TEACHINGS OF QUEEN KUNTI
Chapter Nine:

Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.26
janmaisvarya-sruta-sribhir
edhamana-madah puman
naivarhaty abhidhatum vai
tvam akincana-gocaram

TRANSLATION

My Lord, Your Lordship can easily be approached, but only by those who are materially exhausted. One who is on the path of [material] progress, trying to improve himself with respectable parentage, great opulence, high education, and bodily beauty, cannot approach You with sincere feeling.

JOURNAL:

Srila Prabhupada entitled this chapter, "Decreasing the Fever of Illusion". I think I'll call it "Meditation for the Alcoholic".

Here are a few excerpts from the chapter:

It is said in the sastras that by once uttering the holy name of the Lord, the sinner gets rid of a quantity of sins that he is unable to commit. Such is the power of uttering the holy name of the Lord. There is not the least exaggeration in this statement. Actually the Lord's holy name has such powerful potency. But there is a quality to such utterances also. It depends on the quality of feeling. A helpless man can feelingly utter the holy name of the Lord, whereas a man who utters the same holy name in great material satisfaction cannot be so sincere.

One who drinks wine will become intoxicated and may think that he is flying in the sky or that he has gone to heaven. These are effects of intoxication. But an intoxicated person does not know that all these dreams are within the limits of time and will therefore come to an end. Because he is unaware that these dreams will not continue, he is said to be in illusion. Similarly, one is intoxicated by thinking, "I am very rich, I am very educated and beautiful, and I have taken birth in an aristocratic family in a great nation." That's all right, but how long will these advantages exist?

Kuntidevi says that those who are intoxicated in this way cannot feelingly address the Lord. They cannot feelingly say, jaya radha-madhava: "All glories to Radha and Krishna!" They have lost their spiritual feeling.

Now, Kuntidevi says that those who are increasing their own intoxication cannot become Krishna conscious. A fully intoxicated person may talk nonsense, and he may be told, "My dear brother, you are talking nonsense. Just see. Here is your father, and here is your mother." But because he is intoxicated, he will not understand, nor will he even care to understand. Similarly, if a devotee tries to show a materially intoxicated rascal, "Here is God," the rascal will not be able to understand it. Therefore Kuntidevi says, tvam akincana-gocaram [SB 1.8.26], indicating that to be free from the intoxication caused by high birth, opulence, education, and beauty is a good qualification.

Everything can be used in the service of Krishna. If one remains intoxicated and does not use one's material assets for the service of Krishna, they are not very valuable. But if one can use them for the service of Krishna, they become extremely valuable. To give an example, zero has no value, but as soon as the digit one is placed before the zero, the zero immediately becomes ten. If there are two zeros, they become one hundred, and three zeros become one thousand. Similarly, we are intoxicated by material assets that are actually no better than zero, but as soon as we add Krishna, these tens and hundreds and thousands and millions of zeros become extremely valuable. The Krishna consciousness movement therefore offers a great opportunity to the people of the West. They have an overabundance of the zeros of materialistic life, and if they simply add Krishna their life will become sublimely valuable.

Hari Bol Prabhus!