Text 9]
Mahārāja Pṛthu's Going Back Home
983
yogam tenaiva puruṣam abhajat puruṣarṣabhaḥ
sanat-kumāraḥ—Sanat-kumāra; bhagavān—most powerful; yat—that which; āha—said; ādhyātmikam—spiritual advancement of life; param—ultimate; yogam—mysticism; tena—by that; eva—certainly; puruṣam—Supreme Person; abhajat—worshiped; puruṣa-ṛṣabhaḥ—the best of the human beings.
TRANSLATION
Thus the best amongst human beings, Mahārāja Pṛthu, followed that path of spiritual advancement which was advised by Sanat-kumāra. That is to say, he worshiped the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa.
PURPORT
In this verse it is clearly said that Mahārāja Pṛthu, practicing the  prāṇāyāma-yoga  system, engaged in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as advised by the saint Sanat-kumāra. In this verse the words  puruṣam abhajat puruṣarṣabhaḥ  are significant:  puruṣarṣabha  refers to Mahārāja Pṛthu, the best amongst human beings, and  puruṣam  refers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The conclusion is that the best man amongst all men engages in the service of the Supreme Person. One  puruṣa  is worshipable, and the other  puruṣa  is the worshiper. When the  puruṣa  who worships, the living entity, thinks of becoming one with the Supreme Person, he simply becomes bewildered and falls into the darkness of ignorance. As stated by Lord Kṛṣṇa in  Bhagavad-gītā , all living entities assembled in the battlefield, as well as Kṛṣṇa Himself, were also present in the past as individuals and would continue to be present in the future as individuals also (Bg. 2.12). Therefore the two  puruṣas , the living entity and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, never lose their respective identities.
Actually one who is self-realized engages himself in the service of the Lord perpetually, both in this life and in the next. Indeed, for devotees there is no difference between this life and the next. In this life a neophyte devotee is trained to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and in the next life he approaches that Supreme Person in Vaikuṇṭha and renders the same devotional service. Even for the neophyte devotee, devotional service is considered  brahma-bhūyāya kalpate . Devotional service to the Lord is never considered a material activity. Since he is acting on the  brahma-bhūta  platform, a devotee is already liberated. He therefore has no need to practice any other type of  yoga  in order to approach the  brahma-bhūta  stage. If the devotee adheres strictly to the orders of the spiritual