Why Study the Vedanta Sutra? 217

lording it over material Nature; or in other words, there is a continuous rivalry
for satisfying the senses. And, driven by this consciousness of sense gratifica-
tion, religiousness is performed. Pious activities or religious functions are
performed with an aim generally for some material gain. If such material gain
is obtainable in another way, then the so-called religiousness is neglected, as
we can see in the modern human civilization. The economic desires being
seemingly fulfilled in another way, nobody is interested in religion now. The
church, mosque, or the temple is practically always a vacant place, and people
are more interested in the factories, shops, and cinemas than in the religious
places formerly erected by the forefathers of different paths of religiousness.
This proves definitely that religiousness is performed for economic develop-
ment, and economic development is needed for sense gratification. And where
one is baffled in the matter of sense gratification, he takes to the cause of salva-
tion in order to become one with the Supreme Whole. Therefore, all these
stages are different examples of the same aim of life, namely sense gratification.

In the Vedas, the above-mentioned four activities are prescribed in a regula-
tive way so that there may not be any undue competition for the purpose
of sense gratification. But Srimad Bhagwatam is transcendental to all these
sense gratifying activities of the material world. It is purely transcendental
literature, understandable by a particular class of men known as devotees of
the Lord, who are above the competitive field of sense gratification. In the
material world there is keen competition between the animals, between men,
communities, or even nations in this sense gratifying activity, but the devotees
of the Lord are above this. Devotees have nothing to compete for with the
materialists because they are on the path back to Godhead, where everything
is eternal, full, blissful. Such transcendentalists are a hundred per cent non-
envious, and therefore pure in heart. In the material world everyone is envious
of everyone and therefore there is competition. But the transcendentalists or
devotees of the Lord are not only freed from all material enviousness, but
they are kind to everyone, endeavoring to establish a competitionless society,
with God in the center.

The socialist idea of society is artificially competitionless, because even
in the socialistic state there is competition for the post of dictator. The fact is,
therefore, that the state of sense gratification is the order of materialistic life,
take it either from the Vedas or from the common human activities. As
mentioned above, there are three divisions of the Vedas, namely the stage of
fruitive activities for getting advancement to better planets like heaven, etc.
And, above this, there are the activities of worshipping different demigods
