TEXT 6
sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo
yato bhaktir adhokṣaje
ahaituky apratihatā
yayātmā suprasīdati
SYNONYMS
saḥ—that; vai—certainly; puṁsām—for mankind; paraḥ—sublime; dharmaḥ—occupation; yataḥ—by which; bhaktiḥ—devotional service; adhokṣaje—unto the Transcendence; ahaitukī—causeless; apratihatā—unbroken; yayā—by which; ātmā—the self; suprasīdati—completely satisfied.
In the transcendental land of Goloka Vrndavana, Lord Sri Krsna stands on the bank of the Yamuna river playing His flute. With His eyes blooming like lotus petals, His head bedecked with a peacock feather, and His beautiful figure tinged with the hue of blue clouds, He charms millions of cupids with His unique loveliness.
TRANSLATION
The supreme occupation [dharma]
for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional
service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be
unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self.
PURPORT
In this statement, Śrī Sūta
Gosvāmī answers the first question of the sages of Naimiṣāraṇya. The
sages asked him to summarize the whole range of revealed scriptures and
present the most essential part so that fallen people or the people in
general might easily take it up. The Vedas prescribe two different types of occupation for the human being. One is called the pravṛtti-mārga, or the path of sense enjoyment, and the other is called the nivṛtti-mārga,
or the path of renunciation. The path of enjoyment is inferior, and the
path of sacrifice for the supreme cause is superior. The material
existence of the living being is a diseased condition of actual life.
Actual life is spiritual existence, or brahma-bhūta [SB 4.30.20]
existence, where life is eternal, blissful and full of knowledge.
Material existence is temporary, illusory and full of miseries. There is
no happiness at all. There is just the futile attempt to get rid of the
miseries, and temporary cessation of misery is falsely called
happiness. Therefore, the path of progressive material enjoyment, which
is temporary, miserable and illusory, is inferior. But devotional
service to the Supreme Lord, which leads one to eternal, blissful and
all-cognizant life, is called the superior quality of occupation. This
is sometimes polluted when mixed with the inferior quality. For example,
adoption of devotional service for material gain is certainly an
obstruction to the progressive path of renunciation. Renunciation or
abnegation for ultimate good is certainly a better occupation than
enjoyment in the diseased condition of life. Such enjoyment only
aggravates the symptoms of disease and increases its duration. Therefore
devotional service to the Lord must be pure in quality, i.e., without
the least desire for material enjoyment. One should, therefore, accept
the superior quality of occupation in the form of the devotional service
of the Lord without any tinge of unnecessary desire, fruitive action
and philosophical speculation. This alone can lead one to perpetual
solace in His service.
We have purposely denoted dharma as occupation because the root meaning of the word dharma
is "that which sustains one's existence." A living being's sustenance
of existence is to coordinate his activities with his eternal relation
with the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa
is the central pivot of living beings, and He is the all-attractive
living entity or eternal form amongst all other living beings or eternal
forms. Each and every living being has his eternal form in the
spiritual existence, and Kṛṣṇa is the eternal attraction for all of them. Kṛṣṇa
is the complete whole, and everything else is His part and parcel. The
relation is one of the servant and the served. It is transcendental and
is completely distinct from our experience in material existence. This
relation of servant and the served is the most congenial form of
intimacy. One can realize it as devotional service progresses. Everyone
should engage himself in that transcendental loving service of the Lord,
even in the present conditional state of material existence. That will
gradually give one the clue to actual life and please him to complete
satisfaction.
Link to this page: http://prabhupadabooks.com/sb/1/2/6
