Text 127

Text

ihāte dṛṣṭānta—yaiche daridrera ghare
‘sarvajña’ āsi’ duḥkha dekhi’ puchaye tāhāre

Synonyms

ihate—in this connection; dṛṣṭānta—the example; yaiche—just as; daridrera ghare—in the house of a poor man; sarva-jna—an astrologer; asi—coming; duhkha—distressed condition; dekhi—seeing; puchaye tahare—inquires from him. 

Translation

“The following example may be given. Once a learned astrologer came to the house of a poor man and, seeing his distressed condition, questioned him. 

Purport

Sometimes we go to an astrologer or palmist when we are in a distressed condition or when we want to know the future. The living entity in conditioned life is always distressed by the threefold miseries of material existence. Under the circumstances, he is inquisitive about his position. For instance, Sanātana Gosvāmī approached the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, to ask Him why he was in a distressed condition. This is the position of all conditioned souls. We are always in a distressed condition, and an intelligent man naturally becomes inquisitive. This position is called brahma-jijñāsā. Athāto brahma-jijñāsā (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.1). Brahma here refers to Vedic literature. One should consult Vedic literature to know why the conditioned soul is always in a distressed condition. Vedic literatures are meant to free the conditioned soul from the miserable conditions of material existence. In this chapter, the story of the astrologer Sarvajña and the poor man is very instructive. 

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