Text 3]
A Description of Jambūdvīpa
93
subtler form is self-effulgent and beyond the modes of nature. O my lord, please describe vividly how that form, which covers the entire universe, is perceived.
PURPORT
Mahārāja Parīkṣit had already been advised by his spiritual master, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, to think of the universal form of the Lord, and therefore, following the advice of his spiritual master, he continuously thought of that form. The universal form is certainly material, but because everything is an expansion of the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, ultimately nothing is material. Therefore Parīkṣit Mahārāja's mind was saturated with spiritual consciousness. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has stated:
prāpañcikatayā buddhyā hari-sambandhi-vastunaḥ mumukṣubhiḥ parityāgo vairāgyaṁ phalgu kathyate
Everything, even that which is material, is connected with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore everything should be engaged in the service of the Lord. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Thākura translates this verse as follows:
hari-sevāya yāhā haya anukūla viṣaya baliyā tāhāra tyāge haya bhula
“One should not give up anything connected with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, thinking it material or enjoyable for the material senses.” Even the senses, when purified, are spiritual. When Mahārāja Parīkṣit was thinking of the universal form of the Lord, his mind was certainly situated on the transcendental platform. Therefore although he might not have had any reason to be concerned with detailed information of the universe, he was thinking of it in relationship with the Supreme Lord, and therefore such geographical knowledge was not material but transcendental. Elsewhere in  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  (1.5.20) Nārada Muni has said,  idaṁ hi viśvaṁ bhagavān ivetaraḥ : the entire universe is also