132
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 2, Ch. 3]
still, and the still more rare persons are those who are conscious of the value of the  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  because it contains the messages of the Lord and His pure devotees. Death is inevitable for everyone, intelligent and foolish. But Parīkṣit Mahārāja has been addressed by the Gosvāmī as the  manīṣī , or the man of highly developed mind, because at the time of death he left all material enjoyment and completely surrendered unto the lotus feet of the Lord by hearing His messages from the right person, like Śukadeva Gosvāmī. But aspiration for material enjoyment by endeavoring persons is condemned. Such aspirations are something like the intoxication of the degraded human society. Intelligent persons should try to avoid it and seek instead the permanent life by returning home, back to Godhead.
TEXT 8
धर्मार्थ उत्तमश्लोकं तन्तुः तन्वन् पितृन् यजेत् । रक्षाक्रमः पुण्यजनानोजस्कामो मरुद्वेणान् ॥ ८ ॥
dharmārtha uttama-ślokam   tantuḥ tanvan pitṛn yajet   rakṣā-kāmaḥ puṇya-janān   ojas-kāmo marud-gaṇān
dharma-arthaḥ —for spiritual advancement;  uttama-ślokam —the Supreme Lord or persons attached to the Supreme Lord;  tantuḥ —for offspring;  tanvan —and for their protection;  pitṛn —the residents of the Pitṛloka;  yajet —must worship;  rakṣā-kāmaḥ —one who desires protection;  puṇya-janān —pious persons;  ojas-kāmaḥ —one who desires strength should worship;  marud-gaṇān —the demigods.
TRANSLATION
One should worship Lord Viṣṇu or His devotee for spiritual advancement of knowledge, and for protection of heredity and advancement of the dynasty one should worship the different demigods.
PURPORT
The path of religion entails making progress on the path of spiritual advancement, ultimately reviving the eternal relation with Lord Viṣṇu in