72 Elevation to Krsna Consciousness

demon and that the trident is the threefold miseries
of material existence from which we are always
suffering. Some miseries are inflicted by other living
entities, some are inflicted by natural disasters, and
some are inflicted by the mind and body themselves.
In one way or another we are always struggling
against these three types of miseries. No one in the
material creation can say that he is free from them.
The trident of this material nature is pressed against
everyone’s chest, and because of this, pure happiness
within this material world is not possible. We may
try to satisfy Mother Durga by worshiping her or by
giving her some bribe, but Durga is not so easily
bribed.

Therefore we should know that our aim of life
should be to understand the Supreme Personality
of Godhead. We should make every arrangement—
social, political, philosophical or religious—but the
aim should be to approach the Supreme Person. In
the Vedas it is stated that the learned advanced
people, the demigods of the creation, simply look
to the lotus feet of Krsna. The aim should be the
same with human civilization. Without looking to
Krsna’s lotus feet, all religious, social or political
endeavors will fail. It is not possible to make progress
as long as our desires are anchored in the material
world. In this regard, there is a story of a bride-
groom’s party who had to go to the bride’s house
down the river. It was settled that they would start
at night by boat and reach the destination early in
the morning. Therefore at night, after supper, the
jubilant party got aboard a boat, made themselves
comfortable and instructed the boatmen to start.
