Text 21] Description of the Kingdom of God 591
crystal; kudye—walls; upeta—mixed; hemni—gold; sammarjati iva—appear-
ing like a sweeper; yat-anugrahane—to receive her favor; anya—others’;
yatnah—very much careful.

TRANSLATION

The ladies in the Vaikuntha planets are as beautiful as the goddess of
fortune herself. Such transcendentally beautiful ladies, their hands playing
with lotuses and their leg bangles tinkling, are sometimes seen sweeping
the marble walls, which are bedecked at intervals with golden borders, in
order to receive the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

PURPORT

In the Brahma-samhita@ it is stated that the Supreme Lord, Govinda, is
always served in His abode by many, many millions of goddesses of fortune.
Laksmi-sahasra-gata-sambhrama-sevyamanam. These millions and trillions
of goddesses of fortune who reside in the Vaikuntha planets are not
exactly consorts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but are the
wives of the devotees of the Lord and also engaged in the service of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is stated here that in the Vaikuntha
planets the houses are made of marble. Similarly, in the Brahma-samhita it
is stated that the ground on the Vaikuntha planets is made of touchstone.
Thus there is no need to sweep the stone in Vaikuntha, for there is hardly
any dust on it, but still, in order to satisfy the Lord, the ladies there always
engage in dusting the marble walls. Why? The reason is that they are eager
to achieve the grace of the Lord by doing so.

It is also stated here that in the Vaikuntha planets the goddesses of
fortune are faultless. Generally the goddess of fortune does not remain
steadily in one place. Her name is Caficala, which means one who is not
steady. We find, therefore, that a man who is very rich may become the
poorest of the poor. Another example is Ravana. Ravana took away
Laksmi, Sitaji, to his kingdom, and instead of being happy by the grace of
Laksmi, his family and his kingdom were vanquished. Thus Lakgsmi in the
house of Ravana is Caricala, or unsteady. Men of Ravana’s class want Laksmi
only, without her husband, Narayana; therefore they become unsteady due
to Laksmiji. Materialistic persons find fault on the part of Laksmi, but in
Vaikuntha Lakgmiji is fixed in the service of the Lord. In spite of her being
the goddess of fortune, she cannot be happy without the grace of the Lord.
Even the goddess of fortune needs the Lord’s grace in order to be happy,
yet in the material world even Brahma, the highest created being, seeks the
favor of Laksmi for happiness.
