Adi-lila, Chapter 1 77
lead one to a distressful position of material want and scarcity. However, even if one
is put into the most perfect situation of material happiness, he cannot in that way
become free from the pangs of birth, death, old age and disease. A materially happy
person is therefore in need of the eternal relief that mundane religiosity in terms of
fruitive work can never award.

The paths of the culture of knowledge (jridna-mdrga) and of mystic powers (yoga-
marga) are equally hazardous, for one does not know where he will go by following
these uncertain methods. An empiric philosopher in search of spiritual knowledge
may endeavor most laboriously for many, many births in mental speculation, but
unless and until he reaches the stage of the purest quality of goodness—in other
words, until he transcends the plane of material speculation—it is not possible for
him to know that everything emanates from the Personality of Godhead Vasudeva.
His attachment to the impersonal feature of the Supreme Lord makes him unfit to
rise to that transcendental stage of vasudeva understanding, and therefore because
of his unclean state of mind he glides down again into material existence, even after
having ascended to the highest stage of liberation. This falldown takes place due to
his want of a /ocus standi in the service of the Supreme Lord.

As far as the mystic powers of the yogis are concerned, they are also material
entanglements on the path of spiritual realization. One German scholar who became a
devotee of Godhead in India said that material science had already made laudable
progress in duplicating the mystic powers of the yogis. He therefore came to India
not to learn the methods of the yogis’ mystic powers but to learn the path of tran-
scendental loving service to the Supreme Lord, as mentioned in the great scripture
Srimad-Bhdgavatam. Mystic powers can make a yogi materially powerful and thus
give temporary relief from the miseries of birth, death, old age and disease, as other
material sciences can also do, but such mystic powers can never be a permanent
source of relief from these miseries. Therefore, according to the Bhdagavata school,
this path of religiosity is also a method of cheating its followers. In Bhagavad-gitd it
is clearly defined that the most elevated and powerful mystic yog/ is one who can
constantly think of the Supreme Lord within his heart and engage in the loving
service of the Lord.

The path of worship of the innumerable devas, or administrative demigods, is still
more hazardous and uncertain than the above-mentioned processes of karma-kanda
and jfidna-kanda. This system of worshiping many gods, such as Durga, Siva,
Ganesa, Surya and the impersonal Visnu form, is accepted by persons who have
been blinded by an intense desire for sense gratification. When properly executed
in terms of the rites mentioned in the sdstras, which are now very difficult to
perform in this age of want and scarcity, such worship can certainly fulfill one’s
desires for sense gratification, but the success obtained by such methods is certainly
transient, and it is suitable only for a less intelligent person. That is the verdict of
Bhagavad-gita. No sane man should be satisfied by such temporary benefits.

None of the above-mentioned three religious paths can deliver a person from the
threefold miseries of material existence, namely, miseries caused by the body and
mind, miseries caused by other living entities, and miseries caused by the demigods.
The process of religion described in Srimad-Bhagavatam, however, is able to give
