50 The Nectar of Devotion

that if a person simply acts in Krsna consciousness and discharges
devotional service, he is considered to be far, far better situated than
all of those persons engaged in philanthropic, ethical, moral, altruistic
and social welfare activities.

The same thing is still more emphatically confirmed in the Srimad-
Bhagavatam, Eleventh Canto, 5th Chapter, 37th verse, in which
Karabhajana Muni addresses Maharaj Nimi as follows: “My dear
King, if somebody gives up his occupational duties as they are pre-
scribed for the different varnas and asramas, but takes complete shel-
ter, surrendering himself unto the lotus feet of the Lord, such a per-
son is no more a debtor, nor has he any obligation to perform the
different kinds of activities we render to the great sages, ancestors,
living entities and family and society members. Neither has he any
need to bother executing the five kinds of yajfias [sacrifices] for be-
coming free from sinful contamination. Simply by discharging devo-
tional service he is freed from all kinds of obligations.” The purport
is that as soon as a man takes his birth, he is immediately indebted
to so many sources. He is indebted to the great sages because he
profits by reading their authoritative scriptures and books. For exam-
ple, we take advantage of the books written by Vydsadeva. Vy4sa-
deva has left for us all the Vedas. Before Vyasadeva’s writing, the
Vedic literature was simply heard, and the disciples would learn the
mantras quickly by hearing and not by reading. Later on, Vyasadeva
thought it wise to write down the Vedas because in this age people
are short-memoried and unable to remember all the instructions
given by the spiritual master. Therefore, he left all the Vedic know-
ledge in book form, such as the Puranas, Vedanta, Mahabharata and
Srimad-Bhagavatam.

There are many other sages, like Sankaracarya, Gautama Muni,
Narada Muni, etc., to whom we are indebted because we take
advantage of their knowledge. Similarly, we are obliged to our
forefathers because we take our birth in a particular family,
where we take all advantages and inherit property. Therefore,
we are indebted to the forefathers and have to offer them pinda
(prasadam) after they are dead. Similarly, to the people in gen-
eral we are also indebted, as well as to our relatives, friends and
