Canto 3: The Status Quo | Chapter 22: The Marriage of Kardama Muni and Devahūti |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.22.32
barhiṣmatīḿ nāma vibhur
yāḿ nirviśya samāvasat
tasyāḿ praviṣṭo bhavanaḿ
tāpa-traya-vināśanam
SYNONYMS
barhiṣmatīm — the city Barhiṣmatī; nāma — named; vibhuḥ — the very powerful Svāyambhuva Manu; yām — which; nirviśya — having entered; samāvasat — he lived in previously; tasyām — in that city; praviṣṭaḥ — entered; bhavanam — the palace; tāpa-traya — the threefold miseries; vināśanam — destroying.
TRANSLATION
Having entered the city of Barhiṣmatī, in which he had previously lived, Manu entered his palace, which was filled with an atmosphere that eradicated the three miseries of material existence.
PURPORT
The material world, or material existential life, is filled with threefold miseries: miseries pertaining to the body and mind, miseries pertaining to natural disturbances and miseries inflicted by other living entities. Human society is meant to create a spiritual atmosphere by spreading the spirit of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The miseries of material existence cannot affect the status of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is not that the miseries of the material world completely vanish when one takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but for one who is Kṛṣṇa conscious the miseries of material existence have no effect. We cannot stop the miseries of the material atmosphere, but Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the antiseptic method to protect us from being affected by the miseries of material existence. For a Kṛṣṇa conscious person, both living in heaven and living in hell are equal. How Svāyambhuva Manu created an atmosphere wherein he was not affected by material miseries is explained in the following verses.
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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness