1242 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 3, Ch. 29
‘My Lord, | have seen that my father achieved all kinds of material
benefits, and even the demigods were afraid of his opulence, but still, in a
second, You have finished his life and all his material prosperity.” For a
devotee there is no question of desiring any material or spiritual prosperity.
He simply aspires to serve the Lord. That is his highest happiness.
TEXT 14
Te APHATST ACT TK ITE! |
Yarfeasa Gat ARTE 128
sa eva bhakti-yogakhya
atyantika udahrtah
yenativrajya tri-gunam
mad-bhavayopapadyate

sah—this; eva—indeed; bhakti-yoga—devotional service; akhyah—called;
atyantikah—highest platform; udahrtah—explained; yena—by which;
ativrajya—overcoming; tri-gunam—the three modes of material nature;
mat-bhavaya—to My transcendental stage; upapadyate—one attains.

TRANSLATION

By attaining the highest platform of devotional service, as I have
explained, one can overcome the influence of the three modes of material
nature and be situated in the transcendental stage, as is the Lord.

PURPORT

Sripada Santkaracarya, who is supposed to be the leader of the imperson-
alist school of philosophers, has admitted in the beginning of his comments
on Bhagavad-gita that Narayana, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is
beyond the material creation; except for Him, everything is within the
material creation. It is also confirmed in the Vedic literature that before
the creation there was only Narayana; neither Lord Brahma nor Lord Siva
existed. Only Narayana, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu,
or Krsna, is always in the transcendental position, beyond the influence of
material creation.

The material qualities of goodness, passion and ignorance cannot affect
the position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; therefore He is
called nirguna (free from all tinges of material qualities). Here the same fact
