Text 148] The Lord Instructs Srila Rapa Gosvami 327

schools and hospitals. Whether one earns money for himself or for the public
benefit, he is called a karma-nistha. Out of millions of karma-nisthas there may be
one who is wise. Those who try to avoid fruitive activity and who become silent
in order to merge into the spiritual existence of the Absolute Truth are generally
known as jfanis, wise men. They are not interested in fruitive activity but in merg-
ing into the Supreme. In either case, both are interested in personal benefit. The
karmis are directly interested in personal benefit within the material world, and
the jfdnis are interested in merging into the existence of the Supreme. The jfanis
maintain that fruitive activity is imperfect. For them, perfection is the cessation of
work and the merging into the supreme existence. That is their goal in life. The
jfani wants to extinguish the distinction between knowledge, the knower and
the aim of knowledge. This philosophy is called monism, or oneness, and is
characterized by spiritual silence.

TEXT 148

CHiBeat fea SH CaEA AS |
CRB AST GS’ Qa FWSS |) 980 |

koti-jfAani-madhye haya eka-jana ‘mukta’
koti-mukta-madhye ‘durlabha’ eka krsna-bhakta

SYNONYMS

koti-jAani-madhye—out of many millions of such wise men; haya—there is;
eka-jana—one person; mukta—actually liberated; koti-mukta-madhye—out of
many millions of such liberated persons; durlabha—very rare; eka—one; krsna-
bhakta—pure devotee of Lord Krsna.

TRANSLATION

“Out of many millions of such wise men, one may actually become liber-
ated [mukta], and out of many millions of such liberated persons, a pure
devotee of Lord Krsna is very difficult to find.

PURPORT

In Srimad-Bhagavatam it is said that due to their poor fund of knowledge, the
jfanis are not actually liberated. They simply think that they are liberated. The
perfection of knowledge culminates when one comes to the platform of knowing
the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti sabdy-
ate. The Absolute Truth (satya-vastu) is described as Brahman, Paramatma and
Bhagavan. Knowledge of impersonal Brahman and the Supersoul is imperfect until
one comes to the platform of knowing the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is
