Text 9] Description of Adverse Fruitive Activities 1289

living is to develop Krsna consciousness. One is therefore advised to be-
come a grhastha and not a grhamedhi. The grhastha’s concern is to get
out of the family life created by illusion and enter into real family life
with Krsna, whereas the grhamedhi’s business is to repeatedly chain him-
self to so-called family life, in one life after another, and perpetually
remain in the darkness of mdyd.

TEXT 9

Ty FONE qaadaahza! |
sate Kara TSI

grhesu kuta-dharmesu
duhkha-tantresv atandritah

kurvan duhkha-pratikaram
sukhavan manyate grhi

grhesu—in family life; kita-dharmesu—involving the practice of false-
hood; duhkha-tantresu—spreading miseries; atandritah—attentive; kurvan—
doing; duhkha-pratikaram—counteraction of miseries; sukha-vat—as happi-
ness; manyate—thinks; grhi—the householder.

TRANSLATION

The attached householder remains in his family life, which is full of
diplomacy and politics. Always spreading miseries and controlled by acts
of sense gratification, he acts just to counteract the reactions of all his
miseries, and if he can successfully counteract such miseries, he thinks
that he is happy.

PURPORT

In Bhagavad-gita the Personality of Godhead Himself certifies the
material world as an impermanent place that is full of miseries. There is no
question of happiness in this material world, either individually or in terms
of family, society or country. If something is going on in the name of
happiness, that is also illusion. Here in this material world, happiness means
successful counteraction to the effects of distress. The material world is so
made that unless one becomes a clever diplomat, his life will be a failure.
Not to speak of human society, even the society of lower animals, the
birds and bees, cleverly manages its bodily demands of eating, sleeping
