Text 4] Ideal Family Life 143

“One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and who works as he is
obligated is in the renounced order of life, and he is the true mystic, not
he who lights no fire and performs no work.” Whether one acts as a
brahmacari, grhastha, vanaprastha or sannyasi, he must act only for the
satisfaction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva—Krsna,
the son of Vasudeva. This should be the principle for everyone’s life.
Narada Muni has already described the principles of life for a
brahmacGri, vanaprastha and sannyasi, and now he is describing how a
grhastha should live. The basic principle is to satisfy the Supreme Per-
sonality of Godhead.

The science of satisfying the Supreme Lord can be learned as de-
scribed here: saksa@d updsita mahd-munin. The word mahd-munin
refers to great saintly persons or devotees. Saintly persons are generally
known as munis, or thoughtful philosophers concerned with transcen-
dental subject matters, and maha-munin refers to those who have not
only thoroughly studied the goal of life but who are actually engaged in
satisfying the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva. These persons
are known as devotees. Unless one associates with devotees, one cannot
learn the science of vasudevarpana, or dedicating one’s life to Vasudeva,
Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

In India the principles of this science were followed strictly. Even fifty
years ago, I saw that in the villages of Bengal and the suburbs of
Calcutta, people engaged in hearing Srimad- Bhagavatam daily when all
their activities ended, or at least in the evening before going to bed.
Everyone would hear the Bhagavatam. Bhagavata classes were held in
every village, and thus people had the advantage of hearing Srimad-
Bhagavatam, which describes everything about the aim of life—libera-
tion or salvation. This will be clearly explained in the next verses.

TEXTS 3-4

TIAMAT EMT |
AT «| AAT ATATA U3 UI
MARSTAR! ACACATAAAMY |
fasaranay at anagferd te il
