Adi-lila, Chapter 3 221
an dcdrya. Although Sri Advaita Prabhu Himself was powerful enough to do the
work, as a submissive servitor He thought that without the personal appearance of
the Lord, no one could improve the fallen condition of society. In the grim clutches
of mayd, the first-class prisoners of this material world wrongly think themselves
happy because they are rich, powerful, resourceful and so on. These foolish creatures
do not know that they are nothing but play dolls in the hands of material nature
and that at any moment material nature’s pitiless intrigues can crush to dust all
their plans for godless activities. Such foolish prisoners cannot see that however
they improve their position by artificial means, the calamities of repeated birth,
death, disease and old age are always beyond the jurisdiction of their control.
Foolish as they are, they neglect these major problems of life and busy themselves
with false things that cannot help them solve their real problems. They know that
they do not want to suffer death or the pangs of disease and old age, but under the
influence of the illusory energy, they are grossly negligent and therefore do nothing
to solve the problems. This is called mdya. People held in the grip of mdyd are
thrown into oblivion after death, and as a result of their karma, inthe next life they
become dogs or gods, although most of them become dogs. To become gods in the
next life, they must engage in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead; otherwise, they are sure to become dogs or hogs in terms of the laws of
nature.

The third-class prisoners, being less materially opulent than the first-class
prisoners, endeavor to imitate them, for they also have no information of the real
nature of their imprisonment. Thus they also are misled by the illusory material
nature. The function of the acarya, however, is to change the activities of both the
first-class and third-class prisoners for their real benefit. This endeavor makes him
a very dear devotee of the Lord, who says clearly in Bhagavad-gita that no one in
human society is dearer to Him than a devotee who constantly engages in His
service by finding ways to preach the message of Godhead for the real benefit of
the world. The so-called acdryas of the age of Kali are more concerned with ex-
ploiting the resources of their followers than mitigating their miseries; but Sri
Advaita Prabhu, as an ideal acarya, was concerned with improving the condition
of the world situation.

TEXT 99
airs Disew aie waa Sass |
Barca wivix Sie SAA Sista |i do I
Gpani sri-krsna yadi karena avatara
Gpane acari’ bhakti karena pracara
SYNONYMS

Gpani—Himself; sri-krsna— Lord Krsna; yadi— if; karena— He makes; avatara—incar-
nation; Gpane—Himself; dcari’— practicing; bhakti—devotional service; karena—does;
pracara— propagation.
