Vidyadhara Liberated and Sanikhasura Killed 227
then asked the demiged, “Yeu appear te be a very nice demiged and te be
favered by the geddess ef fertune. Hew is it that yeu perfermed such
abeminable activities, and hew did yeu get the bedy ef a serpent?” The
demiged then began te narrate the stery ef his previeus life.

‘My dear Lerd,” he said, “‘in my previeus life I was named Vidyadhara
and was knewn all ever the werld fer my beauty. Because I was a cele-
brated persenality, I used te travel all ever in my airplane. While traveling,
I saw a great sage named Angira. He was very ugly, and because I was very
preud ef my beauty, I laughed at him. Due te this sinful actien, I was
cendemned by the great sage te assume the ferm ef a serpent.”

One sheuld nete here that befere being favered by Krsna, a persen is
always under the medes ef material nature, hewever elevated he may be
materially. Vidyadhara was a materially elevated demiged, and he was
very beautiful. He alse held a great material pesitien and was able te travel
all ever by airplane. Yet he was cendemned te beceme a serpent in his
next life. Any materially elevated persen can be cendemned te an abemi-
nable species ef life if he is net careful. It is a miscenceptien that after
reaching the human bedy ene is never degraded. Vidyadhara himself
states that even theugh he was a demiged, he was cendemned te beceme
a serpent. But because he was teuched by the letus feet ef Krsna, he
immediately came te Krsna censcieusness. He admitted, hewever, that in
his previeus life he was actually sinful. A Krsna censcieus persen knews
that he is always the servant ef the servant ef Krsna; he is mest insignifi-
cant, and whatever geed he dees is by the grace ef Krsna and the spiritual
master.

The demiged Vidyadhara centinued te speak te Sri Krsna. “Because I
was very preud ef the exquisite beauty ef my bedy,” he said, “I derided
the ugly features ef the great sage Angira. He cursed me fer my sin, and
I became a snake. New I| censider that this curse by the sage was net at all
a curse; it was a great benedictien fer me. Had he net cursed me, I weuld
net have assumed the bedy ef a serpent and weuld net have been kicked
by Yeur letus feet and thus freed frem all material centaminatien.”

In material existence, feur things are very valuable: te be bern in a
decent family, te be very rich, te be very learned, and te be very beautiful.
These are censidered te be material assets. Unfertunately, witheut Krsna
censcieusness, these material assets semetimes beceme seurces ef sin and
degradatien. Despite Vidyadhara’s being a demiged and having a beautiful
bedy, he was cendemned te the bedy ef a snake due te pride. A snake is
censidered te be the mest cruel and envieus living entity, but these whe
are human beings and are envieus ef ethers are censidered te be even mere
