298
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 1, Ch. 6]
for sense satisfaction and avarice for sense gratification. The balanced mode of nature is goodness. And to be completely freed from all material tinges is to become free from the modes of goodness also. To search the audience of God in a lonely forest is considered to be in the mode of goodness. One can go out into the forest to attain spiritual perfection, but that does not mean that one can see the Lord personally there. One must be completely freed from all material attachment and be situated on the plane of transcendence, which alone will help the devotee get in personal touch with the Personality of Godhead. The best method is that one should live at a place where the transcendental form of the Lord is worshiped. The temple of the Lord is a transcendental place, whereas the forest is a materially good habitation. A neophyte devotee is always recommended to worship the Deity of the Lord ( arcanā ) rather than go into the forest to search out the Lord. Devotional service begins from the process of  arcanā , which is better than going out in the forest. In his present life, which is completely freed from all material hankerings, Śrī Nārada Muni does not go into the forest, although he can turn every place into Vaikuṇṭha by his presence only. He travels from one planet to another to convert men, gods, Kinnaras, Gandharvas,  ṛṣis ,  munis  and all others to become devotees of the Lord. By his activities he has engaged many devotees like Prahlāda Mahārāja, Dhruva Mahārāja and many others in the transcendental service of the Lord. A pure devotee of the Lord, therefore, follows in the footsteps of the great devotees like Nārada, Prahlāda, etc., and engages his whole time in glorifying the Lord by the process of  kūrtana . Such a preaching process is transcendental to all material qualities.
TEXT 22
सकृद्यद् दर्शितं रूपमेतत्कामाय तेऽनघ । मत्कामः शनकैः साधु सर्वान्मुञ्चति हृच्छयान् ॥२२॥
sakṛd yad darśitam rūpam etat kāmāya te'nagha mat-kāmaḥ śanakaiḥ sādhu sarvān muñcati hṛc-chayān
sakṛt—once only; yat—that; darśitam—shown; rūpam—form; etat—this is; kāmāya—for hankerings; te—your; anagha—O virtuous one; mat—Mine; kāmaḥ—desire; śanakaiḥ—by increasing; sādhuḥ—devotee; sarvān—all; muñcati—gives away; hṛt-śayān—material desires.