pÅ«rva-dike tÄte mÄá¹­Ä« alpa khudite
dhanera jhÄri paá¸ibeka tomÄra hÄtete

 pÅ«rva-dike - on the eastern side; tÄte - there; mÄá¹­Ä« - the dirt; alpa - small quantity; khudite - digging; dhanera - of the treasure; jhÄri - the pot; paá¸ibeka - you will get; tomÄra - your; hÄtete - in the hands.


Text

“ ‘However, if you dig up a small quantity of dirt on the eastern side, your hands will immediately touch the pot of treasure.’

Purport

The Vedic literatures, including the PurÄṇas, state that according to the position of the conditioned soul, there are different processes — karma-kÄṇá¸a, jñÄna-kÄṇá¸a, the yogic process and the bhakti-yoga process. Karma-kÄṇá¸a is compared to wasps and drones that will simply bite if one takes shelter of them. JñÄna-kÄṇá¸a, the speculative process, is simply like a ghost who creates mental disturbances. Yoga, the mystic process, is compared to a black snake that devours people by the impersonal cultivation of kaivalya. However, if one takes to bhakti-yoga, he becomes quickly successful. In other words, through bhakti-yoga, one’s hands touch the hidden treasure without difficulty.

The goal of all the revealed scriptures and Vedic injunctions is Kṛṣṇa, as He Himself says in the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (15.15): vedaiÅ› ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ. Since the Vedas enjoin one to search out Kṛṣṇa and take shelter at His lotus feet, and since no Vedic process but devotional service will enable one to do this, one has to take to devotional service. According to the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (18.55), only the bhakti process is said to be definitive. BhaktyÄ mÄm abhijÄnÄti. This is the conclusive statement of the Vedas, and one has to accept this process if one is serious in searching for Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this connection, ÅšrÄ«la BhaktisiddhÄnta SarasvatÄ« ṬhÄkura gives the following statement: “The eastern side represents devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa. The southern side represents the process of fruitive activity (karma-kÄṇá¸a), which ends in material gain. The western side represents jñÄna-kÄṇá¸a, the process of mental speculation, or sometimes siddhi-kÄṇá¸a, the mystic yoga system. The northern side represents mystic yoga, or sometimes the speculative method.†It is only the eastern side, devotional service, that enables one to attain life’s real goal. On the southern side, there are fruitive activities, by which one is subject to the punishment of YamarÄja. When one follows the system of fruitive activity, his material desires remain prominent. Consequently the results of this process are compared to wasps and drones. The living entity is bitten by the wasps and drones of fruitive activity and thus suffers in material existence birth after birth. One cannot become free from material desires by following this process. The propensity for material enjoyment never ends. Therefore the cycle of birth and death continues, and the spirit soul suffers perpetually.

The mystic yoga process is compared to a black snake that devours the living entity and injects him with poison. The ultimate goal of the yoga system is to become one with the Absolute. This means finishing one’s personal existence. But the spiritual part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead has an eternal individual existence. The Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ confirms that the individual soul existed in the past, is existing in the present and will continue to exist as an individual in the future. Artificially trying to become one with the Absolute is suicidal. One cannot annihilate his natural condition.

A yaká¹£a, a protector of riches, will not allow anyone to take away riches for enjoyment. Such a demon will simply create disturbances. In other words, a devotee will not depend on his material resources but on the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who can give real protection. This is called raká¹£iá¹£yatÄ«ti viÅ›vÄsaḥ or (in the Bengali poetry of Bhaktivinoda ṬhÄkura’s ÅšaraṇÄgati) ‘avaÅ›ya raká¹£ibe kṛṣṇa’ — viÅ›vÄsa pÄlana. The surrendered soul must accept the fact that his real protector is Kṛṣṇa, not his material acquisitions.

Considering all these points, devotional service to Kṛṣṇa is the real treasure house for the living entity. When one comes to the platform of devotional service, he always remains opulent in the association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One who is bereft of devotional service is swallowed by the black snake of the yoga system and bitten by the wasps and drones of fruitive activity, and he suffers consequent material miseries. Sometimes the living entity is misled into trying to merge into spiritual existence, thinking himself as good as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This means that when he comes to the spiritual platform, he will be disturbed and will again return to the material platform. According to ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (10.2.32):

ye ’nye ’ravindÄká¹£a vimukta-mÄninas
 tvayy asta-bhÄvÄd aviÅ›uddha-buddhayaḥ
Äruhya ká¹›cchreṇa paraá¹ padaá¹ tataḥ
 patanty adho ’nÄdá¹›ta-yuá¹£mad-aá¹…ghrayaḥ

Such people may become sannyÄsÄ«s, but unless they take shelter of Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet, they will return to the material platform to perform philanthropic activities. In this way, one’s spiritual life is lost. This is to be understood as being devoured by the black snake.