420 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 1, Ch. 8

is known as material advancement of experimental knowledge. The whole
material world is moving on this false attempt of becoming independent of
the laws of nature. Beginning from Ravana, who wanted to prepare a
direct staircase to the planets of heaven, down to the present age, they
are trying to overcome the laws of nature. They are trying now to approach
distant planetary systems by electronic mechanical power. But the highest
goal of human civilization is to work hard under the guidance of the Lord
and become completely dependent on Him. The highest achievement of
perfect civilization is to work with valor but at the same time depend
completely on the Lord. The Pandavas were the ideal executors of this
standard of civilization. Undoubtedly they were completely dependent on
the good will of Lord Sri Krsna, but they were not idle parasites of the
Lord. They were all highly qualified both by personal character and
physical activities. Still they always looked for the mercy of the Lord
because they knew that every living being is dependent by constitutional
position. The perfection of life is, therefore, to become dependent on the
will of the Lord, instead of becoming falsely independent in the material
world. Those who try to become falsely independent of the Lord are
called anatha, or without any guardian, whereas those who are completely
dependent on the will of the Lord are called sandtha, or those having
someone to protect them. Therefore we must try to be sanatha so that we
can always be protected from the unfavorable condition of material
existence. By the deluding power of the external material nature we forget
that the material condition of life is the most undesirable perplexity. The
Bhagavad-gita therefore directs us (7.19) that after many, many births
one fortunate person becomes aware of the fact that Vasudeva is all in all
and that the best way of leading one’s life is to surrender unto Him
completely. That is the sign of a mahatma. All the members of the
Pandava family were mahatmas in household life. Maharaja Yudhisthira
was the head of these mahatmas, and Queen Kuntidevi was the mother.
The lessons of the Bhagavad-gita and all the Puranas, specifically the
Bhagavata Purana, are therefore inevitably connected with the history of
the Pandava mahatmas. For them, separation from the Lord was just like
the separation of a fish from water. Srimati Kuntidevi, therefore, felt
such separation like a thunderbolt, and the whole prayer of the Queen
is to try to persuade the Lord to stay with them. After the Battle of
Kuruksetra, although the inimical kings were killed, their sons and grand-
sons were still there to deal with the Pandavas. It is not only the Pandavas
who were put into the condition of enmity, but all of us are always in such
a condition, and the best way of living is to become completely dependent
