Chapter 25

Śrīla Vidyāpati, a great Vaiṣṇava poet, has sung: tātala saikate, vāri-bindu-sama,suta-mita-ramaṇī-samāje Material sense gratification, with society, friendship and love, is herein compared to a drop of water falling on a desert. A desert requires oceans of water to satisfy it, and if only a drop of water is supplied, what is its use? Similarly, the living entity is part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who, as stated in the Vedānta-sūtra, is ānandamayo ’bhyāsāt, full of enjoyment. Being part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the living entity is also seeking complete enjoyment. However, complete enjoyment cannot be achieved separate from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In his wanderings in the different species of life, the living entity may taste some type of enjoyment in one body or another, but full enjoyment of the senses cannot be obtained in any material body. Thus Purañjana, the living entity, wanders in different types of bodies, but everywhere meets frustration in his attempt to enjoy. In other words, the spiritual spark covered by matter cannot fully enjoy the senses in any circumstance in material life. A deer may become absorbed in the musical sounds vibrated by the hunter, but the result is that it loses its life. Similarly, a fish is very expert in gratifying its tongue, but when it eats the bait offered by the fisherman, it loses its life. Even the elephant, who is so strong, is captured and loses its independence while satisfying its genitals with a female elephant. In each and every species of life, the living entity gets a body to satisfy various senses, but he cannot enjoy all his senses at one time. In the human form of life he gets an opportunity to enjoy all his senses pervertedly, but the result is that he becomes so harassed in his attempted sense gratification that he ultimately becomes morose. As he tries to satisfy his senses more and more, he becomes more and more entangled.