Like fire in gunpowder

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SB 1.10.11-12: "The intelligent, who have understood the Supreme Lord in

association with pure devotees and have become freed from bad materialistic

association, can never avoid hearing the glories of the Lord, even though

they have heard them only once. How, then, could the Pandavas tolerate His

separation, for they had been intimately associated with His person, seeing

Him face to face, touching Him, conversing with Him, and sleeping, sitting

and dining with Him?"

 

PURPORT: The living being's constitutional position is one of serving a

superior. He is obliged to serve by force the dictates of illusory material

energy in different phases of sense gratification. And in serving the senses

he is never tired. Even though he may be tired, the illusory energy

perpetually forces him to do so without being satisfied. There is no end to

such sense gratificatory business, and the conditioned soul becomes

entangled in such servitude without hope of release. The release is only

effected by association with pure devotees. By such association one is

gradually promoted to his transcendental consciousness. Thus he can know

that his eternal position is to render service unto the Lord and not to the

perverted senses in the capacity of lust, anger, desire to lord it over,

etc. Material society, friendship and love are all different phases of lust.

Home, country, family, society, wealth and all sorts of corollaries are all

causes of bondage in the material world, where the threefold miseries of

life are concomitant factors. By associating with pure devotees and by

hearing them submissively, attachment for material enjoyment becomes

slackened, and attraction for hearing about the transcendental activities of

the Lord becomes prominent. Once they are, they will go on progressively

without stoppage, like fire in gunpowder. It is said that Hari, the

Personality of Godhead, is so transcendentally attractive that even those

who are self-satisfied by self-realization and are factually liberated from

all material bondage also become devotees of the Lord. Under the

circumstances it is easily understood what must have been the position of

the Pandavas, who were constant companions of the Lord. They could not even

think of separation from Sri Krsna, since the attraction was more intense

for them because of continuous personal contact. His remembrance by His

form, quality, name, fame, pastimes, etc., is also attractive for the pure

devotee, so much so that he forgets all forms, quality, name, fame and

activities of the mundane world, and due to his mature association with pure

devotees he is not out of contact with the Lord for a moment.