Text 7]
Vidura's Talks with Maitreya
167
krīḍan vidhatte dvija-go-surāṇām kṣemāya karmāṇy avatāra-bhedaiḥ mano na trpyaty api śṛṇvatām naḥ suśloka-mauleś caritāmṛtāni
krīḍan —manifesting pastimes;  vidhatte —perform;  dvija —twice-born;  go- cow;  surāṇām —of the demigods;  kṣemāya —welfare;  karmāṇi —transcendental activities;  avatāra —incarnations;  bhedaiḥ —differently;  manaḥ —mind;  na —never;  trpyati —satisfies;  api —in spite of;  śṛṇvatām —continuously hearing;  naḥ —our;  suśloka —auspicious;  mauleḥ —of the Lord;  carita —characteristics;  amṛtāni —undying.
TRANSLATION
You may narrate also about the auspicious characteristics of the Lord in His different incarnations for the welfare of the twice-born, the cows and the demigods. Our minds are never satisfied completely although we continuously hear of His transcendental activities.
PURPORT
The Lord appears in this universe in different incarnations like Matsya, Kūrma, Varāha and Nṛsimha, and He manifests His different transcendental activities for the welfare of the twice-born, the cows and the demigods. The Lord is directly concerned with the twice-born or civilized men. A civilized man is one who has taken his birth twice. A living entity takes birth in this mundane world due to the union of male and female. A human being is born due to union of the father and mother, but a civilized human being has another birth by contact with a spiritual master, who becomes the actual father. The father and mother of the material body are so only in one birth, and in the next birth the father and mother may be a different couple. But the bona fide spiritual master, as the representative of the Lord, is the eternal father because the spiritual master has the responsibility to lead the disciple to spiritual salvation or the ultimate goal of life. Therefore, a civilized man must be twice-born, otherwise he is no more than the lower animals.
The cow is the most important animal for developing the human body to perfection. The body can be maintained by any kind of foodstuff, but cow's milk is particularly essential for developing the finer tissues of the human brain so that one can understand the intricacies of transcendental knowledge. A civilized man is expected to live on foodstuffs comprising fruits, vegetables, grains, sugar and milk. The bull helps in the agricultural