Prahlāda Mahārāja advised his father, atheistic father. He said . . . when his father inquired, "My dear boy, where you got all these ideas?" He was perfect devotee, and the father was perfect atheist. He said: "This status is . . . cannot be achieved without being favored by a pure devotee." Naiṣāṁ matis tāvad urukramāṅghrim (SB 7.5.32). Urukramāṅghrim, aṅghri. Aṅghri means lotus feet. Nobody can be interested to the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead . . . because to be become interested in the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead means to become liberated. Anartha-apagamaḥ yad-arthaḥ. Anartha. Anartha means unnecessary. We are creating unnecessary necessities of life and becoming entangled. This is material life. But if one becomes Kṛṣṇa conscious, interested in Kṛṣṇa, then he becomes detestful, "What is the use?"
Just like our brahmacārīs, our devotees, they can lie . . . lie down flat on the ground. They don't require any nice bedstead or cushion. Because the life is so molded, they think, "Well, I have to take some rest. So in this way and that way, why should I bother about that?" Yes. That is the sign of advancement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa consciousness means bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra syāt (SB 11.2.42). Those who have no taste of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they are trying to be happy by unnecessarily increasing the material demands, because they have no other information. But as soon as one is engaged in devotional service of Kṛṣṇa, pareśānubhūti, he relishes some transcendental pleasure, and as a result of that, this nonsensical pleasure becomes insignificant. That is the test.
A devotee can . . . cannot be equally interested with material pleasure and transcendental pleasure. No. Virakti. Then Bhagavad-gītā also says that paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate (BG 2.59). Just like in a hospital a diseased person is forced not to accept a certain type of foodstuff. He has the desire. He has the desire to take such food. Just like a typhoid patient, suffering from typhoid. Doctor says that, "You cannot take any solid food. A little liquid food you can take." But he has the desire to take the solid food. "Oh, doctor has asked me not to take such food. All right, what can I do?" But he has got the desire. But a devotee, he hasn't got to be forced, just like the physician asks him, "Don't do this." He automatically does so. Why? Paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate: he has seen or he has tasted something better, for which he doesn't like to take any more this abominable taste. That is bhaktiḥ pareśānu . . .
That means when we become detestful such abominable things, then we should know that we are advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The test is in your hand. You haven't got to ask anybody, "Do you think I'm increasing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness?" But you can understand. Exactly in the same way, if you are hungry and if you are eating, you know, by eating, how much your hunger is satisfied, how much you are feeling strength, how much you are feeling pleasure. You haven't got to ask anybody. Similarly, if anybody increases his Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the test will be that he will be disinterested with all material pleasures. That is test.
Just like Yāmunācārya. He was emperor. He was emperor, and his standard of living is very . . . was very high. Standard of living, materialistic standard of living, means, high standard of living means unrestricted enjoyment of wine and woman. That's all. That is the standard. So he was addicted to all these habits. He was king. At his command everything was God. If, if a man is rich, three things . . . four things will be at his command: wine, woman, gold and gambling. It is called. Yes. So therefore these are the places, I mean to say, allotted to Kali by Parīkṣit Mahārāja. Therefore a persons who is desirous of advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he should take care.
So that Yāmunācārya later on became a great devotee. So he has got . . . he happened to be the spiritual master of Rāmānujācārya. He became a great devotee, Yāmunācārya, in the Śrī-sampradāya Vaiṣṇavas. So he writes very nice . . . these are practical experience of the ācāryas. Yad-avadhi mama cetaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravinde nava-nava-dhāmany udyataṁ rantum āsīt . . . he was, in his previous life, very extravagant. So he says, "Since I have taken to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and I am enjoying daily new, new transcendental pleasure, being advancing myself in that science, the result is," tad-avadhi, "from that day, since that day," bata nārī-saṅgame . . .
Because he was accustomed to associate with women very much, "So now, simply by thinking of this womanly association . . ." Means sex life. He says, bhavati mukha-vikāraḥ suṣṭhu niṣṭhīvanaṁ ca: "Oh, I hate. My face immediately becomes turned. Oh, what nonsense I used to do . . ." So the bhakti, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the test is there. The more you become advanced, more you become, no more any interest in this material pleasure.
So ordinary literature, they're full with all this, I mean to say, grāmya-kathā. The man and woman's behavior, that is good literature. There is a hero, there is a heroine. So those who are saintly persons, they do not take interest. So Nārada was advising Vyāsadeva that, "You have written this Mahābhārata. That's all right. It is a great epic, history. But the, mostly . . . history means the ordinary dealings of the worldly men. So what benefit there is? That is nothing. No saintly person will take interest."
Actually, this Mahābhārata was written by this . . . by Vyāsadeva for giving instruction, Vedic instruction, to the less intelligent class of men. He has given introduction, strī-śūdra-dvija-bandhūnāṁ trayī na śruti-gocarā (SB 1.4.25) "The Vedic knowledge is difficult to be understood by these classes of men and women: strī-śūdra-śūdra class, woman class, strī, śūdra; and dvija-bandhu." And dvija-bandhu means born in high family, brahmin, kṣatriya, vaiśya, but their behavior is different, like śūdras. They cannot understand Vedas. Therefore there is restriction, that "The śūdras cannot read Vedas." They are restricted.
So therefore Mahābhārata was written by Vyāsadeva. But Nārada says that, "This kind of literature will not appeal to the saintly devotees. So you write something for the satisfaction of the saintly devotees." And he is giving the instruction that, "Even such literature is written in broken language, not in the proper way from grammatical point of view, from poetic point of view, from rhetorical, still, because such literature is full with glorification of the Supreme Lord, saintly persons, they accept it, they hear it and they chant it."
Then he says, naiṣkarmyam apy acyuta-bhāva-varjitam. Acyuta. Acyuta means Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa's name is Acyuta. You'll find in the Bhagavad-gītā. Arjuna says to Kṛṣṇa, senayor ubhayor madhye rathaṁ sthāpaya me acyuta (BG 1.21). He's addressing Kṛṣṇa as Acyuta. Acyuta means "not," and cyuta means "falldown." So God never falls down; therefore God's name is Acyuta.