“Actually, everything is given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore everything is spiritual, but those who are not advanced in proper knowledge make distinctions because of the interactions of the three modes of material nature.”
<< previous next >>
This is from the Srimad-Bhagavatam 8.12.8
[This chapter of the Srimad-Bhagavatam is entitled, “The Mohini-murti Incarnation Bewilders Lord Siva.” It describes how Lord Siva was bewildered upon seeing the beautiful Mohini-murti incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and how he later came to his senses. In today’s verse, Lord Siva is offering Lord Krishna some words of praise.]
TRANSLATION
My dear Lord, Your Lordship alone is the cause and the effect. Therefore, although You appear to be two, You are the absolute one. As there is no difference between the gold of a golden ornament and the gold in a mine, there is no difference between cause and effect; both of them are the same. Only because of ignorance do people concoct differences and dualities. You are free from material contamination, and since the entire cosmos is caused by You and cannot exist without You, it is an effect of Your transcendental qualities. Thus the conception that Brahman is true and the world false cannot be maintained.
PURPORT (excerpt):
“Things should be accepted for the Lord’s service and not for one’s personal sense gratification. If one accepts something without attachment and accepts it because it is related to Krishna, one’s renunciation is called yuktam vairagyam. Whatever is favorable for the rendering of service to the Lord should be accepted and should not be rejected as a material thing.” (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.255-256)
The jagat [universe] should not be rejected as mithya [false]. It is truth, and the truth is realized when everything is engaged in the service of the Lord. A flower accepted for one’s sense gratification is material, but when the same flower is offered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead by a devotee, it is spiritual. Food taken and cooked for oneself is material, but food cooked for the Supreme Lord is spiritual prasadam. This is a question of realization.
Actually, everything is given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore everything is spiritual, but those who are not advanced in proper knowledge make distinctions because of the interactions of the three modes of material nature.
More:
