34 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 6, Ch. 7

kah—who; grdhyet—would accept; panditah—a learned man;
laksmim—opulences; tri-pista-pa-pateh api—although I am the King
of the demigods; yaya—by which; aham—I; dsuram—demoniac;
bhavam—mentality; nitah—carried to; adya—now; vibudha—of the
demigods, who are in the mode of goodness; isvarah—the King.

TRANSLATION

Although I am King of the demigods, who are situated in the
mode of goodness, I was proud of a little opulence and polluted by
false ego. Under the circumstances, who in this world would accept
such riches at the risk of falling down? Alas! I condemn my wealth
and opulence.

PURPORT

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu prayed to the Supreme Personality of God-
head, na dhanarm na janam na sundarim kavitam va jagad-isa kamaye:
“O my Lord, I do not aspire for material opulence or wealth, nor do |
want a great number of followers to accept me as their leader, nor do I
want a very beautiful wife to please me.”” Mama janmani janmanisvare
bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi: “I do not even want liberation. All I
want, life after life, is to be a faithful servant of Your Lordship.” Ac-
cording to the laws of nature, when one is extremely opulent one be-
comes degraded, and this is true both individually and collectively. The
demigods are situated in the mode of goodness, but sometimes even one
who is situated in such an exalted position as King Indra, the king of all
the demigods, falls down because of material opulence. We are now ac-
tually seeing this in America. The entire American nation has tried to ad-
vance in material opulence without striving to produce ideal human
beings. The result is that Americans are now regretting the wholesale
criminality of American society and are wondering how America has be-
come so lawless and unmanageable. As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam
(7.5.31), na te viduh svartha-gatim hi visnum: persons who are
unenlightened do not know the aim of life, which is to return home, back
to Godhead. Therefore, both individually and collectively, they try to en-
joy so-called material comforts, and they become addicted to wine and
women. The men produced in such a society are less than fourth class.
