TEXT 92
svargapaga-hema-mrnalininam
nana-mrnalagra-bhujo bhajamah
annanurupam tanu-rupa-rddhim
karyam nidanad dhi gunan adhite
SYNONYMS
svarga-apagaof the Ganges water flowing in the heavenly planets; hemagolden; mrnalininamof the lotus flowers; nanavarious; mrnala-agra-bhujahthose who eat the tops of the stems; bhajamahwe get; anna-anurupamaccording to the food; tanu-rupa-rddhiman abundance of bodily beauty; karyamthe effect; nidanatfrom the cause; hicertainly; gunanqualities; adhiteone obtains.
TRANSLATION
The River Ganges flowing from the heavenly planets is full of golden lotus flowers, and we, the residents of those planets, eat the stems of the flowers. Thus we are very beautiful, more so than the inhabitants of any other planet. This is due to the law of cause and effect, for if one eats food in the mode of goodness, the mode of goodness increases the beauty of his body.' "
PURPORT
One's bodily luster and beauty, one's constitution, one's activities and one's qualities all depend on the law of cause and effect. There are three qualities in material nature, and as stated in the Bhagavad-gita (13.22), karanam guna-sango 'sya sad-asad-yoni-janmasu: one takes birth in a good or bad family according to his previous association with the qualities of material nature. Therefore one seriously eager to achieve transcendental perfection, Krsna consciousness, must eat Krsna prasada. Such food is sattvika, or in the material quality of goodness, but when offered to Krsna it becomes transcendental. Our Krsna consciousness movement distributes Krsna prasada, and those who eat such transcendental food are sure to become devotees of the Lord. This is a very scientific method, as stated in this verse from Nala-naisadha (3.17): karyam nidanad dhi gunan adhite. If in all one's activities he strictly adheres to the mode of goodness, he will certainly develop his dormant Krsna consciousness and ultimately become a pure devotee of Lord Krsna.
Unfortunately at the present moment the bodily constitutions of the leaders of society, especially the governmental leaders, are polluted. As described in Srimad-Bhagavatam (12.1.40):
asamskrtah kriya-hina
rajasa tamasavrtah
prajas te bhaksayisyanti
mleccha rajanya-rupinah
Such leaders have no chance to purify their eating. Politicians meet together and exchange good wishes by drinking liquor, which is so polluted and sinful that naturally drunkards and meat-eaters develop a degraded mentality in the mode of ignorance. The processes of eating in different modes are explained in the Bhagavad-gita, wherein it is stated that those who eat rice, wheat, vegetables, milk products, fruit and sugar are situated in the elevated quality of goodness. Therefore if we want a happy and tranquil political situation, we must select leaders who eat Krsna prasada. Otherwise the leaders will eat meat and drink wine, and thus they will be asamskrtah, unreformed, and kriya-hinah, devoid of spiritual behavior. In other words, they will be mlecchas and yavanas, or men who are unclean in their habits. Through taxation, such men exploit the citizens as much as possible, and in this way they devour the citizens of the state instead of benefiting them. We therefore cannot expect a government to be efficient if it is headed by such unclean mlecchas and yavanas.

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