Why does Ambarish M consider his wealth to be material when he knows that it can be used in Krishna’s service?

Transcript

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so question in the Srimad Bhagavatam 9.4.15 and 16 it is said that Ambarish Maharaj was not attached to his wealth although it was huge because he considered it material and therefore insignificant so now a devotee can use his wealth in Krishna’s service so then why would a devotee consider the wealth to be material answer answer there are two different points over here one is that whether one feels material things are necessary and second is whether one feels material things are useful usable in Krishna’s service so a devotee who is detached does not feel that they are necessary but still because the devotee is engaged in the position of serving Krishna so you have to use them in Krishna’s service so in this context we do see that although it is said over here that Ambarish Maharaj considered his wealth to be material he did not renounce his kingship he was still a king and he was doing the duties of a king also so that means the basic point over here is to say that he was to differentiate between him and other materialistic kings so is there should a devotee consider his wealth to be material or non-material or spiritual now it’s important to know we cannot just simplistically spiritualize everything material otherwise some devotees say that because you are a devotee everything that you do is spiritual but often there are certain activities which increase our spiritual consciousness and certain activities which don’t so if we just whitewash all activities as spiritual then what may happen is we will be doing those activities which are extremely simple and spiritual but they will not be actually increasing our spiritual consciousness so for a devotee still there is a difference between directly devotional activities in which our consciousness gets connected with Krishna and indirectly devotional activities which can be useful very important for serving Krishna also but our consciousness itself may not be connected with Krishna in those activities so it is important for every devotee to have some directly devotional activities going on which will nourish the spiritual connection with Krishna and then one does other activities also so here Ambarish Maharaj is not giving up his responsibility as a king he is doing that responsibility as a king but he is not attached to it so in that sense he is so deeply fixed on devotion that is what is being demonstrated now for example Prabhupada told that by refuting Dada’s theory of evolution you will make spiritual advancement now there are many devotees who study evolution theory to refute it but they feel there is no Krishna in this they feel they are drained by studying all this understanding atheistic books refuting it so then actually I talked with Dutta Verma when I am studying evolution I am remembering Prabhupada’s instruction so how is that connection there that is because of sadhana that is because of one’s spiritually advanced consciousness which is developed by focused connection with Krishna so to be able to see Krishna in material things or through material things one needs to have a connection with Krishna so here the point that is being made is that Ambarish Maharaj has a deep connection with Krishna that the things which allure people in this world those things have no charm for him he is completely indifferent to them at the same time because Krishna had given him that he was using it in his service so a devotee should not reject material things just because they are material but at the same time a devotee cannot simplistically whitewash material things as spiritual and not do directly spiritual activities so one does directly spiritual activities an adequate amount of time and then one can also use material things in Krishna’s service