196
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 7, Ch. 15]
must avoid five kinds of irreligion, known as  vidharma ,  para-dharma ,  dharmābhāsa ,  upadharma  and  chala-dharma . One must act according to the religious principles that suit his constitutional position; it is not that everyone must adhere to the same type of religion. A general principle is that a poor man should not unnecessarily endeavor for economic development. One who refrains from such endeavors but who engages in devotional service is most auspicious.
One who is not satisfied with the mind must fall to degradation. One must conquer lusty desires, anger, greed, fear, lamentation, illusion, fright, unnecessary talks on material subjects, violence, the four miseries of material existence, and the three material qualities. That is the objective of human life. One who has no faith in the spiritual master, who is identical with Śrī Krṣṇa, cannot get any benefit from reading  śāstra . One should never consider the spiritual master an ordinary human being, even though the members of the spiritual master's family may think of him as such. Meditation and other processes of austerity are useful only if they help in advancement toward Krṣṇa consciousness; otherwise, they are simply a waste of time and labor. For those who are not devotees, such meditation and austerity cause falldown.
Every householder should be very careful because even though a householder may try to conquer the senses, he becomes a victim to the association of relatives and falls down. Thus a  grhastha  must become a  vānaprastha  or  sannyāsī , live in a secluded place, and be satisfied with food gotten by begging from door to door. He must chant the  oṁkāra mantra  or Hare Krṣṇa  mantra , and in this way he will perceive transcendental bliss within himself. After taking  sannyāsa , however, if one returns to  grhastha  life, he is called a  vāntāśī , which means "one who eats his own vomit." Such a person is shameless. A householder should not give up the ritualistic ceremonies, and a  sannyāsī  should not live in society. If a  sannyāsī  is agitated by the senses, he is a cheater influenced by the modes of passion and ignorance. When one assumes a role in goodness by starting philanthropic and altruistic activities, such activities become impediments on the path of devotional service.
The best process for advancing in devotional service is to abide by the orders of the spiritual master, for only by his direction can one conquer the senses. Unless one is completely Krṣṇa conscious, there is a chance of falling down. Of course, in performing ritualistic ceremonies and other fruitive activities there are also many dangers at every moment. Fruitive