1438
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[ Canto 4, Ch. 29 ]
less intelligent who are described in  Bhagavad-gītā  as  māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ  (those whose knowledge is taken away by the illusory energy). Real knowledge means understanding the miserable condition of material life. One should take shelter of a bona fide liberated soul, the spiritual master, and gradually elevate himself to the spiritual platform and thus become detached from the material world. According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Thākura,  hamsa-śaraṇam  refers to the cottage in which saintly persons live. Generally a saintly person lives in a remote place in the forest or in a humble cottage. However, we should note that the times have changed. It may be beneficial for a saintly person's own interest to go to the forest and live in a cottage, but if one becomes a preacher, especially in Western countries, he has to invite many classes of men who are accustomed to living in comfortable apartments. Therefore in this age a saintly person has to make proper arrangements to receive people and attract them to the message of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Thākura, perhaps for the first time, introduced palatial buildings and motor cars for the residence of saintly persons just to attract the general public in big cities. The main fact is that one has to associate with a saintly person. In this age people are not going to search out a saint in the forest, so the saints and sages have to come to the big cities to make arrangements to receive the people in general, who are accustomed to the modern amenities of material life. Gradually such persons will learn that palatial buildings or comfortable apartments are not at all necessary. The real necessity is to become free from material bondage in whatever way possible. According to the orders of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī:
anāsaktasya viṣayān 
    yathārham upayuñjataḥ 
    nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṇa-sambandhe 
    yuktaṁ vairāgyam ucyate
“When one is not attached to anything, but at the same time accepts everything in relation to Kṛṣṇa, one is rightly situated above possessiveness.” (Bh.r.s. 1.2.255)
One should not be attached to material opulence, but material opulence may be accepted in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement to facilitate the propagation of the movement. In other words, material opulence may be accepted as  yukta-vairāgya , that is, for renunciation.