Text 92]
Rūpa Gosvāmī's Meeting with the Lord
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TEXT 92
“স্বর্গাপগা-হেমমৃণালিনীনাং নানা-মৃণালাগ্রভূজো ভজামঃ । অন্নানুরূপাং তন্তুরূপঋদ্ধিং কার্যং নিদানাদ্ধি গুণানধীতে ॥ ৯২ ॥
svargāpagā-hema-mṛṇālinīnāṁ nānā-mṛṇālāgra-bhujo bhajāmaḥ annānurūpāṁ tanu-rūpa-ṛddhiṁ kāryaṁ nidānād dhi guṇān adhīte
SYNONYMS
svarga-āpagā —of the Ganges water flowing in the heavenly planets;  hema —golden;  mṛṇālinīnām —of the lotus flowers;  nānā —various;  mṛṇāla-agra-bhujaḥ —those who eat the tops of the stems;  bhajāmaḥ —we get;  anna-anurūpām —according to the food;  tanu-rūpa-ṛddhim —an abundance of bodily beauty;  kāryam —the effect;  nidānāt —from the cause;  hi —certainly;  guṇān —qualities;  adhīte —one obtains.
TRANSLATION
“ The River Ganges flowing from the heavenly planets is full of golden lotus flowers, and we, the residents of those planets, eat the stems of the flowers. Thus we are very beautiful, more so than the inhabitants of any other planet. This is due to the law of cause and effect, for if one eats food in the mode of goodness, the mode of goodness increases the beauty of his body.’ ”
PURPORT
One’s bodily luster and beauty, one’s constitution, one’s activities and one’s qualities all depend on the law of cause and effect. There are three qualities in material nature, and as stated in  Bhagavad-gītā  (13.22),  kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo ‘sya sad-asad-yoni-janmasu : one takes birth in a good or bad family according to his previous association with the qualities of material nature. Therefore one seriously eager to achieve transcendental perfection,  Kṛṣṇa  consciousness, must eat  Kṛṣṇa prasāda . Such food is  sāttvika , or in the material quality of goodness, but when offered to  Kṛṣṇa  it becomes transcendental. Our  Kṛṣṇa  consciousness movement distributes  Kṛṣṇa prasāda , and those who eat such transcendental food are sure to become devotees of the Lord. This is a very scientific method, as stated in this verse from  Nala-naiṣadha  (3.17):  kāryaṁ nidānād dhi guṇān adhīte . If in all one’s activities he strictly adheres to the mode of goodness, he will certainly develop