178
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 3, Ch. 5]
Godhead. Those who are in the modes of ignorance and passion are adverse to the existence of God, or else they formally accept the existence of God in the capacity of an order supplier. Above them are those who are in the mode of goodness. This second class of men believe the Supreme Brahman to be impersonal. They accept the cult of  bhakti , in which hearing of  Kṛṣṇa-kathā  is the first item, as a means and not the end. Above them are those who are pure devotees. They are situated in the transcendental stage above the mode of material goodness. Such persons are decidedly convinced that the name, form, fame, qualities, etc., of the Personality of Godhead are nondifferent from one another on the absolute plane. For them, hearing of the topics of  Kṛṣṇa  is equal to meeting with Him eye to eye. According to this class of men, who are situated in pure devotional service to the Lord, the highest goal of human life is  puruṣārtha , devotional service to the Lord, the real mission of life. The impersonalists, because they engage in mental speculation and have no faith in the Personality of Godhead, have no business hearing the topics of  Kṛṣṇa . Such persons are pitiable for the first-class pure devotees of the Lord. The pitiable impersonalists pity those who are influenced by the modes of ignorance and passion, but the pure devotees of the Lord take pity on them both because both waste their most valuable time in the human form of life in false pursuits, sense enjoyment and mental speculative presentations of different theories and goals of life.
TEXT 15
तदस्य कौषारव शर्मदातु- 
    हरेः कथामेव कथासु सारम् । 
    उद्धृत्य पुष्पेभ्य इवार्तबन्धो 
    शिवाय नः कीर्तय तीर्थकीर्तेः ॥१५॥
tad asya kauṣārava śarma-dātur 
    hareḥ kathām-eva kathāsu sāram 
    uddhṛtya puṣpebhya ivārta-bandho 
    śivāya naḥ kīrtaya tīrtha-kīrteḥ
tat—therefore; asya—His; kauṣārava—O Maitreya; śarma-dātuḥ—of one who awards good fortune; hareḥ—of the Lord; kathām—topics; eva—only; kathāsu—of all topics; sāram—the essence; uddhṛtya—by quoting; puṣpebhyaḥ—from the flowers; iva—like that; arta-bandho—of the friend