Text 41 |
Vidura's Talks with Maitreya
203
ādhyatmic  (bodily or mental) pains,  ādhibautic  pains (those offered by living creatures), and  ādhidaivic  pains (those due to supernatural disturbances). His happiness is nothing but a hard struggle to get free from the miseries of conditional life. But there is only one way he can be rescued, and that is by accepting the shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The argument that unless one has proper knowledge one cannot be freed from material miseries is undoubtedly true. But because the lotus feet of the Lord are full of transcendental knowledge, acceptance of His lotus feet completes that necessity. We have already discussed this point in the First Canto (1.2.7):
vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ janayaty āśu vairāgyaṁ jñānaṁ ca yad ahaitukam
There is no want of knowledge in the devotional service of Vāsudeva, the Personality of Godhead. He, the Lord, personally takes charge of dissipating the darkness of ignorance from the heart of a devotee. He confirms this in  Bhagavad-gītā  (10.10):
tesāṁ satata-yukatānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ yena mām upayānti te
Empiric philosophical speculation cannot give one relief from the threefold miseries of material existence. Simply to endeavor for knowledge without devoting oneself to the Lord is a waste of valuable time.
TEXT 41
मार्गन्ति यते मुखपञ्चनीडै- श्छन्दःसुपर्णैर्ऋषयो विविक्ते ।
यस्याधमर्षोदसरिद्वरायाः
पदं पदं तीर्थपदः प्रपन्नाः ॥४१॥
mārganti yat te mukha-padma-nīḍaiś chandaḥ-suparṇair ṛṣayo vivikte yasyāghamarṣoda-sarid-varāyāḥ padaṁ padaṁ tīrtha-padaḥ prapannāḥ
mārganti —searching after;  yat —as;  te —Your;  mukha-padma —lotuslike face;  nīḍaiḥ —by those who have taken shelter of such a lotus flower;  chandaḥ —Vedic hymns;  suparṇaiḥ —by the wings;  ṛṣayaḥ —the sages;  vivi-