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THE PATH OF PERFECTION
earn millions of dollars? Why am I wasting my energy? I should engage my time and energy in understanding God. That is the purpose of life.” If one has no economic problems, he has sufficient time to understand Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If he wastes this precious time, he is called a  mūḍha , a rascal or an ass.
According to the preceding verse, a person is said to have attained  yoga  when he has renounced all material desires. Once we are situated perfectly in  yoga , we are satisfied. We no longer experience material desires. We no longer act for sense gratification or engage in fruitive activity. When we speak of “fruitive activity,” we refer to activities carried out for the purpose of sense gratification. That is, we are earning money in order to gratify our senses. If one is virtuous, he engages in pious activities—he donates money to charities, opens hospitals, schools, etc. Although these are certainly virtuous activities, they are ultimately meant for sense gratification. How is this? If I donate to an educational institution, for instance, I will receive good educational facilities and will become highly educated in my next life. Being thus educated, I will attain a good position and will acquire a good amount of money. Then how will I utilize this money? For sense gratification. Thus these virtuous and fruitive activities form a kind of cycle.
We often hear the expression “a better standard of life,” but what does this mean? It is said that the standard of life in America is superior to that in India, but in both countries there is eating, sleeping, defending, and mating. Of course, in America the quality of food may be better, but the eating process is there. A superior standard of life does not mean superior spiritual realization. It just means better eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. This is called fruitive activity, and it is based on sense gratification.
Yoga  has nothing to do with sense gratification or fruitive activity.  Yoga  means connecting with the Supreme. Dhruva Mahārāja underwent severe austerities in order to see God, and when he finally saw God, he said,  svāmin kṛtārtho 'smi varaṁ na yāce : “My dear Lord, I am now fully satisfied. I am not asking for anything more. I do not want any further benediction from You.” Why didn’t Dhruva Mahārāja ask for benedictions? What is a
Mastering the Mind and Senses
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“benediction”? Generally,  benediction  means receiving a great kingdom, a beautiful wife, palatable food, and so forth, but when one is actually connected with God, he does not want such “benedictions.” He is fully satisfied.  Svāmin kṛtārtho 'smi varaṁ na yāce .
Actually, Dhruva Mahārāja initially searched for God in order to attain his father’s kingdom. Dhruva Mahārāja’s mother was rejected by his father, and his stepmother resented his sitting on his father’s lap. Indeed, she forbade him to sit on his father’s lap because Dhruva Mahārāja was not born in her womb. Although only five years old, Dhruva Mahārāja was a  kṣatriya , and he took this as a great insult. Going to his own mother, he said, “Mother, my stepmother has insulted me by forbidding me to sit on my father’s lap.” Dhruva Mahārāja then started to cry, and his mother said, “My dear boy, what can I do? Your father loves your stepmother more than he loves me. I can do nothing.” Dhruva Mahārāja then said, “But I want my father’s kingdom. Tell me how I can get it.” “My dear boy,” his mother said, “if Kṛṣṇa, God, blesses you, you can get it.” “Where is God?” Dhruva Mahārāja asked. “Oh, it is said that God is in the forest,” his mother said. “Great sages go to the forest to search for God.”
Hearing this, Dhruva Mahārāja went directly to the forest and began to perform severe penances. Finally he saw God, and when he saw Him, he no longer desired his father’s kingdom. Instead, he said, “My dear Lord, I was searching for some pebbles, but instead I have found valuable jewels. I no longer care for my father’s kingdom. Now I am fully satisfied.” When one is actually connected with God, he is totally satisfied. His satisfaction is infinitely greater than so-called enjoyment in this material world. That is the satisfaction resulting from God realization, and that is the perfection of  yoga .
When a person is fully engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, he is pleased in himself, and thus he is no longer engaged in sense gratification or in fruitive activities. Otherwise, one must be engaged in sense gratification, since one cannot live without engagement. It is impossible to cease all activity. As stated before, it is our nature as living entities to act. It is