46 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 9, Ch. 18
TRANSLATION

Paru replied: O Your Majesty, who in this world can repay his
debt to his father? By the mercy of one’s father, one gets the
human form of life, which can enable one to become an associate
of the Supreme Lord.

PURPORT

The father gives the seed of the body, and this seed gradually grows
and develops until one ultimately attains the developed human body,
with consciousness higher than that of the animals. In the human body
one can be elevated to the higher planets, and, furthermore, if one culti-
vates Krsna consciousness, one can return home, back to Godhead. This
important human body is obtained by the grace of the father, and
therefore everyone is indebted to his father. Of course, in other lives one
also gets a father and mother; even cats and dogs have fathers and
mothers. But in the human form of life the father and mother can award
their son the greatest benediction by teaching him to become a devotee.
When one becomes a devotee, he achieves the greatest benediction be-
cause he completely averts the repetition of birth and death. Therefore
the father who trains his child in Krsna consciousness is the most
benevolent father in this world. It is said:

janame janame sabe pitamata paya
krsna guru nahi mile bhaja hari ei
Everyone gets a father and mother, but if one gets the benediction of
Krsna and guru, he can conquer material nature and return home, back
to Godhead.
TEXT 44
THAT FINA MHA T TATA: |
aMisig Feadtad fig: eel
uttamas cintitam kuryat
prokta-kari tu madhyamah
