402
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 1, Ch. 8]
unavoidable misfortunes, one should make progress in spiritual realization, because that is the mission of human life. The spirit soul is transcendental to all material calamities; therefore, the so-called calamities are called false. A man may see a tiger swallowing him in a dream, and he may cry for this calamity. Actually there is no tiger and there is no suffering, but it is simply a case of dreams. In the same way, all calamities of life are said to be dreams. If someone is lucky enough to get in contact with the Lord by devotional service, it is all gain. Contact with the Lord by any one of the nine devotional services is always a forward step on the path of going back to Godhead.
TEXT 26
जन्मैश्वर्यश्रुतश्रीभिरेधमानमदः पुमान् । नैवार्हत्यभिधातुं वै त्वामक्रिञ्चनगोचरम् ॥२६॥
janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrībhir edhamāna-madaḥ pumān naivārhaty abhidhātum vai tvām akiñcana-gocaram
janma—birth; aiśvarya—opulence; śruta—education; śrībhiḥ—by the possession of beauty; edhamāna—progressively increasing; madaḥ—intoxication; pumān—the human being; na—never; eva—ever; arhati—deserves; abhidhātum—address in feeling; vai—certainly; tvām—You; akiñcana-gocaram—one who is approached easily by the materially exhausted man.
TRANSLATION
My Lord, Your Lordship can easily be approached, but only by those who are materially exhausted. One who is on the path of [material] progress, trying to improve himself with respectable parentage, great opulence, high education and bodily beauty, cannot approach You with sincere feeling.
PURPORT
Being materially advanced means taking birth in an aristocratic family, possessing great wealth, an education and attractive personal beauty. All materialistic men are mad after possessing all these material opulences, and this is known as advancement of material civilization. But the result is that by possessing all these material assets one becomes artificially puffed up,