76 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 9, Ch. 10
enjoyed in the heavenly planets fall again to earth.” The fruitive ac-
tivities of this material world are such that whether one acts piously or
impiously one must remain within the material world according to dif-
ferent conditions, for neither pious nor impious actions can relieve one
from mdaya’s clutches of repeated birth and death. Somehow or other,
Ravana was raised to an exalted position as the king of a great kingdom
with all material opulences, but because of his sinful act of kidnapping
mother Sita, all the results of his pious activities were destroyed. If one
offends an exalted personality, especially the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, one certainly becomes most abominable; bereft of the results
of pious activities, one must fall down like Ravana and other demons. It
is therefore advised that one transcend both pious and impious activities
and remain in the pure state of freedom from all designations
(sarvopadhi-vinirmuktarn tat-paratvena nirmalam). When one is fixed
in devotional service, he is above the material platform. On the material
platform there are higher and lower positions, but when one is above the
material platform he is always fixed in a spiritual position (sa gunan
samatityaitan brahma-bhiiyaya kalpate). Ravana or those like him may
be very powerful and opulent in this material world, but theirs is not a
secure position, because, after all, they are bound by the results of their
karma (karmané daiva-netrena). We should not forget that we are com-
pletely dependent on the laws of nature.
prakrteh kriyamanani
gunaih karmani sarvasah
ahankdra-vimadhatma
kartaham iti manyate
“The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of
material nature, thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality
carried out by nature.” (Bg. 3.27) One should not be proud of one’s ex-
alted position and act like Ravana, thinking oneself independent of
material nature’s laws.
TEXT 24
TA PRAT SET ASIA: AAT: |
I AH TA ETT STRAT
