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 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 fearing to fall 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, adoring deities and our true family. They are themselves, and ultimately, they are no 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 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 being eternal and having an 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 knows no force of the wind, so a person absorbed in material consciousness is unaware of the formidable power of time, which sweeps him away. Whatever the materialist produces with much torment and effort for so-called happiness, the Supreme Lord, in the form of time, destroys it, and therefore the conditioned soul grieves.
The misguided materialist does not know that his body is temporary, and that the attraction to home, land, and wealth, associated with the body, is also transient. Ignorance alone makes him believe that everything is permanent. 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.
The conditioned being is content with his lot, whatever species he belongs to. Misled by the influence of the illusory energy that covers his vision, he is hardly inclined to abandon his body, even if he lives in Hell, because he indulges in the basest pleasures.