Text 25] Bhagavatam is the Answer 579

in all these movements the real purpose is to earn wealth for comfortable
life. And for this comfortable life the scientist is engaged, the artist is
engaged, the engineer is engaged, the technician is engaged, all in different
branches of human activity. But they do not know how to make the
activities purposeful to fulfill the mission of human life. Without knowing
this secret, all their activities are targetted towards the goal of sense
gratification without any control, and therefore by all this business they
are unknowingly entering into the deep regions of darkness.

Because they have been captivated by the external energy of the Su-
preme Lord, they have completely forgotten the Supreme Lord Visnu, and
thus they have taken it for granted that this life, as presently manifested
under the conditions of material nature, is all in all for enjoying the high-
est amount of sense gratification. But such a wrong conception of life
cannot give anyone the desired peace of mind, and thus in spite of all
advancement of knowledge by using the resources of nature, no one is
happy in this material civilization. The secret is that in every step they
should try to execute sacrifices towards the path of world peace. The
Bhagavad-gita also advises the same secret in the following verses.

sve sve karmany abhiratah samsiddhim labhate narah
sva-karmanir atah siddhim yatha vindati tac chrnu

yatah praurttir bhiitanam yena sarvam idam tatam
sva-karmand tam abhyarcya siddhim vindati manavah

The Lord said to Arjuna, “Just hear from Me how one can attain the
highest perfection in life simply by discharging his specified occupational
duty.

“Man can attain the highest perfection of life by worshiping the Su-
preme Lord and by performing sacrifice for the sake of the Supreme Lord
Visnu, who is all-pervading, and by whose control every living being ac-
quires his desired facilities, according to his personal propensity.”

There is no harm in having different propensities in life because every
human being is proportionately independent to chalk out the plan of his
life by different occupations, but he should make it a point in his life to
know perfectly well that he is not independent absolutely. He is certainly
under the control of the Supreme Lord and under different agencies. And
knowing this, he should make it a point that by his work and the result of
his labor he serves the Supreme Lord as it is prescribed by the authorities
expert in the transcendental loving service of the Supreme Lord Visnu.
And for performing such occupational duties of life the leg is the most
