482 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 1, Ch. 9

invest all powers of thinking, feeling and willing entirely in the Supreme
Being Lord Krsna. He is described herein as the leader of the devotees and
all-powerful. Although Lord Krsna is the original Personality of Godhead,
He Himself descends on earth to bestow upon His pure devotees the boon
of devotional service. He descends sometimes as Lord Krsna as He is. and
sometimes as Lord Cailanya. Both are leaders of the pure devotees. Pure
devotees of the Lord have no desire other than the service of the Lord, and
therefore they are called sdtvata. The Lord ts the chief amongst such
sdtvatas. Bhismadeva. therefore, has no other desires. Unless brig iapuritigan
from all sorts of material desires, the Lord does not become one’s leader.
Desires cannot be wiped out, but they have only to be purified. It is
confirmed in the Bhaguvad-gita by the Lord Himself that He gives His
instruction from within the heart of a pure devotee who is constantly
engaged in the service of the Lord (Bg. 7.28). Such instruction is given not
for any material purpose but only for going back home, back to Godhead
(Bg. 10.10). For the ordinary man who wants to lord it over material
nature. the Lord only sanctions and becomes a witness of activities, but
He never gives the nondevoltee instructions for going back to Godhead.
That is thie difference in dealings by the Lord to dificcant living beings,
both the devotee and the nondevotee. He is leader of all the living beings,
as the king of the state rules both the prisoners and the free citizens. But
His dealings are different in terms of devotee and nondevotee. Non-
devotees never care to take any instruction from the Lord. and therefore
the Lord is silent in their case, although He witnesses all their activities
and awards them the necessary results, good or bad. The devotees are above
this material goodness and badness. but they are progressive on the path of
transcendence, and therefore they have no desire for anything material.
The devotee also knows Sri Krsna as the original Narayana because Lord
Sri Krsna, by His plenary portion, appears.as the Karanodakagay7 Visnu,
the original source of all material creation. The Lord also desires the
association of His pure devotees, and for them only the Lord descends on
the earth and enlivens them. The Lord appears out of His own will. He is
net forced by the conditions of material nature. He is therefore described
here as the vibhu. or the Almighty, for He is never conditioned by the
laws of material nature.

TEXT 33

fraaaaad TATSATt
nt = e
UAHA za |
