cause of suffering in material existence. This conditional life in
material existence is called saḿsāra. One may perform good work and
take his birth in a very nice material condition, but the process
under which birth and death take place is like a terrible fire.
Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, in his prayer to the spiritual
master, has described this. Saḿsāra, or the repetition of birth and
death, is compared to a forest fire. A forest fire takes place
automatically, without anyone's endeavor, by the friction of dried
wood, and no fire department or sympathetic person can extinguish it.
The raging forest fire can be extinguished only when there is a
constant downpour of water from a cloud. The cloud is compared to the
mercy of the spiritual master. By the grace of the spiritual master
the cloud of the mercy of the Personality of Godhead is brought in,
and then only, when the rains of Kṛṣṇa consciousness fall, can the
fire of material existence be extinguished. This is also explained
here.
In order to find freedom from the stereotyped conditional life of
material existence, one has to take shelter of the lotus feet of the
Lord, not in the manner in which the impersonalists indulge, but in
devotional service, chanting and hearing of the activities of the
Lord. Only then can one be freed from the actions and reactions of
material existence. Chanting and hearing of the glories of Lord
Krishna is described here as tvad-guṇa-vāda-sīdhu. Only by drinking
the nectar of chanting and hearing the pastimes of the Lord can one
forget the intoxication of material existence.
[Srimad Bhagavatam - 3.21.17 Purport]
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