62 TEACHINGS OF QUEEN KUNTI

the worldly sense. The Gosvamis were ministers in the government
service of Bengal, and Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami was the son of a
big zamindar of his time. But they left everything to gain something
superior to what they previously possessed. The devotees are generally
without material prosperity, but they have a very secret treasure-house in
the lotus feet of the Lord. There is a nice story about Srila Sanatana
Gosvami. He had a touchstone with him, and this stone was left in a pile
of refuse. A needy man took it, but later on wondered why the valuable
stone was kept in such a neglected place. He therefore asked Sanatana
Gosvami for the most valuable thing, and then he was given the holy
name of the Lord. Akificana means ‘‘one who has nothing to give ma-
terially.”’ A factual devotee, or mahatma, does not give anything material
to anyone, because he has already left all material assets. He can,
however, deliver the supreme asset, namely the Personality of Godhead,
because He is the only property of a factual devotee. The touchstone of
Sanatana Gosvami, which was thrown in the rubbish, was not the prop-
erty of the Gosvami, otherwise it would not have been kept in such a
place. This specific example is given for the neophyte devotees just to
convince them that material hankerings and spiritual advancement go ill
together. Unless one is able to see everything as spiritual in relation with
the Supreme Lord, one must always distinguish between spirit and mat-
ter. A spiritual master like Srila Sandtana Gosvami, although personally
able to see everything as spiritual, set this example for us only because
we have no such spiritual vision.

Advancement of material vision or material civilization is a great stum-
bling block for spiritual advancement. Such material advancement en-
tangles the living being in the bondage of a material body followed by all
sorts of material miseries. Such material advancement is called anartha,
or things not wanted. Actually this is so. In the present context of ma-
terial advancement one uses lipstick at a cost of fifty cents, and there are
sO Many unwanted things which are all products of the material concep-
tion of life. By diverting attention to so many unwanted things, human
energy is spoiled without achievement of spiritual realization, the prime
necessity of human life. The attempt to reach the moon is another exam-
ple of spoiling energy because even if the moon is reached, the problems
of life will not be solved. The devotees of the Lord are called akifcanas
because they have practically no material assets. Such material assets are
all products of the three modes of material nature. They foil spiritual en-
ergy, and thus the less we possess such products of material nature, the
