materialistic

In Bhagavad-gita it is said that only with the sanction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead can the demigods offer benedictions. Therefore, whenever any sacrifice is offered to a demigod, the Supreme Lord in the form of Narayana-sila or Salagrama-sila is put forward to observe the sacrifice. Actually, the demigods cannot give any benediction without the sanction of the Supreme Lord. Narada Muni, therefore, advised that even for religiosity, economic development, sense gratification or liberation, one should approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead, offer prayers and ask for the fulfillment of his desire at the lotus feet of the Lord. That is real intelligence. An intelligent person never goes to demigods to pray for anything. He goes directly to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the cause of all benediction.    (More...)

This important verse has been discussed by many stalwart commentators. Why was Dhruva Maharaja not very pleased, even after achieving the goal of life he desired? A pure devotee is always free from any kind of material desires. In the material world, one's material desires are all most demonic; one thinks of others as one's enemies, one thinks of revenge against one's enemies, one aspires to become the topmost leader or topmost person in this material world, and thus one competes with all others, etc. This has been described in the Bhagavad-gita, Sixteenth Chapter, as asuric. A pure devotee has no demand from the Lord. His only concern is to serve the Lord sincerely and seriously, and he is not at all concerned about what will happen in the future. In the Mukunda-mala-stotra, King Kulasekhara, author of the book, states in his prayer: "My dear Lord, I don't want any position of sense gratification within this material world. I simply want to engage in Your service perpetually." Similarly, Lord Caitanya, in His Siksastaka, also prayed, "My Lord, I do not want any amount of material wealth, I do not want any number of materialistic followers, nor do I want any attractive wife to enjoy. The only thing I want is that I may engage life after life in Your service." Lord Caitanya did not pray even for mukti, or liberation.    (More...)

The word anatmyam is very significant in this verse. Atma means the soul, and anatmya means without any conception of the soul. Srila Rsabhadeva instructed his sons that unless a human being comes to the point of understanding the atma, or spiritual position, whatever he does is ignorance, and this brings only defeat in his life. Dhruva Maharaja regrets his unfortunate position, for although he approached the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is always able to give His devotee the highest benediction of cessation of the repetition of birth and death, which is impossible for any demigod to offer, he foolishly wanted something perishable. When Hiranyakasipu asked immortality from Lord Brahma, Lord Brahma expressed his inability to offer such a benediction because he himself is not immortal; therefore immortality or complete cessation of the chain of repeated birth and death can be offered by the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead Himself, not by others. Harim vina na srtim taranti. It is said that without the blessings of Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, no one can stop the continuous chain of birth and death within this material world. Therefore the Supreme Lord is also called bhava-cchida. The Vaisnava philosophy in the process of Krsna consciousness prohibits the devotee from all kinds of material aspirations. A Vaisnava devotee should always be anyabhilasita-sūnya, free from all material aspirations for the results of fruitive activities or empiric philosophical speculation. Dhruva Maharaja was actually initiated by Narada Muni, the greatest Vaisnava, in the chanting of om namo bhagavate vasudevaya. This mantra is a visnu-mantra, for by practicing the chanting of this mantra one is elevated to the Visnuloka. Dhruva Maharaja regrets that although he was initiated in the visnu-mantra by a Vaisnava, he still aspired for material benefits. That was another cause for lamentation. Although he got the result of the visnu-mantra by the causeless mercy of the Lord, he lamented how foolish he was to strive for material benefits while practicing devotional service. In other words, every one of us who is engaged in devotional service in Krsna consciousness should be completely free from all material aspirations. Otherwise we will have to lament like Dhruva Maharaja.    (More...)

Sometimes it so happens that a devotee engaged in the loving service of the Lord desires some material benefit in exchange for this service. This is not the proper way to discharge devotional service. Out of ignorance, of course, sometimes a devotee does so, but Dhruva Maharaja regrets his personal behavior in this connection.    (More...)

In the beginning of his life, when he went to the forest in search of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Dhruva Maharaja realized that all bodily conceptions of pleasure are products of the illusory energy. In the very beginning, of course, he was after the kingdom of his father, and in order to get it he went to search for the Supreme Lord. But he later realized that everything is the creation of the illusory energy. From the acts of Srila Dhruva Maharaja we can understand that somehow or other if one becomes Krsna conscious-it does not matter what his motivation is in the beginning-he will eventually realize the real truth by the grace of the Lord. In the beginning, Dhruva Maharaja was interested in the kingdom of his father, but later he became a great devotee, maha-bhagavata, and had no interest in material enjoyment. The perfection of life can be achieved only by devotees. Even if one completes only a minute percentage of devotional service and then falls down from his immature position, he is better than a person who fully engages in the fruitive activities of this material world.    (More...)

The word udara-dhiḥ is significant in this connection. The wife of the King, Sunitha, was not fit to accept this benediction, yet the King was so liberal that without hesitation he offered to his wife the boiled rice in milk prasada received from the yajna-purusa. Of course everything is designed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As will be explained in later verses, this incident was not very favorable for the King. Since the King was very liberal, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in order to increase his detachment from this material world, willed that a cruel son be born of the Queen so that the King would have to leave home. As stated above, Lord Visnu fulfills the desires of the karmis as they desire, but the Lord fulfills the desire of a devotee in a different way so that the devotee may gradually come to Him. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (dadami buddhi-yogam tam yena mam upayanti te). The Lord gives the devotee the opportunity to make progress further and further so that he may come back home, back to Godhead.    (More...)