of partiality and materialistic education. I therefore take shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, who is eternal, all-pervading and as great as the sky and who appears with six opulences in three yugas (Satya, Tretā and Dvāpara).

SB 8.9.29, Purport:

This is the distinction between materialistic activities and activities performed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The entire world is active, and this includes the karmīs, the jñānīs, the yogīs and the bhaktas. However, all activities except those of the bhaktas, the devotees, end in bafflement and a waste of time and energy. Moghāśā mogha-karmāṇo mogha jñānā vicetasaḥ: (BG 9.12) if one is not a devotee, his hopes, his activities and his knowledge are all baffled. A nondevotee works for his personal sense gratification or for the sense gratification of his family, society, community or nation, but because all such activities are separate from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they are considered asat. The word asat means bad or temporary, and sat means permanent and good. Activities performed for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa are permanent and good, but asat activity, although sometimes celebrated as philanthropy, altruism, nationalism, this "ism" or that "ism," will never produce any permanent result and is therefore all bad. Even a little work done in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is a permanent asset and is all-good because it is done for Kṛṣṇa, the all-good Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is everyone's friend (suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānām).

SB 8.9.29, Purport:

Therefore any activity performed for the Supreme Lord is permanent. As a result of such activities, the performer is immediately recognized. Na ca tasmān manuṣyeṣu kaścin me priya-kṛttamaḥ (BG 18.69). Such a devotee, because of full knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is immediately transcendental, although he may superficially appear to be engaged in materialistic activities. The only distinction between materialistic activity and spiritual activity is that material activity is performed only to satisfy one's own senses whereas spiritual activity is meant to satisfy the transcendental senses of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By spiritual activity everyone factually benefits, whereas by materialistic activity no one benefits and instead one becomes entangled in the laws of karma.

SB 8.19.21, Purport:

"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 5.5.4)

SB 8.19.34, Purport:

"You have promised three steps," he said. "But with only two steps, all your possessions will be finished. How then will you give Him a place for His third step?" Śukrācārya did not know how the Lord protects His devotee. The devotee must risk everything in his possession for the service of the Lord, but he is always protected and never defeated. By materialistic calculations, Śukrācārya thought that Bali Mahārāja would under no circumstances be able to keep his promise to the brahmacārī, Lord Vāmanadeva.

SB 8.22.11, Purport:

As indicated by Bali Mahārāja by the words janād bhītaḥ, every devotee in Kṛṣṇa consciousness should always be afraid of the common man engaged in pursuing material prosperity. Such a person is described as pramatta, a madman chasing the will-o'-the-wisp. Such men do not know that after a hard struggle for life one must change his body, with no certainty of what kind of body he will receive next. Those who are completely established in Kṛṣṇa conscious philosophy and who therefore understand the aim of life will never take to the activities of the materialistic dog race. But if a sincere devotee somehow does fall down, the Lord corrects him and saves him from gliding down to the darkest region of hellish life.

SB 8.22.20, Purport:

Bali Mahārāja's wife, who was most intelligent, supported the arrest of her husband and accused him of having no intelligence because he had claimed proprietorship of the property of the Lord. Such a claim is a sign of demoniac life. Although the demigods, who are officials appointed by the Lord for management, are attached to materialistic enjoyment, they never claim to be proprietors of the universe, for they know that the actual proprietor of everything is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is the qualification of the demigods. But the demons, instead of accepting the exclusive proprietorship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, claim the property of the universe for themselves through demarcations of nationalism. "This part is mine, and that part is yours," they say. "This part I can give in charity, and this part I can keep for my enjoyment." These are all demoniac conceptions. This is described in Bhagavad-gītā (16.13): idam adya mayā labdham imaṁ prāpsye manoratham. "Thus far I have acquired so much money and land.

SB 8.22.36, Translation:

Because there you will see My supreme prowess, your materialistic ideas and anxieties that have arisen from your association with the demons and Dānavas will immediately be vanquished.

SB 8.24.51, Translation:

A materialistic so-called guru instructs his materialistic disciples about economic development and sense gratification, and because of such instructions the foolish disciples continue in the materialistic existence of ignorance. But Your Lordship gives knowledge that is eternal, and the intelligent person receiving such knowledge is quickly situated in his original constitutional position.

SB 8.24.52, Purport:

Herein the reason for foolishness is described. Because the conditioned soul in this material world is full of materialistic lusty desires, he cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, although the Lord is situated in everyone's heart (īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61)). It is because of this foolishness that one cannot take instructions from the Lord, although the Lord is ready to instruct everyone both externally and internally. The Lord says, dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ tam yena mām upayānti te. In other words, the Lord can give instructions on devotional service by which one can return home, back to Godhead. Unfortunately, however, people do not take this devotional service. The Lord, being situated in everyone's heart, can give one complete instructions on going back to Godhead, but because of lusty desires one engages himself in materialistic activities and does not render service to the Lord.

SB Canto 9

SB 9.4.70, Purport:

It is said that a jewel is very valuable, but when it is on the hood of a serpent, it is dangerous despite its value. Similarly, when a materialistic nondevotee achieves great success in learning and austerity, that success is dangerous for all of society. So-called learned scientists, for example, invented atomic weapons that are dangerous for all humanity. It is therefore said, maṇinā bhūṣitaḥ sarpaḥ kim asau na bhayaṅkaraḥ. A serpent with a jewel on its hood is as dangerous as a serpent without such a jewel. Durvāsā Muni was a very learned brāhmaṇa equipped with mystic power, but because he was not a gentleman, he did not know how to use his power. He was therefore extremely dangerous. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is never inclined toward a dangerous person who uses his mystic power for some personal design. By the laws of nature, therefore, such misuse of power is ultimately dangerous not for society but for the person who misuses it.

SB 9.9.16-17, Purport:

Gambling is also an art. Kṣatriyas are allowed to exhibit talent in this art of gambling. By the grace of Kṛṣṇa, the Pāṇḍavas lost everything by gambling and were deprived of their kingdom, wife, family and home because they were not expert in the gambling art. In other words, a devotee may not be expert in materialistic activities. It is therefore advised in the śāstra that materialistic activities are not at all suitable for the living entities, especially the devotees. A devotee should therefore be satisfied to eat whatever is sent as prasāda by the Supreme Lord. A devotee remains pure because he does not take to sinful activities such as gambling, intoxication, meat-eating and illicit sex.

SB 9.9.47, Purport:

This is called a gandharva-pura, a phantasmagoria. This entire world resembles such a phantasmagoria, and every materially situated person has attachment for it. But Khaṭvāṅga Mahārāja, because of his advanced Kṛṣṇa consciousness, was not interested in such things. Even though a devotee may engage in apparently materialistic activities, he knows his position very well. Nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṇa-sambandhe yuktaṁ vairāgyam ucyate. If one engages all material things in relation with the loving service of the Lord, one is situated in yukta-vairāgya, proper renunciation. In this material world, nothing should be accepted for one's sense gratification: everything should be accepted for the service of the Lord. This is the mentality of the spiritual world. Mahārāja Khaṭvāṅga advises that one give up material attachments and surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus one achieves success in life. This is pure bhakti-yoga, which involves vairāgya-vidyā—renunciation and knowledge.

SB 9.10.22, Purport:

The Rākṣasas are unaware that the Supreme Lord is the ruler of the creation. They think that everything has come about by chance or accident and that there is no ruler, king or controller. Therefore the Rākṣasas act independently, as they like, going even so far as to kidnap the goddess of fortune. This policy of Rāvaṇa's is extremely dangerous for the materialist; indeed, it brings ruin to the materialistic civilization. Nonetheless, because atheists are Rākṣasas, they dare to do things that are most abominable, and thus they are punished without fail. Religion consists of the orders of the Supreme Lord, and one who carries out these orders is religious. One who fails to carry out the Lord's orders is irreligious, and he is to be punished.

SB 9.13.9, Purport:

"O Lord of the universe, I do not desire material wealth, materialistic followers, a beautiful wife or fruitive activities described in flowery language. All I want, life after life, is unmotivated devotional service to You." (Śikṣāṣṭaka 4) By saying "life after life" (janmani janmani), the Lord referred not to an ordinary birth but a birth in which to remember the lotus feet of the Lord. Such a body is desirable. A devotee does not think like yogīs and jñānīs, who want to refuse a material body and become one with the impersonal Brahman effulgence. A devotee does not like this idea. On the contrary, he will accept any body, material or spiritual, for he wants to serve the Lord. This is real liberation.

SB 9.14.43, Purport:

By performing viṣṇu-yajña specifically, one could even achieve the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Of course, yajña is intended to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead. While Purūravā was meditating upon Urvaśī, the Tretā-yuga began, and therefore the Vedic yajñas were revealed in his heart. But Purūravā was a materialistic man, especially interested in enjoying the senses. Yajñas for enjoyment of the senses are called karma-kāṇḍīya-yajñas. Therefore, he decided to perform karma-kāṇḍīya-yajñas to fulfill his lusty desires. In other words, karma-kāṇḍīya-yajñas are meant for sensuous persons, whereas yajña should actually be performed to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead. To please the Supreme Personality of Godhead in Kali-yuga, the saṅkīrtana-yajña is recommended. Yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ (SB 11.5.32).

SB 9.19 Summary:

This Nineteenth Chapter describes how Mahārāja Yayāti achieved liberation after he recounted the figurative story of the he-goat and she-goat.

After many, many years of sexual relationships and enjoyment in the material world, King Yayāti finally became disgusted with such materialistic happiness. When satiated with material enjoyment, he devised a story of a he-goat and she-goat, corresponding to his own life, and narrated the story before his beloved Devayānī. The story is as follows. Once upon a time, while a goat was searching in a forest for different types of vegetables to eat, by chance he came to a well, in which he saw a she-goat. He became attracted to this she-goat and somehow or other delivered her from the well, and thus they were united.

SB 9.19.5-6, Purport:

Human life is meant for realization of the self, the spiritual soul within the body (dehino 'smin yathā dehe (BG 2.13)). A materialistic rascal does not know that he is not the body but a spiritual soul within the body. However, one should understand his real position and cultivate knowledge by which to get free from bodily entanglement. Like an unfortunate person who acts madly, haunted by ghosts, a materialist haunted by the ghost of lust forgets his real business so that he can enjoy so-called happiness in the bodily concept of life.

SB 9.19.27-28, Translation:

Thereafter, Devayānī, the daughter of Śukrācārya, understood that the materialistic association of husband, friends and relatives is like the association in a hotel full of tourists. The relationships of society, friendship and love are created by the māyā of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, exactly as in a dream. By the grace of Kṛṣṇa, Devayānī gave up her imaginary position in the material world. Completely fixing her mind upon Kṛṣṇa, she achieved liberation from the gross and subtle bodies.

SB 9.21.17, Purport:

In Bhagavad-gītā (9.34) the Lord advises that one always think of Him (man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65)). In this way, by always being Kṛṣṇa-minded or Kṛṣṇa conscious, one can surpass the influence of māyā (māyām etāṁ taranti te (BG 7.14)). Because Rantideva was Kṛṣṇa conscious, he was not under the influence of the illusory energy. The word svapnavat is significant in this connection. Because in the material world the mind is absorbed in materialistic activities, when one is asleep many contradictory activities appear in one's dreams. When one awakens, however, these activities automatically merge into the mind. Similarly, as long as one is under the influence of the material energy he makes many plans and schemes, but when one is Kṛṣṇa conscious such dreamlike plans automatically disappear.

SB 9.24.58, Purport:

Materialistic men sometimes ask why God has created the material world for the suffering of the living entities. The material creation is certainly meant for the suffering of the conditioned souls, who are part of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as confirmed by the Lord Himself in Bhagavad-gītā (15.7):

SB 9.24.62, Purport:

When the devotees aurally receive the activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as enacted in Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, they immediately achieve a transcendental vision in which they are no longer interested in materialistic activities. Thus they achieve freedom from the material world. For sense gratification practically everyone is engaged in materialistic activities, which prolong the process of janma-mṛtyu jarā-vyādhi (BG 13.9)—birth, death, old age and disease—but the devotee, simply by hearing the message of Bhagavad-gītā and further relishing the narrations of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, becomes so pure that he no longer takes interest in materialistic activities. At the moment, devotees in the Western countries are being attracted by Kṛṣṇa consciousness and becoming uninterested in materialistic activities, and therefore people are trying to oppose this movement.

SB 9.24.62, Purport:

At the moment, devotees in the Western countries are being attracted by Kṛṣṇa consciousness and becoming uninterested in materialistic activities, and therefore people are trying to oppose this movement. But they cannot possibly check this movement or stop the activities of the devotees in Europe and America by their artificial impositions. Here the words śrotrāñjalir upaspṛśya indicate that simply by hearing the transcendental activities of the Lord the devotees become so pure that they are immediately immune to the contamination of materialistic fruitive activities. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11) Materialistic activities are unnecessary for the soul, and therefore the devotees are freed from such activities. The devotees are situated in liberation (brahma-bhūyāya kalpate (BG 14.26)), and therefore they cannot be called back to their material homes and materialistic activities.

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

SB 10.1.4, Purport:

For kṛṣṇa-kathā, topics about Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there must be a speaker and a hearer, both of whom can be interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness if they are no longer interested in material topics. One can actually see how this attitude automatically develops in persons who are Kṛṣṇa conscious. Although the devotees of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement are quite young men, they no longer read materialistic newspapers, magazines and so on, for they are no longer interested in such topics (nivṛtta-tarṣaiḥ). They completely give up the bodily understanding of life. For topics concerning Uttamaśloka, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the spiritual master speaks, and the disciple hears with attention. Unless both of them are free from material desires, they cannot be interested in topics of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

SB 10.1.43, Translation:

When the luminaries in the sky, such as the moon, the sun and the stars, are reflected in liquids like oil or water, they appear to be of different shapes—sometimes round, sometimes long, and so on—because of the movements of the wind. Similarly, when the living entity, the soul, is absorbed in materialistic thoughts, he accepts various manifestations as his own identity because of ignorance. In other words, one is bewildered by mental concoctions because of agitation from the material modes of nature.

SB 10.2.20, Purport:

"Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time I descend Myself." In this age, at the present moment, there are inordinate discrepancies in the discharge of human duties. Human life is meant for God realization, but unfortunately the materialistic civilization is stressing only the senses of the body, not understanding the living force within the body. As clearly stated in Bhagavad-gītā (dehino 'smin yathā dehe (BG 2.13)), within the body is the body's proprietor, the living force, which is more important. But human society has become so fallen that instead of understanding the living force within the body, people have become busy with external things. This is a discrepancy in human duties. Therefore Kṛṣṇa has taken birth or taken shelter within the womb of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Men of Kaṁsa's class, therefore, are very much afraid and are busy trying to stop this movement, especially in the Western countries.

SB 10.2.27, Purport:

This material world is composed of five principal elements—earth, water, fire, air and ether—all of which are emanations from Kṛṣṇa. Although materialistic scientists may accept these five primary elements as the cause of the material manifestation, these elements in their gross and subtle states are produced by Kṛṣṇa, whose marginal potency also produces the living entities working within this material world. The Seventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā clearly states that the entire cosmic manifestation is a combination of two of Kṛṣṇa's energies—the superior energy and the inferior energy. The living entities are the superior energy, and the inanimate material elements are His inferior energy. In the dormant stage, everything rests in Kṛṣṇa.

SB 10.3 Summary:

Thus Vasudeva offered prayers full of meaning to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Devakī followed her husband by offering prayers describing the transcendental nature of the Lord. Fearing Kaṁsa and desiring that the Lord not be understood by atheistic and materialistic nondevotees, she prayed that the Lord withdraw His transcendental four-armed form and appear like an ordinary child with two hands.

The Lord reminded Vasudeva and Devakī of two other incarnations in which He had appeared as their son. He had appeared as Pṛśnigarbha and Vāmanadeva, and now this was the third time He was appearing as the son of Devakī to fulfill their desire.

SB 10.3.46, Purport:

Ordinary people may have difficulty accepting the supreme controller, God, as a human being because they forget that He can do everything by spiritual energy (ātma-māyayā). Nonbelievers say, "How can the supreme controller descend as an ordinary being?" This sort of thinking is materialistic. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says that unless we accept the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as inconceivable, beyond the conception of our words and mind, we cannot understand the Supreme Lord. Those who doubt that the Supreme Personality of Godhead can come as a human being and turn Himself into a human child are fools who think that Kṛṣṇa's body is material, that He is born and that He therefore also dies.

SB 10.13.61, Purport:

"Is there another Brahmā besides me?" he thought. When the doorman informed Lord Kṛṣṇa, "It is four-headed Brahmā," Lord Kṛṣṇa said, "Oh, four-headed. Call others. Show him." This is Kṛṣṇa's position. For Kṛṣṇa the four-headed Brahmā is insignificant, to say nothing of "four-headed scientists." Materialistic scientists think that although this planet earth is full of opulence, all others are vacant. Because they simply speculate, this is their scientific conclusion. But from the Bhāgavatam we understand that the entire universe is full of living entities everywhere. Thus it is the folly of the scientists that although they do not know anything, they mislead people by presenting themselves as scientists, philosophers and men of knowledge.

SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)

SB 11.2.47, Translation:

A devotee who faithfully engages in the worship of the Deity in the temple but does not behave properly toward other devotees or people in general is called a prākṛta-bhakta, a materialistic devotee, and is considered to be in the lowest position.

SB 11.3.44, Translation:

Childish and foolish people are attached to materialistic, fruitive activities, although the actual goal of life is to become free from such activities. Therefore, the Vedic injunctions indirectly lead one to the path of ultimate liberation by first prescribing fruitive religious activities, just as a father promises his child candy so that the child will take his medicine.

SB 11.5.5, Translation:

On the other hand, brāhmaṇas, members of the royal order and vaiśyas, even after being allowed to approach the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, Hari, by receiving the second birth of Vedic initiation, can become bewildered and adopt various materialistic philosophies.

SB 11.5.7, Translation:

Due to the influence of the mode of passion, the materialistic followers of the Vedas become subject to violent desires and are excessively lusty. Their anger is like that of a snake. Deceitful, overly proud, and sinful in their behavior, they mock the devotees who are dear to Lord Acyuta.

SB 11.5.8, Translation:

The materialistic followers of Vedic rituals, giving up the worship of the Lord, instead practically worship their wives, and thus their homes become dedicated to sex life. Such materialistic householders encourage one another in such whimsical behavior. Understanding ritualistic sacrifice as a necessary item for bodily maintenance, they perform unauthorized ceremonies in which there is no distribution of foodstuffs or charity to the brāhmaṇas and other respectable persons. Instead, they cruelly slaughter animals such as goats without any understanding of the dark consequences of their activities.

SB 11.10.14-16, Translation:

My dear Uddhava, I have thus explained to you perfect knowledge. There are philosophers, however, who challenge My conclusion. They state that the natural position of the living entity is to engage in fruitive activities, and they see him as the enjoyer of the happiness and unhappiness that accrue from his own work. According to this materialistic philosophy, the world, time, the revealed scriptures and the self are all variegated and eternal, existing as a perpetual flow of transformations. Knowledge, moreover, cannot be one or eternal, because it arises from the different and changing forms of objects; thus knowledge itself is always subject to change. Even if you accept such a philosophy, My dear Uddhava, there will still be perpetual birth, death, old age and disease, since all living entities must accept a material body subject to the influence of time.

SB 11.10.17, Translation:

Although the performer of fruitive activities desires perpetual happiness, it is clearly observed that materialistic workers are often unhappy and only occasionally satisfied, thus proving that they are not independent or in control of their destiny. When a person is always under the superior control of another, how can he expect any valuable results from his own fruitive actions?

SB 11.20.26, Translation:

It is firmly declared that the steady adherence of transcendentalists to their respective spiritual positions constitutes real piety and that sin occurs when a transcendentalist neglects his prescribed duty. One who adopts this standard of piety and sin, sincerely desiring to give up all past association with sense gratification, is able to subdue materialistic activities, which are by nature impure.

SB 11.21.7, Translation:

O saintly Uddhava, in order to restrict materialistic activities, I have established that which is proper and improper among all material things, including time, space and all physical objects.

SB 11.21.18, Translation:

By refraining from a particular sinful or materialistic activity, one becomes freed from its bondage. Such renunciation is the basis of religious and auspicious life for human beings and drives away all suffering, illusion and fear.

SB 11.22.35-36, Translation:

Śrī Uddhava said: O supreme master, the intelligence of those dedicated to fruitive activities is certainly deviated from You. Please explain to me how such persons accept superior and inferior bodies by their materialistic activities and then give up such bodies. O Govinda, this topic is very difficult for foolish persons to understand. Being cheated by illusion in this world, they generally do not become aware of these facts.

SB 11.25.24, Translation:

Absolute knowledge is in the mode of goodness, knowledge based on duality is in the mode of passion, and foolish, materialistic knowledge is in the mode of ignorance. Knowledge based upon Me, however, is understood to be transcendental.

SB 12.2.42, Translation:

(The materialistic king thinks:) "This unbounded earth was held by my predecessors and is now under my sovereignty. How can I arrange for it to remain in the hands of my sons, grandsons and other descendants?"