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bliss. Naturally they are very sweet, like sugar candy, which
appeals to everyone. Nescience, however, is compared to the
disease called jaundice, which is caused by bilious secretions.
Attacked by jaundice, the tongue of a diseased person cannot
palatably relish sugar candy. Rather, a person with jaundice
considers something sweet to taste very bitter. Avidya (ig-
norance) similarly perverts the ability to relish the transcen-
dentally palatable name, quality, form and pastimes of
Krsna. Despite this disease, if one with great care and atten-
tion takes to Krsna consciousness, chanting the holy name
and hearing Krsna’s transcendental pastimes, his ignorance
will be destroyed and his tongue enabled to taste the sweet-
ness of the transcendental nature of Krsna and His
paraphernalia. Such a recovery of spiritual health is possible
only by the regular cultivation of Krsna consciousness.
When a man in the material world takes more interest in
the materialistic way of life than in Krsna consciousness, he
is considered to be in a diseased condition. The normal con-
dition is to remain an eternal servant of the Lord (jivera
‘svariipa’ haya——krsnera ‘nitya-dasa’). This healthy con-
dition is lost when the living entity forgets Krsna due to
being attracted by the external features of Krsna’s maya en-
ergy. This world of maya is called durasraya, which means
“false or bad shelter.” One who puts his faith in durasraya
becomes a candidate for hoping against hope. In the material
world everyone is trying to become happy, and although
their material attempts are baffled in every way, due to their
nescience they cannot understand their mistakes. People try
to rectify one mistake by making another mistake. This is
