422 Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

The modes of nature that directly cause material actions are also originally
activated by Narayana. A simple example will explain how this is so. When a potter
manufactures a pot from earth, the potter’s wheel, his tools and the potter himself
are the remote causes of the pot, but the potter is the chief cause. Similarly,
Narayana is the chief cause of all material creations, and the material energy supplies
the ingredients of matter. Therefore without Narayana, all other causes are useless,
just as the potter’s wheel and tools are useless without the potter himself. Since
materialistic scientists ignore the Personality of Godhead, it is as if they were con-
cerned with the potter’s wheel and its rotation, the potter’s tools and the ingre-
dients for the pots, but had no knowledge of the potter himself. Therefore modern
science has created an imperfect, godless civilization that is in gross ignorance of the
ultimate cause. Scientific advancement should have a great goal to attain, and that
great goal should be the Personality of Godhead. In Bhagavad-gita it is said that
after conducting research for many, many births, great men of knowledge who
stress the importance of experimental thought can know the Personality of Godhead,
who is the cause of all causes. When one knows Him perfectly, one surrenders unto
Him and then becomes a mahatma.

TEXT 52
CASED cafeal as BITE wetafe |
Bas, Aita— sia atlas Bafy y cr 0

vaikuntha bediya eka ache jala-nidhi
ananta, apara—tara nahika avadhi

SYNONYMS

vaikuntha—the spiritual planets of Vaikuntha; bediy@—surrounding; eka—one;
dche—there is; jala-nidhi—ocean of water; ananta—unlimited; apara—unfathomed;
tara—of that; nahika—no; avadhi-—limitation.

TRANSLATION

Surrounding Vaikuntha is a mass of water that is endless, unfathomed and
unlimited.

TEXT 53

CaRror Heras ae fowra |
aifirs ocwa Sf ora ate SH Nl co Ii

vaikunthera prthivy-adi sakala cinmaya
mayika bhitera tathi janma nahi haya
