TEXT 16

TEXT

Na TaQaa ùgavaNa( raJaNa( PaUYaeTa TaPaAaidi>a" )

YaQaa k*-Z<aaiPaRTaPa[a<aSTaTPauåziNazevYaa )) 16 ))

na tathä hy aghavän räjan

püyeta tapa-ädibhiù

yathä kåñëärpita-präëas

tat-puruña-niñevayä

SYNONYMS

na—not; tathä—so much; hi—certainly; agha-vän—a man full of sinful activities; räjan—O King;
püyeta—can become purified; tapaù-ädibhiù—by executing the principles of austerity, penance,
brahmacarya and other purifying processes; yathä—as much as; kåñëa-arpita-präëaù—the devotee
whose life is fully Kåñëa conscious; tat-puruña-niñevayä—by engaging his life in the service of Kåñëa's
representative.

TRANSLATION

My dear King, if a sinful person engages in the service of a bona fide devotee of the Lord and thus learns
how to dedicate his life unto the lotus feet of Kåñëa, he can be completely purified. One cannot be
purified merely by undergoing austerity, penance, brahmacarya and the other methods of atonement I
have previously described.

PURPORT

Tat-puruña refers to a preacher of Kåñëa consciousness, such as the spiritual master. Çréla Narottama
däsa Öhäkura has said, chäòiyä vaiñëava-sevä nistära päyeche kebä: "Without serving a bona fide
spiritual master, an ideal Vaiñëava, who can be delivered from the clutches of mäyä?" This idea is also
expressed in many other places. Çrémad-Bhägavatam (5.5.2) says, mahat-seväà dväram ähur vimukteù:
if one desires liberation from the clutches of mäyä, one must associate with a pure devotee mahätmä. A
mahätmä is one who engages twenty-four hours daily in the loving service of the Lord. As Kåñëa says in
Bhagavad-gétä (9.13):

mahätmänas tu mäà pärtha

daivéà prakåtim äçritäù

bhajanty ananya-manaso

jïätvä bhütädim avyayam

"O son of Påthä, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine
nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality
of Godhead, original and inexhaustible." Thus the symptom of a mahätmä is that he has no engagement
other than service to Kåñëa. One must render service to a Vaiñëava in order to get freed from sinful
reactions, revive one's original Kåñëa consciousness and be trained in how to love Kåñëa. This is the
result of mahätma-sevä. Of course, if one engages in the service of a pure devotee, the reactions of
one's sinful life are vanquished automatically. Devotional service is necessary not to drive away an
insignificant stock of sins, but to awaken our dormant love for Kåñëa. As fog is vanquished at the first
glimpse of sunlight, one's sinful reactions are automatically vanquished as soon as one begins serving a
pure devotee; no separate endeavor is required.

The word kåñëa-rpita-präëaù refers to a devotee who dedicates his life to serving Kåñëa, not to being
saved from the path to hellish life. A devotee is näräyaëa-paräyaëa, or väsudeva-paräyaëa, which means
that the path of Väsudeva, or the devotional path, is his life and soul. Näräyaëa-paräù sarve na
kutaçcana bibhyati (SB 6.17.28): such a devotee is not afraid of going anywhere. There is a path toward
liberation in the higher planetary systems and a path toward the hellish planets, but a näräyaëa-para
devotee is unafraid wherever he is sent; he simply wants to remember Kåñëa, wherever he may be.
Such a devotee is unconcerned with hell and heaven; he is simply attached to rendering service to
Kåñëa. When a devotee is put into hellish conditions, he accepts them as Kåñëa's mercy: tat te
'nukampäà susamékñamäëaù (SB 10.14.8). He does not protest, "Oh, I am such a great devotee of
Kåñëa. Why have I been put into this misery?" Instead he thinks, "This is Kåñëa's mercy." Such an
attitude is possible for a devotee who engages in the service of Kåñëa's representative. This is the secret
of success.

SB 6.1.17

TEXT 17

TEXT

SaDa]qcqNaae ùYa& l/aeke- PaNQaa" +aeMaae_ku-Taae>aYa" )

SauXaql/a" SaaDavae Ya}a NaaraYa<aParaYa<aa" )) 17 ))

sadhrécéno hy ayaà loke

panthäù kñemo 'kuto-bhayaù

suçéläù sädhavo yatra

näräyaëa-paräyaëäù

SYNONYMS

sadhrécénaù—just appropriate; hi—certainly; ayam—this; loke—in the world; panthäù—path;

kñemaù—auspicious; akutaù-bhayaù—without fear; su-çéläù—well-behaved; sädhavaù—saintly
persons; yatra—wherein; näräyaëa-paräyaëäù—those who have taken the path of Näräyaëa, devotional
service, as their life and soul.

TRANSLATION

The path followed by pure devotees, who are well behaved and fully endowed with the best
qualifications, is certainly the most auspicious path in this material world. It is free from fear, and it is
authorized by the çästras.

PURPORT

One should not think that the person who takes to bhakti is one who cannot perform the ritualistic
ceremonies recommended in the karma-käëòa section of the Vedas or is not sufficiently educated to
speculate on spiritual subjects. Mäyävädés generally allege that the bhakti path is for women and
illiterates. This is a groundless accusation. The bhakti path is followed by the most learned scholars, such
as the Gosvämés, Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu and Rämänujäcärya. These are the actual followers of the
bhakti path. Regardless of whether or not one is educated or aristocratic, one must follow in their
footsteps. Mahäjano yena gataù sa panthäù: [Cc. Madhya 17.186] one must follow the path of the
mahäjanas. The mahäjanas are those who have taken to the path of devotional service (suçéläù sädhavo
yatra näräyaëa-paräyaëäù), for these great personalities are the perfect persons. As stated in Çrémad-
Bhägavatam (5.18.12):

yasyästi bhaktir bhagavaty akiïcanä

sarvair guëais tatra samäsate suräù

"One who has unflinching devotion to the Personality of Godhead has all the good qualities of the
demigods." The less intelligent, however, misunderstand the bhakti path and therefore allege that it is
for one who cannot execute ritualistic ceremonies or speculate. As confirmed here by the word
sadhrécénaù, bhakti is the path that is appropriate, not the paths of karma-käëòa and jïäna-käëòa.
Mäyävädés may be suçéläù sädhavaù (well-behaved saintly persons), but there is nevertheless some
doubt about whether they are actually making progress, for they have not accepted the path of bhakti.
On the other hand, those who follow the path of the äcäryas are suçéläù and sädhavaù, but furthermore
their path is akuto-bhaya, which means free from fear. One should fearlessly follow the twelve
mahäjanas and their line of disciplic succession and thus be liberated from the clutches of mäyä.