Deliverance of Mucukunda
343
This beautiful body may be nice while in the living condition, but after death even the body of a king is eaten by an animal and therefore turns into stool or is cremated in the crematorium and turned into ashes or is put into an earthly grave where different kinds of worms and insects are produced out of it.
“My dear Lord, not only do we become under the full control of this inevitable time after death, but also while living, in a different way. For example, I may be a powerful king, and yet when I come home after conquering over the world I become subjected to many material conditions. It may be that when I come back after being victorious all subordinate kings come and offer their respects, but as soon as I enter into the inner section of my palace, I myself become an instrument in the hands of the queens, and for sense gratification I have to fall down at the feet of women. The material way of life is so complicated that before taking the enjoyment of material life one has to work so hard that there is scarcely an opportunity for enjoying. And to attain the youthful condition with all material facilities one has to undergo severe austerities and penances and become elevated to the heavenly planets. If one gets the opportunity of taking birth in a very rich or royal family, even then in that condition he is always anxious to maintain the status quo and prepare for the next life by performing various kinds of sacrifices and by distributing charity. Even in the royal condition of life one is not only full of anxieties because of political administration, but he is also in anxiety over being elevated to heavenly planets.
“It is therefore very difficult to get out of the material entanglement, but somehow or other if one is favored by You, by Your mercy only he is given the opportunity to associate with a pure devotee. That is the beginning point of liberation from the entanglement of material conditional life. My dear Lord, only by the association of pure devotees is one entrapped by Your Lordship, who is the controller of both the material and spiritual existences. You are the supreme goal of all pure devotees, and by association with pure devotees one can develop his dormant love for You. Therefore, development of Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the association of pure devotees is the cause of liberation from this material entanglement.
“My dear Lord, You are so merciful that in spite of my being reluctant to associate with Your great devotees You have shown Your extreme mercy upon me as a result of my slight contact with a pure devotee like Gargamuni. By Your causeless mercy only have I lost all my material opulences, my kingdom and my family. I do not think that I could have gotten rid of all these entanglements without Your causeless mercy. Kings