180 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 2, Ch. 4
world, must first of all know how the external energy of the Lord is
working under the direction of the Supreme Personality, and afterwards
one may try to enter into the activities of His internal energy. The
mundaners are mostly worshipers of Durga Devi, the external energy of
Krsna, but they do not know that Durga Devi is but the shadow energy
of the Lord. Behind her astonishing display of material workings, the
direction of the Lord is there, as it is confirmed in the Gita (Bg. 9.10).
The Brahma-samhita affirms that Durga-Sakti is working by the direction
of Govinda, and without His sanction the powerful Durga-Sakti cannot
move even a blade of grass. Therefore the neophyte devotee, instead of
jumping at once on the platform of transcendental pastimes presented by
the internal energy of the Lord, may know how great the Supreme Lord is
by inquiring about the process of Ilis creative energy. In the Caitanya-
caritamrta also, descriptions of the creative energy and the Lord’s hand
in it are explained, and the author of Caitanya-caritamrta has warned the
neophyte devotees to be seriously on guard against the pitfall of neglecting
the knowledge about Krsna as to how great He is. Only when one knows
Lord Krsna’s greatness can one firmly put one’s unflinching faith in Him;
otherwise, like the common man, Lord Krsna will be mistaken as one of
the many demigods, or a historical personality, or a myth only, even by
the great leaders of men. The transcendental pastimes of the Lord in
Vrndavana, or even at Dvaraka, are relishable by persons who have already
qualified themselves in advanced spiritual techniques, and the common
man may be able to attain to such a plane by the gradual process of service
and inquiries, as we shall see in the behavior of Maharaja Panksit.
TEXT 7

aa mas fae dasa ga: |

Ti at APRA Feat: Ts TAT |

MAT AST HTS BUT FTC 19

yathd gopayati vibhur
yathda samyacchate punah
yam yam saktim updsritya
puru-saktih parah puman
