306 Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead

followers of Ramanujacarya and the followers of Sankaracarya hold
occasional meetings for understanding the Vedic conclusion. Generally, the
followers of Ramanujacarya come out victorious in such meetings. So
Pariksit Maharaja wanted to clarify the situation by asking this question
of Sukadeva Gosvami. That Lord Siva lives as a poor man although his
devotees appear to be very opulent, whereas Lord Krsna or Lord Visnu is
always opulent, and yet His devotees appear to be poverty-stricken, is a
situation which appears contradictory and puzzling to a discriminating
person.

Sukadeva Gosvami began to reply to King Pariksit’s inquiry about the
apparent contradictions regarding the worship of Lord Siva and that of
Lord Visnu. Lord Siva is the master of the material energy. The material
energy is represented by goddess Durga, and Lord Siva happens to be her
husband. Since goddess Durga is completely under the subjugation of Lord
Siva, it is to be understood that Lord Siva is the master of this material
energy. The material energy is manifested in three qualities, namely good-
ness, passion and ignorance, and therefore Lord Siva is the master of these
three qualities. Although he is in association with these qualities for the
benefit of the conditioned soul, Lord Siva is the director and is not affect-
ed. Although the conditioned soul is affected by the three qualities, Lord
Siva, because he is the master of these qualities, is not affected by them.

From the statements of Sukadeva Gosvami we can understand that the
effects of worshiping different demigods are not, as some less intelligent
persons suppose, the same as the effects of worshiping Lord Visnu. He
clearly states that by worshiping Lord Siva one achieves one reward,
whereas by worshiping Lord Visnu one achieves a different reward. This is
also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita: those who worship the different
demigods achieve the desired results which the respective demigods can
reward. Similarly, those who worship the material energy receive the
suitable reward for such activities, and those who worship the pitas receive
similar results. But those who are engaged in devotional service or worship
of the Supreme Lord, Visnu or Krsna, go to the Vaikuntha planets or
Krsnaloka. One cannot approach the transcendental region or paravyoma,
the spiritual sky, by worshiping Lord Siva or Brahma or any other
demigod.

Since this material world is a product of the three qualities of material
nature, all varieties of manifestations come from those three qualities.
With the aid of materialistic science, modern civilization has created many
machines and comforts of life, and yet they are only varieties of the
interactions of the three material qualities. Although the devotees of Lord
