Whoever hears, chants, and takes to heart these matters concerning Me becomes faithfully dedicated to Me and thus performs My devotional service. What remains to be accomplished by the perfect devotee, who serves Me with love and devotion, the Supreme Absolute Truth, whose qualities are innumerable and who embodies all ecstatic experience?
Just as cold, fear, and darkness are eradicated for one who has approached the sacrificial fire, so gloom, fear, and ignorance are destroyed for one engaged in the service of the Lord's devotees. The Lord's devotees, peacefully fixed in absolute knowledge, are the refuge of the ultimate life for those who repeatedly rise and fall in the frightening ocean of material life. These devotees are like a sturdy boat that comes to the rescue of those who are about to drown. Just as food is the life of all creatures, just as I am the ultimate refuge for people in distress, and just as religion is the wealth of those who pass away in this world, so My devotees are the only refuge for people who fear falling into a miserable condition of life. My faithful devotees grant divine eyes while the sun allows only external sight, and that only when it rises in the sky. My devotees are our true adorable deities and our true family. They are themselves, and ultimately, they are not different from Me.
The harmful deeds of the materialist, and the resulting consequences.
In truth, foolish materialists remain incapable of understanding that they are simply wasting their time by striving to produce material goods, since these are all destined to be destroyed by the influence of time. This waste of energy stems from the ignorance of the majority of human beings, who are unaware of their eternal existence and their eternal occupation. They do not know that the duration of their existence in a given material body represents only a flash in their eternal journey. Ignoring this fact, they consider this brief glimmer of existence as the only reality and waste their time improving their economic situation.
Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, says: Just as a mass of clouds does not know the force of the wind, so a person absorbed in material consciousness is unaware of the formidable power of time that sweeps him away. Whatever the materialist produces through much torment and effort in pursuit of so-called happiness, the Supreme Lord, in the form of time, destroys it, and therefore the conditioned soul grieves.
The misguided materialist is unaware that his body is temporary, and that the attraction to home, land, and wealth, linked to the body, is also ephemeral. Ignorance alone makes him believe that everything is lasting. Whatever species he is born into, the distinct being (distinct from God) finds a special form of satisfaction in it, so that he is never dissatisfied with his condition.