TEXT 4
purusa yadi muhyanti
tvadrsa deva-mayaya
srama eva param jato
dirghaya vrddha-sevaya
SYNONYMS
purusahpersons; yadiif; muhyantibecome bewildered; tvadrsahlike you; devaof the Supreme Lord; mayayaby the energy; sramahexertion; evacertainly; paramonly; jatahproduced; dirghayafor a long time; vrddha-sevayaby serving the superiors.
TRANSLATION
If a personality like you, who are so much advanced because of executing the instructions of the previous acaryas, is carried away by the influence of My material energy, then all your advancement may be considered simply a waste of time.
PURPORT
In this verse the word vrddha-sevaya is very significant. Vrddha means old. Sevaya means by service. Perfect knowledge is acquired from the acaryas, or liberated souls. No one can be perfect in knowledge without being trained by the parampara system. Prthu Maharaja was completely trained in that line; therefore he did not deserve to be considered an ordinary man. An ordinary man, who has only a conception of bodily existence, is always bewildered by the modes of material nature.

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