986 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 4, Ch. 23

sharpened activities; yena—by which; ciccheda—become separated;
samsaya-padam—position of doubtfulness; nija—own; jiva-kosam—encage-
ment of the living entity.

TRANSLATION

By regularly discharging devotional service, Prthu Maharaja became
transcendental in mind and could therefore constantly think of the lotus
feet of the Lord. Because of this, he became completely detached and
attained perfect knowledge by which he could transcend all doubt. Thus
he was freed from the clutches of false ego and the material conception
of life.

PURPORT

In the Narada-pancaratra, devotional service to the Lord is likened
unto a queen. When a queen gives an audience, many maidservants follow
her. The maidservants of devotional service are material opulence,
liberation and mystic powers. The karmis are very much attached to
material enjoyment; the jiianis are very anxious to become freed from
material clutches; and the yogis are very fond of attaining the eight kinds
of mystic perfection. From the Narada-pancaratra we understand that if
one attains the stage of pure devotional service, he also attains all the
opulences derived from fruitive activities, empiric philosophical specula-
tion and mystic yogic practice. Srila Bilvamangala Thakura therefore
prayed in his Krsna-karnamrta: “‘My dear Lord, if I have unflinching
devotion to You, You become manifest before me personally, and the
results of fruitive activity and empiric philosophical speculation—namely
religion, economic development, sense gratification and liberation—become
like personal attendants and remain standing before me as if awaiting my
order.” The idea here is that the jnanis, by culture of brahma-vidya,
spiritual knowledge, struggle very hard to get out of the clutches of
material nature, but a devotee, by dint of his advancement in devotional
service, automatically becomes detached from his material body. When
the devotee’s spiritual body begins to manifest, he actually enters into
his activities in transcendental life.

At present we have contacted a material body, material mind and
material intelligence, but when we become free from these material
conditions, our spiritual body, spiritual mind and spiritual intelligence
become manifest. In that transcendental state, a devotee attains all the
benefits of karma, jnana and yoga. Although he never engages in fruitive
activities or empiric speculation to attain mystic powers, automatically
