Text 22] Questions by King Pariksit 447
Lord. Therefore a pure devotee may not associate with such gangs of
atheists. A strong devotee of the Lord will not be misled by such atheistic
propaganda of the nondevotees, but a neophyte devotee should be very
cautious about them. A devotee should see to the right discharge of devo-
tional service under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master and should
not stick only to the formalities. Under the direction of the bona fide
spiritual master one should see how much service is being executed, and
not simply in the matter of rituals. A devotee should not hanker after
anything, but he should be satisfied with things that may automatically
come to him by the will of the Lord. That should be the principle of a
devotional life. And all these principles are easily learned under the gui-
dance of :a spiritual master like Sukadeva Gosvami. Maharaja Pariksit
inquired from Sukadeva correctly, and one should follow his example.

Maharaja Panksit inquired about the process of creation, maintenance
and destruction of the material world, the process of Vedic rituals and the
method of executing pious activities in terms of the supplementary Vedas
like the Puranas, Mahabharata, etc. As explained before, the Mahabharata
is the history of ancient India, and so also the Puranas. Pious acts are
prescribed in the supplementary Vedas (smrtis), and they are specifically
mentioned in the matter of digging tanks and wells for water supply of the
people in general. To implant trees on the public roads, to construct public
temples and places of worship of God, to establish places of charity where
the poor destitutes can be provided with foodstuff, and similar activities,
are called piirta.

Similarly, the process of fulfilling the natural desires for sense gratifica-
tion was also inquired about by the King for the benefit of all concerned.

TEXT 22
Gt Tans a: Way AAA: |
AAA TIAA Fl ETTEMA ABTA: WRRI
yo vanusayinam sargah
pasandasya ca sambhavah
atmano bandha-moksau ca
vyavasthanam sva-riipatah
