368
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 2, Ch. 7]
ated by  māyā , permanently. Such a possessor is more illusioned in the matter of his self-realization; therefore one should possess less or nothing, so that he may be free from artificial prestige. We are contaminated in the material world by association with the three modes of material nature. Therefore, the more one is spiritually advanced by devotional service to the Lord, in exchange for his temporary possessions, the more one is freed from the attachment of material illusion. And to achieve this stage of life one must be firmly convinced about spiritual existence and its permanent effects. To know exactly the permanency of spiritual existence, one must voluntarily practice to possess less or the minimum only to maintain the material existence without any difficulty. One should not create artificial needs. That will help one to be satisfied with the minimum. Artificial needs of life are activities of the senses. The modern advancement of civilization is based on these activities of the senses, or, in other words, it is the civilization of sense gratification. Perfect civilization is the civilization of  ātmā , or the soul proper. The civilized man of sense gratification is on an equal level with animals because animals cannot go beyond the activities of the senses. Above the senses there is the mind. The civilization of mental speculation is also not the perfect stage of life because above the mind there is the intelligence, and the  Bhagavad-gītā  gives us information of the intellectual civilization. The Vedic literatures give different directions for the human civilization, including the civilization of the senses, of the mind, of intelligence, and the civilization of the soul proper. The  Bhagavad-gītā  primarily deals with the intelligence of man, leading one to the progressive path of the civilization of the spirit soul. And  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  is the complete human civilization dealing with the subject matter of the soul proper. As soon as a man is raised to the status of the civilization of the soul, he is fit to be promoted to the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of God is described in the  Bhagavad-gītā  as per the above verses.
The primary information of the kingdom of God informs us that there is no need of sun nor moon nor of electricity, which are all necessary in this material world of darkness. And the secondary information of the kingdom of God explains that anyone able to reach that kingdom by adoption of the civilization of the soul proper, or, in other words, by the method of  bhakti-yoga , attains the highest perfection of life. One is then situated in the permanent existence of the soul, with full knowledge of transcendental loving service for the Lord. Bali Mahārāja accepted this civilization of the soul in exchange for his great material possession and thus became fit for promotion to the kingdom of God. The kingdom of heaven, which he achieved by dint of his material power, was considered most insignificant in comparison with the kingdom of God.