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Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said: Maharaja Pariksit, as you have inquired from me as to the duty
of the intelligent man who is on the threshold of death, so I have answered you.
One who desires to be absorbed in the impersonal brahmajyoti effulgence should worship the
master of the Vedas [Lord Brahma or Brhaspati, the learned priest], one who desires powerful
sex should worship the heavenly King, Indra, and one who desires good progeny should worship
the great progenitors called the Prajapatis. One who desires good fortune should worship
Durgadevi, the superintendent of the material world. One desiring to be very powerful should
worship fire, and one who aspires only after money should worship the Vasus. One should
worship the Rudra incarnations of Lord Siva if he wants to be a great hero. One who wants
a large stock of grains should worship Aditi. One who desires to attain the heavenly planets
should worship the sons of Aditi. One who desires a worldly kingdom should worship Visvadeva,
and one who wants to be popular with the general mass of population should worship the Sadhya
demigod. One who desires a long span of life should worship the demigods known as the Asvini-kumaras,
and a person desiring a strongly built body should worship the earth. One who desires
stability in his post should worship the horizon and the earth combined. One who desires to
be beautiful should worship the beautiful residents of the Gandharva planet, and one
who desires a good wife should worship the Apsaras and the Urvasi society girls of the
heavenly kingdom. One who desires domination over others should worship Lord Brahma, the
head of the universe. One who desires tangible fame should worship the Personality of Godhead,
and one who desires a good bank balance should worship the demigod Varuna. If one desires
to be a greatly learned man he should worship Lord Siva, and if one desires a good marital
relation he should worship the chaste goddess Uma, the wife of Lord Siva.
One should worship Lord Visnu or His devotee for spiritual advancement in knowledge, and
for protection of heredity and advancement of a dynasty one should worship the various
demigods. One who desires domination over a kingdom
or an empire should worship the Manus. One who desires victory over an enemy should worship
the demons, and one who desires sense gratification should worship the moon. But one who desires
nothing of material enjoyment should worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
A person who has broader intelligence, whether he be full of all material desire, without
any material desire, or desiring liberation, must by all means worship the supreme whole,
the Personality of Godhead. All the different kinds of worshipers of multidemigods
can attain the highest perfectional benediction, which is spontaneous attraction unflinchingly
fixed upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, only by the association of the pure devotee
of the Lord. Transcendental knowledge in relation with
the Supreme Lord Hari is knowledge resulting in the complete suspension of the waves and
whirlpools of the material modes. Such knowledge is self-satisfying due to its being free from
material attachment, and being transcendental it is approved by authorities. Who could fail
to be attracted? Saunaka said: The son of Vyasadeva, Srila
Sukadeva Gosvami, was a highly learned sage and was able to describe things in a poetic
manner. What did Maharaja Pariksit again inquire from him after hearing all that he had said?
O learned Suta Gosvami! Please continue to explain such topics to us because we are all
eager to hear. Besides that, topics which result in the discussion of the Lord Hari
should certainly be discussed in the assembly of devotees.
Maharaja Pariksit, the grandson of the Pandavas, was from his very childhood a great devotee
of the Lord. Even while playing with dolls, he used to worship Lord Krsna by imitating
the worship of the family Deity. Sukadeva Gosvami, the son of Vyasadeva, was
also full in transcendental knowledge and was a great devotee of Lord Krsna, son of
Vasudeva. So there must have been discussion of Lord Krsna, who is glorified by great philosophers
and in the company of great devotees. Both by rising and by setting, the sun decreases
the duration of life of everyone, except one who utilizes the time by discussing topics
of the all-good Personality of Godhead. Do the trees not live? Do the bellows of the
blacksmith not breathe? All around us, do the beasts not eat and discharge ***?
Men who are like dogs, hogs, camels and *** praise those men who never listen to the transcendental
pastimes of Lord Sri Krsna, the deliverer from evils.
One who has not listened to the messages about the prowess and marvelous acts of the Personality
of Godhead and has not sung or chanted loudly the worthy songs about the Lord is to be considered
to possess earholes like the holes of snakes and a tongue like the tongue of a frog.
The upper portion of the body, though crowned with a silk turban, is only a heavy burden
if not bowed down before the Personality of Godhead who can award mukti [freedom]. And
the hands, though decorated with glittering bangles, are like those of a dead man if not
engaged in the service of the Personality of Godhead Hari.
The eyes which do not look at the symbolic representations of the Personality of Godhead
Visnu [His forms, name, quality, etc.] are like those printed on the plumes of the peacock,
and the legs which do not move to the holy places [where the Lord is remembered] are
considered to be like tree trunks. The person who has not at any time received
the dust of the feet of the Lord's pure devotee upon his head is certainly a dead body. And
the person who has never experienced the aroma of the tulasi leaves from the lotus feet of
the Lord is also a dead body, although breathing. Certainly that heart is steel-framed which,
in spite of one's chanting the holy name of the Lord with concentration, does not change
when ecstasy takes place, tears fill the eyes and the hairs stand on end.
O Suta Gosvami, your words are pleasing to our minds. Please therefore explain this to
us as it was spoken by the great devotee Sukadeva Gosvami, who is very expert in transcendental
knowledge, and who spoke to Maharaja Pariksit upon being asked.