Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.25.36

Nitāi: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [devotees repeat] [leads chanting of verse, etc.]

tair darśanīyāvayavair udāra- vilāsa-hāsekṣita-vāma-sūktaiḥ hṛtātmano hṛta-prāṅāṁś ca bhaktir anicchato me gatim aṅvīṁ prayuṅkte [SB 3.25.36]

[break] [01:38]

"Upon seeing the charming forms of the Lord, smiling and attractive, and hearing His very pleasing words, the pure devotee almost loses all other consciousness. His senses are freed from all other engagements, and he becomes absorbed in devotional service. Thus in spite of his unwillingness, he gets liberation without separate endeavor."

Prabhupāda:

tair darśanīyāvayavair udāra- vilāsa-hāsekṣita-vāma-sūktaiḥ hṛtātmano hṛta-prāṅāṁś ca bhaktir anicchato me gatim aṅvīṁ prayuṅkte [SB 3.25.36]

So, śrī-vigraha-darśanam. This temple is situated to give people the facility as it is described here. Tair darśanīya avayavaiḥ udāra. We have to see the Deity beginning from the lotus feet, not jumping over the smiling face. That is the way. First of all you try to see. And when you are practiced... Try to see the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa, and when you are practiced to this habit, even after visiting the temple if you go home, if you are practice to see the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa, that is meditation. So darśanīya avayavaiḥ: "Different limbs." First of all feet, then the thighs, then the belt, then the chest, then you reach the smiling face. Kṛṣṅa and Kṛṣṅa's form... If you meditate on Kṛṣṅa's form, that is Kṛṣṅa. So we associate with Kṛṣṅa, His smiling face, His flute, His hand, His dress, His consort, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṅī or any other, gopīs, surrounded by. In this way, practice this habit of observing the Supreme Lord. Therefore He has appeared arcā-vigraha, so that we can see Him.

In our present eyes even Kṛṣṅa comes, but we have no eyes to see. Therefore for the kaniṣṭha-adhikārī... There are three kinds of devotees: kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, madhyama-adhikārī and uttama-adhikārī. Uttama-adhikārī means first class, most advanced; and madhyama-adhikārī means in the middle stage, not very advanced, not very lower; and kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, just the neophyte, beginning. So for the beginners it is recommended that you see the Deity daily or always. Beginning from the lotus feet, as you are practiced, then go up to the smiling face. And hear also Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Simply if you try to see and if you don't hear, then it will not stay very much. Therefore we see practically in many temples, because there is no discussion about Kṛṣṅa, simply a Deity is there, people go for some time, then gradually, especially those who are educated, so-called educated, they do not feel very much interested. And it has actually happened so. Many temples, they are not visited even by the devotees, because there must be also hearing about. Two things must go on: the Deity must be worshiped—this is called pāñcarātriki-vidhi—and to hear about the Supreme from Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Vedic literature—that is called bhāgavata-vidhi.

So the pāñcarātriki-vidhi and bhāgavata-vidhi must go parallel. Then one, even one is a neophyte, gradually he will come to the intermediate stage between the neophyte stage and to the advanced stage. And of course, it is very difficult to find out one in very advanced stage. But there are. There are many advanced stage. At least, the spiritual master is supposed to be in the advanced stage, but for preaching purpose he come down in that intermediate stage, for preaching work. Because the advanced stage, there is no discrimination that "Here is a devotee, and here is a nondevotee." Because advanced devotee sees that everyone is devotee except himself. The advanced devotee sees that he is not a devotee, but all others are devotees. This is advancement. But in the kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, in the neophyte stage, they simply concentrate on the Deity. Arcāyām eva haraye yaḥ pūjāṁ śraddhayā īhate. That is required in the beginning. According to the prescribed duties as they are mentioned in the scriptures, one must take care of the Deity. But that, unless a little farther advanced, he does not know who is a devotee and what is his function with others.

In the madhyama-adhikāra, when one still farther advances, he has got four kind of visions:

īśvare tad-adhīneṣu bāliśeṣu dviṣatsu ca prema-maitrī-kṛpopekṣā yaḥ karoti sa madhyamaḥ [SB 11.2.46]

Madhyama-adhikārī is not only interested in Deity worship, but he knows who is a devotee and who is innocent and who is Bhagavān. Īśvara tad-adhīneṣu bāliśeṣu. Bāliśa means innocent. There are many innocent men, they... Actually, they do not know what is to be done, who is God. They are innocent. They are not offender. But there are other others who are offenders, dviṣat. Dviṣat means envious. They are immediately envious as soon as they hear of a devotee of God. They are called envious, dviṣat. So madhyama-adhikārī, he knows God, Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅas tu bhagavān svayam [SB 1.3.28].

[All of the above-mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa is the original Personality of Godhead. All of them appear on planets whenever there is a disturbance created by the atheists. The Lord incarnates to protect the theists.]

So he wants to develop his love for Kṛṣṅa. Avyartha-kālaṁ vasati, nāma-gāne sadā ruciḥ. The madhyama-adhikārī, he wants to see that not a moment is wasted without Kṛṣṅa consciousness. That is madhyama-adhikārī. Avyartha-kālatvam [Cc Madhya 23.18-19]. He's always careful that "Whether I am spoiling the valuable time of my life." That is the first qualification of madhyama-adhikārī. Avyartha-kālatvam. Because we have got very short period, living period. We do not know when we shall die. There is no certainty. Foolish people may think that "I shall live forever," but that is foolishness. Life is very transient. At any moment we can die. Therefore those who are advanced devotee, they want to see that "I have got very short period of life at my disposal..." Therefore, he is very anxious to utilize every moment for advancing in Kṛṣṅa consciousness. That is madhyama-adhikārī. Avyartha-kālatvam.

And nāma-gāne sadā ruciḥ: "And he has got special taste for chanting the Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra." Nāma-gāne sadā ruciḥ. Vasati tad..., prītis tad-vasati sthale [Cc Madhya 23.18-19]: "And he is very much anxious to live in such places like Vṛndāvana, Dvārakā, Mathurā, where Kṛṣṅa lived." Tad-vasati sthale. Vasati means residential. When Kṛṣṅa appears on this planet, He lives in Mathurā, Vṛndāvana, Dvārakā dhāma. So a devotee also, advanced devotee, they want to live in the residential places of Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa, God, has got His residential places everywhere. That's a fact. Aṅḍāntara-stha-paramāṅu-cayāntara-stham [Bs 5.35].

[He is an undifferentiated entity as there is no distinction between potency and the possessor thereof. In His work of creation of millions of worlds, His potency remains inseparable. All the universes exist in Him and He is present in His fullness in every one of the atoms that are scattered throughout the universe, at one and the same time. Such is the primeval Lord whom I adore.]

He is residing even within the atom. But still, He has got special residential places like Vṛndāvana, Dvārakā, Mathurā. So a devotee is anxious to live in those places.

Prītis tad-vasati sthale, nāma-gāne sadā ruciḥ, avyartha-kālatvam. Their business is to increase love of God. To increase love of God means there is also process, how to increase. The process is given by Rūpa Gosvāmī:

ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo 'tha bhajana-kriyā tato 'nartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt tato niṣṭhā tataḥ rucis athāsaktis tato bhāvas... sādhakānām ayaṁ premṅaḥ prādurbhāve bhavet kramaḥ [Cc Madhya 23.14-15]

[In the beginning there must be faith. Then one becomes interested in associating with pure devotees. Thereafter one is initiated by the spiritual master and executes the regulative principles under his orders. Thus one is freed from all unwanted habits and becomes firmly fixed in devotional service. Thereafter, one develops taste and attachment. This is the way of sādhana-bhakti, the execution of devotional service according to the regulative principles. Gradually emotions intensify, and finally there is an awakening of love. This is the gradual development of love of Godhead for the devotee interested in Kṛṣṅa consciousness.]

These are the gradual steps. Śraddhā. Śraddhā means faith. Faith is the beginning. Without faith, you cannot make..., there is no question of Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Faith means that faith is created after reading Bhagavad-gītā. If you read Bhagavad-gītā carefully and if you actually understand Bhagavad-gītā as it is, then the faith will be created. Without reading Bhagavad-gītā, there is no question of faith in Kṛṣṅa. So what is that faith? That Kṛṣṅa says that sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66],

[Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.]

so, "You give up all other engagements. You just surrender to Me, and I shall give you protection." So if we have got faith, if we believe in the words of Kṛṣṅa, that is called faith. If we don't believe in the words of Kṛṣṅa, if we study as a literary thesis and then throw it away, that is not faith.

The faith is explained by Kṛṣṅadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī. He says, 'śraddhā'-śabde—viśvāsa sudṛḍha niścaya [Cc Madhya 22.62]. Faith means one who has got firm faith in the words of Kṛṣṅa. That is called faith. "I am reading Bhagavad-gītā, but I do not accept Kṛṣṅa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead or He is a person, as He says in the Bhagavad-gītā..." He says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya [Bg 7.7].

[O conqueror of wealth [Arjuna], there is no Truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.]

Mattaḥ, when He says He's a person... So Kṛṣṅa says that "There is no more better personality or better superior existence than Myself." Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru [Bg 18.65].

[Always think of Me and become My devotee. Worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.]

He says "Me." Mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te [Bg 7.14].

[This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.]

Ahaṁ sarvasya... Aham, "Me," "I." He says everywhere. Therefore, Kṛṣṅa is person. Kṛṣṅa is not imperson. Kleśaḥ adhikataras teṣām avyaktāsakta-cetasām [Bg 12.5].

[For those whose minds are attached to the unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Supreme, advancement is very troublesome. To make progrese in that discipline is always difficult for those who are embodied.]

It is said that "One who is impersonalist, he takes more trouble to come to Me. He will come later on, but it will take some time."

The impersonal feature of understanding of the Supreme Absolute Truth, it is partial understanding. Just like we have explained several times that we have got experience of the sunshine, because sunshine is very easily approached. But that understanding of the sunshine is not real understanding of the sun globe or sun planet or the sun-god. That is not perfect understanding. It is partial understanding that you can understand the sun globe is full of heat and light. That's all. But how much heat, what is the temperature of heat, how much light is there and where is the source of heat and light, that is not possible to understand. Everyone will admit this, that simply by seeing, because the sunshine is entering your room from the window, that does not mean you know everything of the sun. Similarly, this impersonal understanding of the Absolute Truth is like that. Just like sunshine is impersonal, but the sun-god is person. If sun-god is not person, how Kṛṣṅa says, imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam [Bg 4.1]?

[The Blessed Lord said: I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvān, and Vivasvān instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Ikṣvāku.]

"This Bhagavad-gītā..." He says to Arjuna that "This Bhagavad-gītā, science of Bhagavad-gītā, or this yoga system, bhakti-yoga system, I spoke to sun-god. Exactly like that, I am speaking to you." So Arjuna is person, and Kṛṣṅa is person. Therefore the..., in the sun planet the predominating deity is a person. He is not imperson.

So you cannot understand that person simply by seeing the sunshine. That requires better qualification, how to enter the sun planet, how to see the predominating deity. The impersonalists, they simply conclude that, the same way as we foolish persons conclude, that the sun planet is simply a fiery substance, and there is nothing, no... If there is nothing, if there is no sun-god, predominating deity or the president of the sun globe, then how Kṛṣṅa could speak with him? In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, ahaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān. Just like we talk. We are talking with you. We are not talking in the sky, vacant. We are talking with persons. These are intelligent. These require intelligence. So now we can imagine that "How the sun-god can be person? It is a fiery, big fire substance, and how one can live?" This is also foolishness. "Because I cannot live in the fire, therefore nobody can live in the fire," that is my foolishness. My body is not so made. Just like you cannot live in the water. It does not mean that there is no living entity in the water. It requires intelligence. Similarly, if you cannot live in the fire, it does not mean that nobody lives there. Yes. There are living entities whose body is so made. Just like the fish and other aquatics, they live. Their body is so made. This is intelligent study. Otherwise, if you simply compare with my intelligence, my position, my circumstances, and we'll conclude all others like that, that is blindness. That is not... Blindness.

So similarly, impersonal realization of God, that is imperfect, exactly like the understanding of the sunshine is not understanding of the sun globe and the sun-god. Everyone can understand. It is not very difficult. If you think that "Because I have seen sunshine, then I have seen everything; I have known everything of the sun..." No. You do not know even how big the sun globe is. And when you read books, when you read scientific books, you can understand it is fourteen hundred times bigger than this planet. So ultimately God is person. He is not imperson. Impersonal understanding is imperfect, partial understanding, that if God, Kṛṣṅa, is sac-cid-ānanda vigraha... Sat, cit, ānanda [Bs 5.1].

[Kṛṣṅa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.]

So impersonal understanding of Kṛṣṅa means you understand only the sat portion. The two other portion, cit and ānanda, you do not know. You do not know.

So if you understand Kṛṣṅa, then you understand the impersonal Brahman realization and localized Paramātmā realization. That is stated in the Vedas. Yasmin vijñāte sarvam evaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati [Muṅḍaka Upaniṣad 1.3].

[If one can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the controller of all controllers, one can understand everything else.]

If you simply understand Kṛṣṅa, then you understand the other two features, because Kṛṣṅa is ānanda. You see Kṛṣṅa's feature. He is not thinking, taxing His brain, "How to do this? How to do that?" No. He is ānandamaya. Ānandamaya: He's playing on His flute, and Rādhārāṅī is there. He is in ecstatic ānanda, hlādinī-śakti. Rādhā kṛṣṅa-praṅaya-vikṛtir hlādinī-śaktiḥ. It is the transaction of bliss, transcendental bliss, hlādinī-śakti. Kṛṣṅa has got many potencies. Out of that, one potency is hlādinī-śakti, pleasure-giving. He is ātmārāma. He is full in Himself. When He wants to enjoy, He expands Himself, His pleasure potency. So Rādhārāṅī is His pleasure potency, and the gopīs are expansion of Rādhārāṅī. Ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ. Nija-rūpa. The forms are Kṛṣṅa's, but ānanda-cinmaya-rasa, just to taste the mellow of transcendental bliss.

ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūto govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Bs 5.37]

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, residing in His own realm, Goloka, with Rādhā, resembling His own spiritual figure, the embodiment of the ecstatic potency possessed of the sixty-four artistic activities, in the company of Her confidantes [sakhīs], embodiments of the extensions of Her bodily form, permeated and vitalized by His ever-blissful spiritual rasa.]

This is a verse from the Brahma-saṁhitā.

So Kṛṣṅa is... We are seeing the form of Kṛṣṅa. That is the ultimate understanding of the Absolute Truth. Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate.

vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate [SB 1.2.11]

[Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān.]

So sac-cid-ānanda. The Brahman realization is sat realization, Paramātmā realization is cit realization and Bhagavān realization means ānanda realization. Sat, cit, ānanda. And in the Vedānta-sūtra it is said that the Absolute Truth is ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt [Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12].

[By nature, the Supreme Lord is blissful.]

Ānandamaya. He's always ānandamaya. You read Kṛṣṅa's līlā—He's always full of transcendental bliss, especially in Vṛndāvana. Vṛndāvana, that is His original residence. There, simply ānanda. Kṛṣṅa is playing with His cowherds boys friends. Kṛṣṅa is dancing with the gopīs. Kṛṣṅa is stealing Mother Yaśodā's butter. Kṛṣṅa is doing... All ānanda, transcendental bliss.

So here it is stated that if you begin your devotional service as it is prescribed here, simply see the Deity, then gradually realize how Kṛṣṅa is smiling, how Kṛṣṅa is playing on His flute, how Kṛṣṅa is enjoying the company of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṅī... We have to see simply. Simply by seeing. And if you hear about Kṛṣṅa, just you are hearing now, these two processes will increase in such a way that one time, anicchato me gatim aṅvīṁ prayuṅkte: you'll automatically become a great devotee, simply if you come to this temple, or any temple where Deity is very nicely worshiped. These are all scientific. It is not imagination. Just like people think that "They are worshiping idol and imagining something." No, they are stated in this all śāstra. It is the prescribed method for developing your God consciousness, or Kṛṣṅa consciousness. It is a science, vijñāna-samanvitam.

jñānaṁ parama-guhyaṁ me yad vijñāna-samanvitam sa-rahasyaṁ tad-aṅgaṁ ca gṛhāṅa gaditaṁ mayā [SB 2.9.31]

[The Personality of Godhead said: Knowledge about Me as described in the scriptures is very confidential, and it has to be realized in conjunction with devotional service. The necessary paraphernalia for that process is being explained by Me. You may take it up carefully.]

When Kṛṣṅa advised Brahmā after creation, then He said, jñānaṁ me... This is called catuḥ-śloki-bhāgavata [SB 2.9.33-36], the four ślokas which is the basic principle of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Jñānaṁ parama-guhyaṁ. The knowledge of Kṛṣṅa is very confidential, guhyam. Guhyād guhyatamam. In the Bhagavad-gītā is said, "My dear Arjuna, I have spoken to you so many things, but now, because you are My very dear friend and devotee, therefore I am disclosing the most confidential knowledge." What is that? Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekam [Bg 18.66]:

[Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.]

"Just surrender to Me." That's all. This is the confidential knowledge. Don't try to understand many things, or if you have heard, if you could not understand Me here, then I tell you. This is the most confidential part of knowledge, that sarva-dharmān parityajya." Before this verse, guhyād guhyatamam. Guhyād guhyatamam. Guhya means very confidential. So this guhya, this Brahman realization, is also very confidential. But Paramātmā realization is guhyatara, still more confidential. And to understand Kṛṣṅa is guhyatama, superlative degree. Guhyād guhyatamam.

So to understand Kṛṣṅa, Kṛṣṅa has explained in so many ways. Simply to understand Kṛṣṅa makes you liberated. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya [Bg 4.9].

[One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.]

So therefore this is the process of understanding Kṛṣṅa. These Kṛṣṅa consciousness centers are being opened all over the world just to give the people the chance how to become liberated simply by seeing the Deity and chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra. This is the opportunity. But fools and rascals, they think that "It is nuisance." But actually it's not. This is a science. So by following this process, then what will be the...? Hṛtātmano hṛta-prāṅāṁś ca: "Then gradually, your mind will be fully absorbed in Kṛṣṅa consciousness, mind and senses." Hṛtātmanaḥ and hṛta-prāṅa. Prāṅa, we..., our prāṅa, life, is at the senses. So if your mind and senses are fully absorbed in Kṛṣṅa consciousness, that is called bhakti. That is called bhakti. It is not sentiment; it is a practical science when your mind and senses are fully absorbed in Kṛṣṅa. The senses are engaged in serving Kṛṣṅa and mind is always thinking of Kṛṣṅa.

Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṅa-padāravindayor vacāṁsi vaikuṅṭha-guṅānuvarṅane [SB 9.4.18].

[Mahārāja Ambarīṣa always engaged his mind in meditating upon the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa, his words in describing the glories of the Lord, his hands in cleansing the Lord's temple, and his ears in hearing the words spoken by Kṛṣṅa or about Kṛṣṅa. He engaged his eyes in seeing the Deity of Kṛṣṅa, Kṛṣṅa's temples and Kṛṣṅa's places like Mathurā and Vṛndāvana, he engaged his sense of touch in touching the bodies of the Lord's devotees, he engaged his sense of smell in smelling the fragrance of tulasī offered to the Lord, and he engaged his tongue in tasting the Lord's prasāda. He engaged his legs in walking to the holy places and temples of the Lord, his head in bowing down before the Lord, and all his desires in serving the Lord, twenty-four hours a day. Indeed, Mahārāja Ambarīṣa never desired anything for his own sense gratification. He engaged all his senses in devotional service, in various engagements related to the Lord. This is the way to increase attachment for the Lord and be completely free from all material desires.]

Just like Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, he was a great devotee, and his business was, although he was a king, very responsible king and ruling over the world, but his mind was always absorbed in Kṛṣṅa. This is possible. This is possible. That example is given, that a woman or a lady is always busy in his [her] household affairs, but she also takes care of her bunch of hair, how to set it up and very nicely comb it. She does not forget. In spite of her being engaged in so many household affairs, she does not forget to take care of the bunch of hair. Similarly, one who is actually devotee, he may be engaged in so many things, but he does not forget Kṛṣṅa. That is the example, very good example.

So hṛtātmano hṛta-prāṅāṁś ca bhaktiḥ. This is the perfection. This means that the gross body and the subtle body becomes digested, no more existence of this gross body. Gross body means sense gratification, and subtle body means speculation: "God is like that, God is like that," speculation, subtle body. Mana-buddhy-ahaṅkāra. And gross body means the senses. So when the senses and the mind, everything, is engaged in Kṛṣṅa consciousness, that means you are already liberated. Already liberated. Therefore it is said, anicchato me gatim aṅvīṁ prayuṅkte. The liberated means that you have no more the activities of gross body and subtle body, but there are activities of the soul. This is wanted. The bhakti means the activities of the soul, not of the body, not of the mind.

The Brahman realization means stopping the activities of the body. But the activities of the mind is going on, or they do not know; it is not perfect knowledge. Therefore I have said several times that the Brahman realization, those who are Brahman realized souls, they are not in perfect knowledge. Aviśuddha-buddhi. They have been described as aviśuddha. Viśuddha means very purified, and a means "not." Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ [SB 10.2.32].

[[Someone may say that aside from devotees, who always seek shelter at the Lord's lotus feet, there are those who are not devotees but who have accepted different processes for attaining salvation. What happens to them? In answer to this question, Lord Brahmā and the other demigods said:] O lotus-eyed Lord, although nondevotees who accept severe austerities and penances to achieve the highest position may think themselves liberated, their intelligence is impure. They fall down from their position of imagined superiority because they have no regard for Your lotus feet.]

Their intelligence is not yet perfectly purified. Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa. They are thinking that "Now we have become liberated." No. That is not liberation. Here is liberation. Why? Hṛtātmano hṛta-prāṅāṁś ca bhaktiḥ. When the mind and the senses are all absorbed in Kṛṣṅa, that is the bhakti state. Mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām [Bg 18.54].

[And of all yogīs, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all.]

The people think that bhakti is a sentiment thing. No. It is above liberation. Above liberation. Unless one is not liberated, he cannot stand on the platform of bhakti. That is bhakti. That is called parā-bhakti. Aparā-bhakti and parā-bhakti.

So any devotee who is serious about this Deity worship, hearing about Kṛṣṅa, chanting the Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra, following the Vedic principle, or rejecting the sinful activities of life... In this way we can come to the platform of spiritual life, and if we act accordingly, that is called bhakti-yoga, or the liberated stage.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda. [end]