268 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 7, Ch. 5

vyavasayatmika buddhih
samadhau na vidhiyate

“In the minds of those who are too attached to sense enjoyment and ma-
terial opulence, and who are bewildered by such things, the resolute
determination for devotional service to the Supreme Lord does not take
place.” Those who are attached to material enjoyment cannot be fixed in
devotional service to the Lord. They cannot understand Bhagavan,
Krsna, or His instruction, Bhagavad-gita. Addnta-gobhir visatam
tamisram: their path actually leads toward hellish life.

As confirmed by Rsabhadeva, mahat-sevam dvaram ahur vimukteh:
one must try to understand Krsna by serving a devotee. The word mahat
refers to a devotee.

mahatmdnas tu mam partha
daivirn prakrtim asritah

bhajanty ananya-manaso
jiiatva bhitadim avyayam

““O son of Prtha, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under
the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional
service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
original and inexhaustible.” (Be. 9.13) A mahdtma is one who is
constantly engaged in devotional service, twenty-four hours a day. As
explained in the following verses, unless one adheres to such a great per-
sonality, one cannot understand Krsna. Hiranyakasipu wanted to know
where Prahlada had gotten this Krsna consciousness. Who had taught
him? Prahlada sarcastically replied, “My dear father, persons like you
never understand Krsna. One can understand Krsna only by serving a
mahat, a great soul. Those who try to adjust material conditions are said
to be chewing the chewed. No one has been able to adjust material condi-
tions, but life after life, generation after generation, people try and
repeatedly fail. Unless one is properly trained by a mahat—a mahatma,
or unalloyed devotee of the Lord—there is no possibility of one’s under-
standing Krsna and His devotional service.”
