Text 5] The Son of Drona Punished 323

completed by the influence of association. The Lord has suggested, there-
fore, that by the influence of the speeches of saintly persons who have
actually realized the Supreme, men are engaged in His transcendental
loving service. The conditioned soul gets a taste for hearing about the
Lord, and by such hearing only he is gradually elevated to the platform of
respect, devotion and attachment for the Lord. The whole thing is com-
pleted by the surrendering process. Herein also the same suggestion is
made by the Lord in His incarnation of Vyasadeva. This means that the
conditioned souls are being reclaimed by the Lord both ways, namely by
the process of punishment by the external energy of the Lord, and by
Himself as the spiritual master within and without. Within the heart of
every living being the Lord Himself as the Supersoul Paramatma becomes
the spiritual master, and from without He becomes the spiritual master in
the shape of scriptures, saints and initiator spiritual master. This is still
more explicitly explained in the next sloka.

Personal superintendence of the illusory energy is confirmed in the
Vedas (the Kena Upanisad) in relation to the demigods’ controlling power.
Herein also it is clearly stated that the living entity is controlled by the
external energy in a personal capacity. The living being thus subject to the
control of external energy is differently situated. It is clear, however, from
the present statement of Bhagavatam that the same external energy is
situated in the inferior position before the Personality of Godhead or the
perfect being. The perfect being, or the Lord, cannot be approached even
by the illusory energy, who can only work on the living entities. Therefore
it is sheer imagination that the Supreme Lord is illusioned by the illusory
energy and thus becomes a living being. If the living being and the Lord
would have been in the same category, then it would have been quite
possible for Vyasadeva to see it, and there would have been no question of
material distress on the part of the illusioned being because the Supreme
Being is fully cognizant. So there are so many unscrupulous imaginations
on the part of the monists to endeavor to put both the Lord and the living
being in the same category. Had it been so, then Srila Sukadeva Gosvami
would not have taken the trouble to describe the transcendental pastimes
of the Lord, if they were all manifestations of illusory energy.

Srimad-Bhagavatam is the summum bonum remedy for the suffering
humanity in the clutches of maya. Srila Vyasadeva therefore first of all
diagnosed the actual disease of the conditioned souls, i.e. their being
illusioned by the external energy. He also saw the perfect Supreme Being
from whom illusory energy is far removed, though He saw both the
diseased conditioned souls and also the cause of the disease. And the
