Text 17] Chanting the Song Sung by Lord Siva 1041

sangamah—association; khalu—certainly; viprarse~ O best of the
brahmanas; sivena—along with Lord Siva; iha—in this world; saririnam—
those who are encaged in material bodies; durlabhah—very rare; munayah—
great sages; dadhyuh—engaged themselves in meditation; asangat—being
detached from anything else; yam—unto whom; abhipsitam— desiring.

TRANSLATION

The great sage Vidura continued: O best of the brahmanas, it is very
difficult for living entities encaged within this material body to have
personal contact with Lord Siva. Even great sages who have no material
attachments do not contact him, despite their always being absorbed in
meditation to attain his personal contact.

PURPORT

Since Lord Siva does not incarnate himself unless there is some special
reason, it is very difficult for an ordinary person to contact him. However,
Lord Siva does descend on a special occasion when he is ordered by the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this regard, it is stated in the Padma
Purana that Lord Siva appeared as a brahmana in the age of Kali to preach
the Mayavada philosophy, which is nothing but a type of Buddhist phi-
losophy. It is stated in Padma Purana:

mayavadam asac-chastram pracchannam bauddham ucyate
mayaiva vihitarh devi kalau brahmana-mirtina

Lord Siva, speaking to Parvati Devi, foretold that he would spread the
Mayavada philosophy in the guise of a sannyasi brahmana just to eradicate
Buddhist philosophy. This sannyasi was Sripada Sankaracarya. In order to
overcome the effects of Buddhist philosophy and spread Vedanta philoso-
phy, Sripada Sarikaracarya had to make some compromise with the Buddhist
philosophy, and as such he preached the philosophy of monism, for it was
required at that time. Otherwise there was no need for his preaching
Mayavada philosophy. At the present moment there is no need for Maya-
vada philosophy nor Buddhist philosophy, and Lord Caitanya rejected
both of them. This Krgna consciousness movement is spreading the philoso-
phy of Lord Caitanya and rejecting the philosophy of both classes of
Mayavada. Strictly speaking, both Buddhist philosophy and Sankara’s
philosophy are but different types of Mayavada dealing on the platform
of material existence. Neither of these philosophies has spiritual significance.
There is spiritual significance only after one accepts the philosophy of
