TEXT 3
bhagavato gunamaye sthula-rupa avesitam mano hy agune pi suksmatama atma-jyotisi pare brahmani bhagavati vasudevakhye ksamam avesitum tad u haitad guro rhasy anuvarnayitum iti.
SYNONYMS
bhagavatahof the Supreme Personality of Godhead; guna-mayeinto the external features, consisting of the three modes of material nature; sthula-rupethe gross form; avesitamentered; manahthe mind; hiindeed; agunetranscendental; apialthough; suksmatamein His smaller form as Paramatma within the heart; atma-jyotisiwho is full of Brahman effulgence; parethe supreme; brahmanispiritual entity; bhagavatithe Supreme Personality of Godhead; vasudeva-akhyeknown as Bhagavan Vasudeva; ksamamsuitable; avesitumto absorb; tatthat; u haindeed; etatthis; guroO my dear spiritual master; arhasi anuvarnayitumplease describe factually; itithus.
TRANSLATION
When the mind is fixed upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His external feature made of the material modes of naturethe gross universal formit is brought to the platform of pure goodness. In that transcendental position, one can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva, who in His subtler form is self-effulgent and beyond the modes of nature. O my lord, please describe vividly how that form, which covers the entire universe, is perceived.
PURPORT
Maharaja Pariksit had already been advised by his spiritual master, Sukadeva Gosvami, to think of the universal form of the Lord, and therefore, following the advice of his spiritual master, he continuously thought of that form. The universal form is certainly material, but because everything is an expansion of the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, ultimately nothing is material. Therefore Pariksit Maharajas mind was saturated with spiritual consciousness. Srila Rupa Gosvami has stated:
Everything, even that which is material, is connected with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore everything should be engaged in the service of the Lord. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura translates this verse as follows:
One should not give up anything connected with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, thinking it material or enjoyable for the material senses. Even the senses, when purified, are spiritual. When Maharaja Pariksit was thinking of the universal form of the Lord, his mind was certainly situated on the transcendental platform. Therefore although he might not have had any reason to be concerned with detailed information of the universe, he was thinking of it in relationship with the Supreme Lord, and therefore such geographical knowledge was not material but transcendental. Elsewhere in Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.5.20) Narada Muni has said, idam hi visvam bhagavan ivetarah: the entire universe is also the Supreme Personality of Godhead, although it appears different from Him. Therefore although Pariksit Maharaja had no need for geographical knowledge of this universe, that knowledge was also spiritual and transcendental because he was thinking of the entire universe as an expansion of the energy of the Lord.
In our preaching work also, we deal with so much property and money and so many books bought and sold, but because these dealings all pertain to the Krsna consciousness movement, they should never be considered material. That one is absorbed in thoughts of such management does not mean that he is outside of Krsna consciousness. If one rigidly observes the regulative principle of chanting sixteen rounds of the maha-mantra every day, his dealings with the material world for the sake of spreading the Krsna consciousness movement are not different from the spiritual cultivation of Krsna consciousness.

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