356
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 3, Ch. 9]
TRANSLATION
People in general all engage in foolish acts, not in the really beneficial activities which are enunciated directly by You for their guidance. As long as their tendency for foolish work remains powerful, all their plans in the struggle for existence will be cut to pieces. I therefore offer my obeisances unto Him who acts as eternal time.
PURPORT
People in general are all engaged in senseless work. They are systematically unmindful of the real beneficial work, which is the devotional service of the Lord, technically called the  arcanā  regulations. The  arcanā  regulations are directly instructed by the Lord in the  Nārada-pañcarātra  and are strictly followed by the intelligent men who know well that the highest perfectional goal of life is to reach Lord Viṣṇu, who is the root of the tree called the cosmic manifestation. Also, in the  Bhāgavatam  and in  Bhagavad-gītā  such regulative activities are clearly mentioned. Foolish people do not know that their self-interest is in realization of Viṣṇu. The  Bhāgavatam  (7.5.30-32) says:
matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ svato vā mitho 'bhipadyeta gṛha-vratānām adānta-gobhir viśatām tamisraṁ punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām
na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ durāśayā ye bahir artha-māninaḥ andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānā vācīśatantyām urudāmni baddhāḥ
naiṣāṁ matis tāvad urukramāṅghriṁ spṛśaty anarthāpagamo yad arthaḥ mahiyasāṁ pāda-rajo 'bhiṣekaṁ niṣkiñcanānāṁ na vṛṇita yāvat
“Persons who are determined to totally rot in false material happiness cannot become Kṛṣṇa-minded either by instructions from teachers, by self-realization or by parliamentary discussions. They are dragged by the unbridled senses into the darkest region of ignorance, and thus they madly engage in what is called ‘chewing the chewed.’
“Because of their foolish activities, they are unaware that the ultimate goal of human life is to achieve Viṣṇu, the Lord of the cosmic manifestation, and so their struggle for existence is in the wrong direction of