170 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 9, Ch. 5
jfidna is concerned, if one is a perfect devotee of Vasudeva, he is the
greatest mahdtma (vdsudevah sarvam iti sa mahatma sudurlabhah). A
mahatma is one who has full knowledge of the Absolute Truth. Thus
Maharaja Ambarisa, being a devotee of the Personality of Godhead, was
in full awareness of Paramatma, Brahman, mdyd, the material world,
the spiritual world, and how things are going on everywhere. Everything
was known to him. Yasmin vijfidte sarvam evam vijnidtam bhavati. Be-
cause the devotee knows Vasudeva, he knows everything within the cre-
ation of Vasudeva (vadsudevah sarvam iti sa mahdtméa sudurlabhah).
Such a devotee does not give much value to the highest standard of
happiness within this material world.
naérayana-parah sarve
na kutascana bibhyati
svargapavarga-narakesv
api tulydrtha-darsinah
(Bhag. 6.17.28)
Because he is fixed in devotional service, a devotee does not regard any
position in the material world as important. Srila Prabodhananda
Sarasvati has therefore written (Caitanya-candrémrta 5):
kaivalyam narakayate tridasa-pir akdsa-puspdyate
durdantendriya-kala-sarpa-patali protkhdta-damstrayate
visvam piirna-sukhayate vidhi-mahendradis ca kitayate
yat-kdrunya-kataksa-vaibhava-vatam tam gauram eva stumah
For one who becomes a pure devotee through devotional service to great
personalities like Caitanya Mahaprabhu, kaivalya, or merging into
Brahman, appears no better than hell. As far as the heavenly planets are
concerned, to a devotee they are like a phantasmagoria or will-o’-the-
wisp, and as far as yogic perfection is concerned, a devotee does not care
a fig for such perfection, since the purpose of yogic perfection is achieved
automatically by the devotee. This is all possible when one becomes a
devotee of the Lord through the medium of Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s
instructions.
