Texts 3-4] The Process of Creation 173

death; vijidya—being informed; sannyasya—renouncing; karma—fruitive
activities;  érai-vargikam—three principles of religion, economic
development and sense gratification; ca—also; yat—what it may be;
vasudeve—unto Lord Krsna; bhagavati—the Personality of Godhead;
atma-bhavam—attraction of love; drdham—firmly fixed; gatah—achieved.

TRANSLATION

O great sages, the great soul Maharaja Pariksit, constantly rapt in the
thought of Lord Krsna, knowing well of his imminent death, renounced
all sorts of fruitive activities, namely acts of religion, economic
development and sense gratification, and thus fixed himself firmly in his
natural love for Krsna and asked exactly all these questions, as you are
asking me.

PURPORT

The three activities of religion, economic development and_ sense
gratification are generally attractive for conditioned souls struggling for
existence in the material world. Such regulated activities prescribed in the
Vedas are called the karma-kandiya conception of life, and householders
are generally recommended to follow the rules just to enjoy material
prosperity both in this life and in the next. Most people are attracted by
such activities. Even in the activities of their modern godless civilization,
people are more concerned with economic development and sense gratifi-
cation without any religious sentiments. As a great emperor of the world,
Maharaja Pariksit had to observe such regulations of the Vedic karma-
kandiya section, but by the slight association with Sukadeva Gosvami he
could perfectly understand that Lord Krsna, the Absolute Personality of
Godhead (Vasudeva), for whom he had a natural love since his birth, is
everything, and thus he fixed his mind firmly upon Him, renouncing all
modes of Vedic karma-kandiya activities. This perfectional stage is attained
by a jfani after many, many births. The jiianis, or the empiric philosophers
endeavoring for liberation, are thousands of times better than the fruitive
workers, and out of hundreds of tiiousands of such jfianis one is liberated
factually. And out of hundreds of thousands of such liberated persons,
even one person is rarely found who can firmly fix his mind unto the lotus
feet of Lord Sri Krsna, as it is declared by the Lord Himself in the
Bhagavad-gitd (Bg. 7.19). Maharaja Pariksit is specially qualified with the
