254
Šrū Caitanva =caritāmrta
[[Madhya-lilā] Ch §§
“In this material world the living entity’s only business is to accept the path of  bhakti-voga  and chant the holy name of the lord!”
TEXT 257
‘মুক্তি, ভুক্তি বাঞ্ছে যেই, কাহাঁ দু'ঁহার গতি   ?’ ‘স্থাবরদেহ, দেবদেহ যৈছে অবস্থিতি   !’ ২৫৭ ॥
‘mukti, bhukti vāñche yei, kāhāṅ duṅhāra gati?’ ‘sthāvara-deha, deva-deha yaiche avasthiti’
SYNONYMS
mukti —liberation;  bhukti —sense enjoyment;  vāñche —desires;  yei —one who;  kāhāṅ —where;  duṅhāra —of both of them;  gati —the destination;  sthāvara-deha —the body of a tree;  deva-deha —the body of a demigod;  yaiche —just as;  avasthiti —situated.
TRANSLATION
“And what is the destination of those who desire liberation and those who desire sense gratification?” Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu asked. Rāmānanda Rāya replied, “Those who attempt to merge into the existence of the Supreme Lord will have to accept a body like that of a tree. And those who are overly inclined toward sense gratification will attain the bodies of demigods.”
PURPORT
Those who desire liberation by merging into the existence of God do not desire sense gratification within the material world. On the other hand, they have no information about serving the lotus feet of the Lord. Consequently, they are doomed to stand like trees for many thousands of years. Although trees are living entities, they are nonmoving. The liberated soul who attempts to merge into the existence of the Lord is no better than the trees. Trees also stand in the Lord's existence because material energy and the Lord's energy are the same. Similarly, the Brahman effulgence is also the energy of the Supreme Lord. It is the same whether one remains in the Brahman effulgence or in the material energy because in either there is no spiritual activity. Better situated are those who desire sense gratification and promotion to the heavenly planets. Such people want to enjoy themselves like denizens of heaven in gardens of paradise. They at least retain their individuality in order to enjoy life, but the impersonalists, who try to lose their individuality, also love both material and spiritual pleasure. The stone is immovable and has neither material nor spiritual activity. As far as the hard-working  karmīs  are concerned,  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  states (11.10.23):