848
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[ Canto 4, Ch. 21 ]
dauhitra-ādīn —grandsons like my father,  Vena ;  ṛte —except;  mṛtyoḥ —of personified death;  śocyān —abominable;  dharma-vimohitān —bewildered on the path of religiosity;  varga —religion, economic development, sense gratification and liberation;  svarga —elevation to the heavenly planets;  apavargāṇām —being freed from material contamination;  prāyeṇa —almost always;  eka —one;  ātmya —the Supreme Personality of Godhead;  hetunā —on account of.
TRANSLATION
Although abominable persons like my father,  Vena , the grandson of death personified, are bewildered on the path of religion, all the great personalities like those mentioned agree that in this world the only bestower of the benedictions of religion, economic development, sense gratification, liberation or elevation to the heavenly planets is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
PURPORT
King  Vena , the father of  Pṛthu Mahārāja , was condemned by the  brāhmaṇas  and saintly persons due to his denying the existence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and rejecting the method of satisfying Him by performance of  Vedic sacrifice . In other words, he was an atheist who did not believe in the existence of God and who consequently stopped all  Vedic ritualistic ceremonies  in his kingdom.  Pṛthu Mahārāja  considered his character abominable because he was foolish regarding the execution of religious performances. Atheists are of the opinion that there is no need to accept the authority of the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be successful in religion, economic development, sense gratification or liberation. According to them,  dharma , or religious principles, are meant to establish an imaginary God to encourage one to become moral, honest and just so that the social orders may be maintained in peace and tranquility. Furthermore, they say that actually there is no need to accept God for this purpose, for if one follows the principles of morality and honesty, that is sufficient. Similarly, if one makes nice plans and works very hard for economic development, automatically the result of economic development will come. Similarly, sense gratification also does not depend on the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for if one earns enough money by any process, he will have sufficient opportunity for sense gratification. Insofar as liberation is concerned, they say that there is no need to talk of liberation because after death everything is finished.  Pṛthu Mahārāja , however, does not accept the authority of such atheists,