TEXT 1
TEXT
sri-prahrada uvaca
kaumara acaret prajno
dharman bhagavatan iha
durlabham manusam janma
tad apy adhruvam arthadam
Prahlada Maharaja said: One who is sufficiently intelligent should use
the human form of body from the very beginning of life–in other words,
from the tender age of childhood–to practice the activities of
devotional service, giving up all other engagements. The human body is
most rarely achieved, and although temporary like other bodies, it is
meaningful because in human life one can perform devotional service. Even
a slight amount of sincere devotional service can give one complete
perfection.
TEXT 2
TEXT
yatha hi purusasyeha
visnoh padopasarpanam
yad esa sarva-bhutanam
priya atmesvarah suhrt
The human form of life affords one a chance to return home, back to
Godhead. Therefore every living entity, especially in the human form of
life, must engage in devotional service to the lotus feet of Lord Visnu.
This devotional service is natural because Lord Visnu, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, is the most beloved, the master of the soul, and
the well-wisher of all other living beings.
TEXT 3
TEXT
sukham aindriyakam daitya
deha-yogena dehinam
sarvatra labhyate daivad
yatha duhkham ayatnatah
Prahlada Maharaja continued: My dear friends born of demoniac
families, the happiness perceived with reference to the sense objects by
contact with the body can be obtained in any form of life, according to
one’s past fruitive activities. Such happiness is automatically obtained
without endeavor, just as we obtain distress.
TEXT 4
TEXT
tat-prayaso na kartavyo
yata ayur-vyayah param
na tatha vindate ksemam
mukunda-caranambujam
Endeavors merely for sense gratification or material happiness through
economic development are not to be performed, for they result only in a
loss of time and energy, with no actual profit. If one’s endeavors are
directed toward Krsna consciousness, one can surely attain the spiritual
platform of self-realization. There is no such benefit from engaging
oneself in economic development.
TEXT 5
TEXT
tato yateta kusalah
ksemaya bhavam asritah
sariram paurusam yavan
na vipadyeta puskalam
Therefore, while in material existence [bhavam asritah], a person
fully competent to distinguish wrong from right must endeavor to achieve
the highest goal of life as long as the body is stout and strong and is
not embarrassed by dwindling.
TEXT 6
TEXT
pumso varsa-satam hy ayus
tad-ardham cajitatmanah
nisphalam yad asau ratryam
sete ‘ndham prapitas tamah
Every human being has a maximum duration of life of one hundred years,
but for one who cannot control his senses, half of those years are
completely lost because at night he sleeps twelve hours, being covered by
ignorance. Therefore such a person has a lifetime of only fifty years.
TEXT 7
TEXT
mugdhasya balye kaisore
kridato yati vimsatih
jaraya grasta-dehasya
yaty akalpasya vimsatih
In the tender age of childhood, when everyone is bewildered, one
passes ten years. Similarly, in boyhood, engaged in sporting and playing,
one passes another ten years. In this way, twenty years are wasted.
Similarly, in old age, when one is an invalid, unable to perform even
material activities, one passes another twenty years wastefully.
TEXT 8
TEXT
durapurena kamena
mohena ca baliyasa
sesam grhesu saktasya
pramattasyapayati hi
One whose mind and senses are uncontrolled becomes increasingly
attached to family life because of insatiable lusty desires and very
strong illusion. In such a madman’s life, the remaining years are also
wasted because even during those years he cannot engage himself in
devotional service.
TEXT 9
TEXT
ko grhesu puman saktam
atmanam ajitendriyah
sneha-pasair drdhair baddham
utsaheta vimocitum
What person too attached to household life due to being unable to
control his senses can liberate himself? An attached householder is bound
very strongly by ropes of affection for his family [wife, children and
other relatives].
TEXT 10
TEXT
ko nv artha-trsnam visrjet
pranebhyo ‘pi ya ipsitah
yam krinaty asubhih presthais
taskarah sevako vanik
Money is so dear that one conceives of money as being sweeter than
honey. Therefore, who can give up the desire to accumulate money,
especially in household life? Thieves, professional servants [soldiers]
and merchants try to acquire money even by risking their very dear lives.
TEXTS 11-13
TEXT
katham priyaya anukampitayah
sangam rahasyam rucirams ca mantran
suhrtsu tat-sneha-sitah sisunam
kalaksaranam anurakta-cittah
putran smarams ta duhitrr hrdayya
bhratrn svasrr va pitarau ca dinau
grhan manojnoru-paricchadams ca
vrttis ca kulyah pasu-bhrtya-vargan
tyajeta kosas-krd ivehamanah
karmani lobhad avitrpta-kamah
aupasthya-jaihvam bahu-manyamanah
katham virajyeta duranta-mohah
How can a person who is most affectionate to his family, the core of
his heart being always filled with their pictures, give up their
association? Specifically, a wife is always very kind and sympathetic and
always pleases her husband in a solitary place. Who could give up the
association of such a dear and affectionate wife? Small children talk in
broken language, very pleasing to hear, and their affectionate father
always thinks of their sweet words. Mow could he give up their
association? One’s elderly parents and one’s sons and daughters are also
very dear. A daughter is especially dear to her father, and while living
at her husband’s house she is always in his mind. Who could give up that
association? Aside from this, in household affairs there are many
decorated items of household furniture, and there are also animals and
servants. Who could give up such comforts? The attached householder is
like a silkworm, which weaves a cocoon in which it becomes imprisoned,
unable to get out. Simply for the satisfaction of two important senses–
the genitals and the tongue–one is bound by material conditions. How can
one escape?
TEXT 14
TEXT
kutumba-posaya viyan nijayur
na budhyate ‘rtham vihatam pramattah
sarvatra tapa-traya-duhkhitatma
nirvidyate na sva-kutumba-ramah
One who is too attached cannot understand that he is wasting his
valuable life for the maintenance of his family. He also fails to
understand that the purpose of human life, a life suitable for
realization of the Absolute Truth, is being imperceptibly spoiled.
However, he is very cleverly attentive to seeing that not a single
farthing is lost by mismanagement. Thus although an attached person in
material existence always suffers from threefold miseries, he does not
develop a distaste for the way of material existence.
TEXT 15
TEXT
vittesu nityabhinivista-ceta
vidvams ca dosam para-vitta-hartuh
pretyeha vathapy ajitendriyas tad
asanta-kamo harate kutumbi
If a person too attached to the duties of family maintenance is unable
to control his senses, the core of his heart is immersed in how to
accumulate money. Although he knows that one who takes the wealth of
others will be punished by the law of the government, and by the laws of
Yamaraja after death, he continues cheating others to acquire money.
TEXT 16
TEXT
vidvan apittham danujah kutumbam
pusnan sva-lokaya na kalpate vai
yah sviya-parakya-vibhinna-bhavas
tamah prapadyeta yatha vimudhah
O my friends, sons of demons! In this material world, even those who
are apparently advanced in education have the propensity to consider,
“This is mine, and that is for others.” Thus they are always engaged in
providing the necessities of life to their families in a limited
conception of family life, just like uneducated cats and dogs. They are
unable to take to spiritual knowledge; instead, they are bewildered and
overcome by ignorance.
TEXTS 17-18
TEXT
yato na kascit kva ca kutracid va
dinah svam atmanam alam samarthah
vimocitum kama-drsam viharakrida-
mrgo yan-nigado visargah
tato vidurat parihrtya daitya
daityesu sangam visayatmakesu
upeta narayanam adi-devam
sa mukta-sangair isito ‘pavargah
My dear friends, O sons of the demons, it is certain that no one
bereft of knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead has been able
to liberate himself from material bondage at any time or in any country.
Rather, those bereft of knowledge of the Lord are bound by the material
laws. They are factually addicted to sense gratification, and their
target is woman. Indeed, they are actually playthings in the hands of
attractive women. Victimized by such a conception of life, they become
surrounded by children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and thus
they are shackled to material bondage. Those who are very much addicted
to this conception of life are called demons. Therefore, although you are
sons of demons, keep aloof from such persons and take shelter of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, Narayana, the origin of all the demigods,
because the ultimate goal for the devotees of Narayana is liberation from
the bondage of material existence.
TEXT 19
TEXT
na hy acyutam prinayato
bahv-ayaso ‘suratmajah
atmatvat sarva-bhutanam
siddhatvad iha sarvatah
My dear sons of demons, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Narayana,
is the original Supersoul, the father of all living entities.
Consequently there are no impediments to pleasing Him or worshiping Him
under any conditions, whether one be a child or an old man. The
relationship between the living entities and the Supreme Personality of
Godhead is always a fact, and therefore there is no difficulty in
pleasing the Lord.
TEXTS 20-23
TEXT
paravaresu bhutesu
brahmanta-sthavaradisu
bhautikesu vikaresu
bhutesv atha mahatsu ca
gunesu guna-samye ca
guna-vyatikare tatha
eka eva paro hy atma
bhagavan isvaro ‘vyayah
pratyag-atma-svarupena
drsya-rupena ca svayam
vyapya-vyapaka-nirdesyo
hy anirdesyo ‘vikalpitah
kevalanubhavanandasvarupah
paramesvarah
mayayantarhitaisvarya
iyate guna-sargaya
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the supreme controller, who is
infallible and indefatigable, is present in different forms of life, from
the inert living beings [sthavara], such as the plants, to Brahma, the
foremost created living being. He is also present in the varieties of
material creations and in the material elements, the total material
energy and the modes of material nature [sattva-guna, rajo-guna and tamoguna],
as well as the unmanifested material nature and the false ego.
Although He is one, He is present everywhere, and He is also the
transcendental Supersoul, the cause of all causes, who is present as the
observer in the cores of the hearts of all living entities. He is
indicated as that which is pervaded and as the all-pervading Supersoul,
but actually He cannot be indicated. He is changeless and undivided. He
is simply perceived as the supreme sac-cid-ananda [eternity, knowledge
and bliss]. Being covered by the curtain of the external energy, to the
atheist He appears nonexistent.
TEXT 24
TEXT
tasmat sarvesu bhutesu
dayam kuruta sauhrdam
bhavam asuram unmucya
yaya tusyaty adhoksajah
Therefore, my dear young friends born of demons, please act in such a
way that the Supreme Lord, who is beyond the conception of material
knowledge, will be satisfied. Give up your demoniac nature and act
without enmity or duality. Show mercy to all living entities by
enlightening them in devotional service, thus becoming their wellwishers.
TEXT 25
TEXT
tuste ca tatra kim alabhyam ananta adye
kim tair guna-vyatikarad iha ye sva-siddhah
dharmadayah kim agunena ca kanksitena
saram jusam caranayor upagayatam nah
Nothing is unobtainable for devotees who have satisfied the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, who is the cause of all causes, the original
source of everything. The Lord is the reservoir of unlimited spiritual
qualities. For devotees, therefore, who are transcendental to the modes
of material nature, what is the use of following the principles of
religion, economic development, sense gratification and liberation, which
are all automatically obtainable under the influence of the modes of
nature? We devotees always glorify the lotus feet of the Lord, and
therefore we need not ask for anything in terms of dharma, kama, artha
and moksa.
TEXT 26
TEXT
dharmartha-kama iti yo ‘bhihitas tri-varga
iksa trayi naya-damau vividha ca varta
manye tad etad akhilam nigamasya satyam
svatmarpanam sva-suhrdah paramasya pumsah
Religion, economic development and sense gratification–these are
described in the Vedas as tri-varga, or three ways to salvation. Within
these three categories are education and self-realization; ritualistic
ceremonies performed according to Vedic injunction; logic; the science of
law and order; and the various means of earning one’s livelihood. These
are the external subject matters of study in the Vedas, and therefore I
consider them material. However, I consider surrender to the lotus feet
of Lord Visnu to be transcendental.
TEXT 27
TEXT
jnanam tad etad amalam duravapam aha
narayano nara-sakhah kila naradaya
ekantinam bhagavatas tad akincananam
padaravinda-rajasapluta-dehinam syat
Narayana, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the well-wisher and
friend of all living entities, formerly explained this transcendental
knowledge to the great saint Narada. Such knowledge is extremely
difficult to understand without the mercy of a saintly person like
Narada, but everyone who has taken shelter of Narada’s disciplic
succession can understand this confidential knowledge.
TEXT 28
TEXT
srutam etan maya purvam
jnanam vijnana-samyutam
dharmam bhagavatam suddham
naradad deva-darsanat
Prahlada Maharaja continued: I received this knowledge from the great
saint Narada Muni, who is always engaged in devotional service. This
knowledge, which is called bhagavata-dharma, is fully scientific. It is
based on logic and philosophy and is free from all material
contamination.
TEXTS 29-30
TEXT
sri-daitya-putra ucuh
prahrada tvam vayam capi
narte ‘nyam vidmahe gurum
etabhyam guru-putrabhyam
balanam api hisvarau
balasyantahpura-sthasya
mahat-sango duranvayah
chindhi nah samsayam saumya
syac ced visrambha-karanam
The sons of the demons replied: Dear Prahlada, neither you nor we know
any teacher or spiritual master other than Sanda and Amarka, the sons of
Sukracarya. After all, we are children and they our controllers. For you
especially, who always remain within the palace, it is very difficult to
associate with a great personality. Dear friend, most gentle one, would
you kindly explain how it was possible for you to hear Narada? Kindly
dispel our doubts in this regard.
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