Text 3]
Explanation of Devotional Service
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material nature, the living entity and the Supersoul, one has to understand the basic principle of devotional service to the Lord.
TEXT 3
विरागो येन पुरुषो भगवन् सर्वतो भवेत् ।
आचक्ष्व जीवलोकस्य विविधा मम संस्रुतीः ॥ ३ ॥
virāgo yena puruṣo bhagavan sarvato bhavet ācakṣva jīva-lokasya vividhā mama saṁsṛtīḥ
virāgaḥ —detached;  yena —by which;  puruṣaḥ —a person;  bhagavan —my dear Lord;  sarvataḥ —completely;  bhavet —may become;  ācakṣva —please describe;  jīva-lokasya —for the people in general;  vividhāḥ —manifold;  mama —for myself;  saṁsṛtīḥ —repetition of birth and death.
TRANSLATION
Devahūti continued:  My dear Lord, please also describe in detail, both for myself and for people in general, the continual process of birth and death, for by hearing of such calamities we may become detached from the activities of this material world.
PURPORT
In this verse the word  saṁsṛtīḥ  is very important.  Śreyaḥ-sṛti  means the prosperous path of advancement towards the Supreme Personality of God-head, and  saṁsṛti  means the continued journey on the path of birth and death towards the darkest region of material existence. People who have no knowledge of this material world, God and their actual intimate relationship with Him are actually going to the darkest region of material existence in the name of progress in the material advancement of civilization. To enter the darkest region of material existence means to enter into a species of life other than the human species. Ignorant men do not know that after this life they are completely under the grip of material nature and will be offered a life which may not be very congenial. How a living entity gets different kinds of bodies will be explained in the next chapter. This continual change of bodies in birth and death is called  saṁsāra .