Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.1.15

Prabhupāda: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [devotees repeat] Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Six, Chapter One, verse number fifteen.

kecit kevalayā bhaktyā vāsudeva-parāyaṅāḥ aghaṁ dhunvanti kārtsnyena nīhāram iva bhāskaraḥ [SB 6.1.15]

[02:04]

So karma, jñāna, yoga, then bhakti. So karmaṅā, karma niyahara na tantritaṁ bhaviṣyati. We have discussed this. By karma you cannot nullify something... [break] Everyone has got that tendency, the śāstra gives them chance to act, fruitive activities. Because by working, working, one day it will come when he will be not interested working any more. Then athāto brahma jijñāsā. Jñāna. Jñāna also, theoretical. It has been seen that theoretical knowledge, even one has come to the platform of Brahman... Āruhya kṛcchreṅa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho [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.]

There are many examples. Simply theoretical knowledge will not help us. Our main aim is how to become perfect.

So by karma we cannot become perfect perpetually. Just like I have given several times the example that in spite of so much education and universities and advancement of civili..., nobody is perfect in the modern civilization, not even honest. In spite of education, so much learning... I have given this example many times. This is tested in the airport, that everyone is examined about his dishonest. That means nobody is honest. So this will not help. If you want to make the world perfect, then not by karma, neither by mental speculation. That is not possible. The only means is bhakti, especially in this age. In this Kali-yuga people are very much embarrassed. Mandāḥ sumanda-matayo manda-bhāgyā hy upadrutaḥ [SB 1.1.10].

[O learned one, in this iron Age of Kali men almost always have but short lives. They are quarrelsome, lazy, misguided, unlucky and, above all, always disturbed.]

Manda-bhāgyā. Even nobody is happy in his family life, so unfortunate, manda-bhāgyā. That is practical. So these things will not help, especially in this age.

So Śukadeva Gosvāmī suggested for kecit, "somebody," not all. This Kṛṣṅa consciousness understanding is very easy, at the same time very difficult also. So therefore here it is said kevalā bhaktyā. Kevalā means only bhakti, without any jñāna, karma, yoga. That is kevalā bhakti. That is pure devotion, bhakti. Tan manye adhītam uttamam. Prahlāda Mahārāja, when he was asked by his father that "What the best thing you have learned? What is the best thing?" he said this: kevalā bhakti. Kevalā bhakti.

śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅoḥ smaraṅaṁ pāda-sevanam arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sākhyam ātma-nive... [SB 7.5.23]

If we simply stick to these principles of kevalā bhakti, even simply by hearing, śravaṅaṁ... Just like we are holding class everywhere, in every center. If somebody simply hears attentively, he'll be perfect. This is bhakti: simply hearing. Or śravaṅaṁ kīrtanam, or describing or chanting the holy name, he'll be perfect. Śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅu... But Viṣṅu, about Lord Viṣṅu, Kṛṣṅa. Śṛṅvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṅaḥ puṅya-śravaṅa-kīrtana [SB 1.2.17].

[Śrī Kṛṣṅa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramātmā [Supersoul] in everyone's heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.]

If you simply hear and chant, then you will be purified. One who is chanting and one who is hearing, both of them will be purified. And gradually, as soon as one is purified, he becomes pious. If you argue that "Somebody is hearing for so many years," so then there is question of offense. Offense, ten kinds of offense, you know. While you are initiated, the ten kinds of... So even one is in offense, still, if he continues hearing and chanting, he will be purified. It is so nice thing. This is kevalā bhakti.

But there should not be any motive. That is you should be very careful. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11],

[One should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṅa favorably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive activities or philosophical speculation. That is called pure devotional service.]

no motive. Bhakti, bhaja-dhātu, simply pure desire, "How I shall serve Kṛṣṅa?" Then he is mukta. Immediately he is liberated. One who has this fixed-up mind, that "How I shall render service to Kṛṣṅa?" and if he tries his best, then he becomes immediately mukta unless he changes his decision. That is... Every time is possible. Even one is mukta, liberated, he can be also fallen down unless he is very strong in his determination. Māyā is always there. Daivī hy eṣā guṅamayī mama māyā duratyayā [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.]

But if one is determined that "I shall stick to the service of Kṛṣṅa," māyā will not touch. That is kevalā bhakti. If sometimes it appears that he has deviated out of past habit, that is excused. Api cet sudurācāro bhajate mām ananya-bhāk, sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ [Bg 9.30].

[Even if one commits the most abominable actions, if he is engaged in devotional service, he is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated.]

But not intentional. We should not fall down and deviate from our path of devotional service intentionally. That will not... That is very great criminality. We must try our best, kevalayā bhaktyā.

So kecit. Kecit means this determination is very difficult. Therefore it has been said here kecit, "somebody," not all. Not all can get that determination. But everyone can get determination, provided he likes. It is not determination is monopolized by a certain man. Anyone who determines that "I shall simply serve Kṛṣṅa," that simple determination will save him. Kevalayā bhaktyā. And kecit kevalayā bhaktyā vāsudeva-parāyaṅāḥ [SB 6.1.15]. Bhaktyā, bhakti, devotion, to whom? Vāsudeva. Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ [Bg 7.19].

[After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.]

If one determines that "Vāsudeva is everything..." Actually, Kṛṣṅa is everything. Mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagat avyakta-mūrtinā. In everywhere. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam yat kiñcid jagatyāṁ jagat [Īśo mantra 1].

[Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong.]

Everywhere there is Kṛṣṅa's relationship, because without Kṛṣṅa, nothing exists. Mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagat avyaktya, mat-sthani sarva-bhūtāni [Bg 9.4].

[By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.]

Everything is resting on Kṛṣṅa. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam. This is Kṛṣṅa conscious. Without Kṛṣṅa... So that is the fact. But when you come to this understanding, then you become perfectly Kṛṣṅa conscious. Without Kṛṣṅa, nothing can exist.

So vāsudeva-parāyaṅā-agham. Agham means sin, sinful reaction of life. Dhunvanti, "one washes." Just like dirty thing, if you bring bucket of water and wash it, then everything cleansed immediately. So this process of chanting is so nice that ceto-darpaṅa-mārjanam [Cc Antya 20.12].

[Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṅa, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all education. The chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṅa expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step.]

It cleanses the heart, misunderstanding that "I am this body. I belong to this nation. I belong to this community. I belong to this religion." No. "I belong to Kṛṣṅa," that's all. This is ceto-darpaṅa-mārjanam. Jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṅa dāsa [Cc Madhya 20.108].

[It is the living entity’s constitutional position to be an eternal servant of Kṛṣṅa because he is the marginal energy of Kṛṣṅa and a manifestation simultaneously one with and different from the Lord, like a molecular particle of sunshine or fire. Kṛṣṅa has three varieties of energy.]

That is real knowledge, real perfection, as soon as one comes to this conclusion, that "Kṛṣṅa is mine, and I am Kṛṣṅa's," simply this understanding. Ceto-darpaṅa-mārjanam. So by this consciousness automatically all reaction of sinful life becomes washed. Aghaṁ dhunvanti kārtsnyena, totally. How? How it is possible? "He has accumulated sinful reaction of life for so many births, and simply...?" Yes, it is possible. "How?" Then, nīhāram iva bhāskaraḥ. When there is..., what is called? Frost?

Devotee: Fog.

Prabhupāda: Fog, yes. When there is fog, you try so many ways; it cannot go. Then, if somehow or other sun rises, immediately finished. Immediately clear. That is our motto in the Back to Godhead: "Godhead is light and nescience is darkness. Where there is Godhead, there is no jurisdiction of darkness."

kṛṣṅa sūrya-sama māyā andhakāra yāhāṅ kṛṣṅa tāhāṅ nāhi māyā adhikāra [Cc Madhya 22.31]

[Kṛṣṅa is compared to sunshine, and māyā is compared to darkness. Wherever there is sunshine, there cannot be darkness. As soon as one takes to Kṛṣṅa consciousness, the darkness of illusion (the influence of the external energy) will immediately vanish.]

As soon as there is sunshine, immediately the fog is... It's practical. So somehow or other, Kṛṣṅa, if we get Kṛṣṅa arisen in our heart... Sa vai manaḥ-kṛṣṅa-padāravindayoḥ [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.]

If we simply concentrate our mind, that is real meditation, to think of Kṛṣṅa—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.]

Then everything will be cleansed automatically. Kṛṣṅa says in the...,

śṛṅvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṅaḥ puṅya-śravaṅa-kīrtanaḥ hṛdy antaḥ stho hy abhadrāṅi vidhunoti suhṛt satām [SB 1.2.17]

[Śrī Kṛṣṅa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramātmā [Supersoul] in everyone's heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.]

Kṛṣṅa is there already, just like friend. Kṛṣṅa is always ready to give us instruction so that we can get out of this miserable condition of life. Kṛṣṅa is ready. He is coming to give you instruction. Simply you have to follow; then everything will be all right.

So this is the only way. Otherwise in this age, severe austerity, tapasya, celibacy, charity and so on, recommended. Tyāgena satya-śaucābhyāṁ yamena niyamena vā. These are the methods, gradual process of transcendental life. But in this age, especially in this Kali-yuga, it is very, very difficult, almost impossible. So best thing is take to this Kṛṣṅa consciousness, kevalayā bhaktyā, simply this understanding, that "Kṛṣṅa is my eternal master; I am Kṛṣṅa's eternal servant. So let us exchange our feelings of master and servant. Then I shall be perfect."

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda. [end]