164 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 3, Ch. 5

one and the same. Such miscalculation by the nondevotees makes them
unfit to receive any direction from within, and therefore they are bereft
of the direct cooperation of the Lord. After many, many births, when
such a nondualist comes to sense that the Lord is worshipable and that the
devotee is simultaneously one and different from the Lord, then only can
he surrender unto the Lord, Vasudeva. Pure devotional service begins from
that point. The process of understanding the Absolute Truth adopted by
the misguided nondualist is very difficult, whereas the devotee’s way of
understanding the Absolute Truth comes directly from the Lord, who is
pleased by devotional service. On behalf of many neophyte devotees,
Vidura, at the very first instance, inquired from Maitreya about the path
of devotional service, by which the Lord, who is seated within the heart,
can be pleased.

TEXT 5

wala aaif = saaae
UAT ATAET HT: |
a aaa a faite:
dara afa saat Aa I

karott karmant krtavataro

yany atma-tantro bhagavams tryadhisah
yatha sasarjagra idan. nirthah

sanmsthapya urttin jagato vidhatte

karoti—does them; karmdani—transcendental activities; krta—by accept-
ing; avatdrah—incarnations; yani—all those; dtma-tantrah—Self-independent;
bhagavan—the Personality of Godhead; tryadhisah—the Lord of the three
worlds; yathd—as much as; sasarja—created; agre—al first; idam—this cos-
mic manifestation; nirthah—although desireless; saristhapya—by establish-
ing; urétim—means of livelihood; jagatah—of the universes; vidhatlte—as He
regulates.

TRANSLATION

O great sage, kindly narrate how the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
who is the independent desireless Lord of the three worlds and the con-
troller of all energies, accepts incarnations and creates the cosmic mani-
festation with perfectly arranged regulative principles for its maintenance.
