114
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 7, Ch. 13]
and schools and so on. Therefore, simply cultivating knowledge that materialistic activities cannot give one happiness, and that one should consequently cease from such activities, is insufficient. One should cease from materialistic activities and take up spiritual activities. Then the solution to the problem will be achieved. Spiritual activities are activities performed according to the order of Kṛṣṇa ( ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanam ). If one does whatever Kṛṣṇa says, his activities are not material. For example, when Arjuna fought in response to the order of Kṛṣṇa, his activities were not material. Fighting for sense gratification is a materialistic activity, but fighting by the order of Kṛṣṇa is spiritual. By spiritual activities one becomes eligible to go back home, back to Godhead, and then enjoy blissful life eternally. Here, in the material world, everything is but a mental concoction that will never give us real happiness. The practical solution, therefore, is to cease from materialistic activities and engage in spiritual activities.  Yajñārthāt karmaṇo 'nyatra loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ.  If one works for the sake of pleasing the Supreme Lord—Yajña, or Viṣṇu—one is in liberated life. If one fails to do so, however, he remains in a life of bondage.
TEXT 28
इत्येतदात्मनः स्वार्थं सन्तं विस्मृत्य वै पुमान् । विचित्रामसति द्वैते घोरामाप्नोति संमृतिम् ॥२८॥
ity etad ātmanaḥ svārthaṁ santaṁ vismṛtya vai pumān vicitrām asati dvaite ghorām āpnoti saṁsṛtim
iti —in this way;  etat —a person materially conditioned;  ātmanaḥ —of his self;  sva-artham —own interest;  santam —existing within oneself;  vismṛtya —forgetting;  vai —indeed;  pumān —the living entity;  vicitrām —attractive false varieties;  asati —in the material world;  dvaite —other than the self;  ghorām —very fearful (due to continuous acceptance of birth and death);  āpnoti —one becomes entangled;  saṁsṛtim —in material existence.