ihÄte dṛṣá¹Änta — yaiche daridrera ghare
'sarvajña' Äsi' duḥkha dekhi' puchaye tÄhÄre
ihÄte - in this connection; dṛṣá¹Änta - the parable; yaiche - just as; daridrera ghare - in the house of a poor man; sarva-jña - an astrologer; Äsi' - coming; duḥkha - distressed condition; dekhi' - seeing; puchaye tÄhÄre - inquires from him.
“The following parable may be given. Once a learned astrologer came to the house of a poor man and, seeing his distressed condition, questioned him.
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, SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ« approached the Supreme Personality of Godhead, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu, 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-jijñÄsÄ. AthÄto brahma-jijñÄsÄ (VedÄnta-sÅ«tra 1.1.1). Brahma here refers to the Vedic literature. One should consult the Vedic literature to know why the conditioned soul is always in a distressed condition. The 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.
