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Devotees of Godhead

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Canto 1

The demons who are always envious of the devotees of Godhead, try to support cow-killing or animal-killing from the pages of the Vedas, and this is now being done by the modernized sannyāsīs.
SB 1.3.24, Purport:

Technically Lord Buddha's philosophy is called atheistic because there is no acceptance of the Supreme Lord and because that system of philosophy denied the authority of the Vedas. But that is an act of camouflage by the Lord. Lord Buddha is the incarnation of Godhead. As such, he is the original propounder of Vedic knowledge. He therefore cannot reject Vedic philosophy. But he rejected it outwardly because the sura-dviṣa, or the demons who are always envious of the devotees of Godhead, try to support cow-killing or animal-killing from the pages of the Vedas, and this is now being done by the modernized sannyāsīs. Lord Buddha had to reject the authority of the Vedas altogether. This is simply technical, and had it not been so he would not have been so accepted as the incarnation of Godhead. Nor would he have been worshiped in the transcendental songs of the poet Jayadeva, who is a Vaiṣṇava ācārya. Lord Buddha preached the preliminary principles of the Vedas in a manner suitable for the time being (and so also did Śaṅkarācārya) to establish the authority of the Vedas. Therefore both Lord Buddha and Ācārya Śaṅkara paved the path of theism, and Vaiṣṇava ācāryas, specifically Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, led the people on the path towards a realization of going back to Godhead.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Adi-lila

One German scholar who became a devotee of Godhead in India said that material science had already made laudable progress in duplicating the mystic powers of the yogīs.
CC Adi 1.91, Purport:

As far as the mystic powers of the yogīs are concerned, they are also material entanglements on the path of spiritual realization. One German scholar who became a devotee of Godhead in India said that material science had already made laudable progress in duplicating the mystic powers of the yogīs. He therefore came to India not to learn the methods of the yogīs' mystic powers but to learn the path of transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord, as mentioned in the great scripture Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Mystic powers can make a yogī materially powerful and thus give temporary relief from the miseries of birth, death, old age and disease, as other material sciences can also do, but such mystic powers can never be a permanent source of relief from these miseries. Therefore, according to the Bhāgavata school, this path of religiosity is also a method of cheating its followers. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is clearly defined that the most elevated and powerful mystic yogī is one who can constantly think of the Supreme Lord within his heart and engage in the loving service of the Lord.

The first and foremost concern of fruitive workers, elevationists, empiric philosophers and salvationists is to raise their material position. But devotees of Godhead have no such selfish desires. They serve the Supreme Lord only for His satisfaction.
CC Adi 1.91, Purport:

Bhāgavata-dharma, or the religious principle described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, of which the Bhagavad-gītā is a preliminary study, is meant for liberated persons of the highest order, who attribute very little value to the sense gratification of pretentious religiosity. The first and foremost concern of fruitive workers, elevationists, empiric philosophers and salvationists is to raise their material position. But devotees of Godhead have no such selfish desires. They serve the Supreme Lord only for His satisfaction. Śrī Arjuna, wanting to satisfy his senses by becoming a so-called nonviolent and pious man, at first decided not to fight. But when he was fully situated in the principles of bhāgavata-dharma, culminating in complete surrender unto the will of the Supreme Lord, he changed his decision and agreed to fight for the satisfaction of the Lord. He then said:

naṣṭo mohaḥ smṛtir labdhā
tvat-prasādān mayācyuta
sthito ’smi gata-sandehaḥ
kariṣye vacanaṁ tava

"My dear Kṛṣṇa, O infallible one, my illusion is now gone. I have regained my memory by Your mercy. I am now firm and free from doubt and am prepared to act according to Your instructions." (BG 18.73) It is the constitutional position of the living entity to be situated in this pure consciousness. Any so-called religious process that interferes with this unadulterated spiritual position of the living being must therefore be considered a pretentious process of religiosity.

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Lord Caitanya told Sanātana Gosvāmī that all scriptures stress association with pure devotees of the Godhead.
Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 11:

When King Rahūgaṇa expressed surprise upon seeing King Bharata's spiritual achievements, Bharata replied:

rahūgaṇaitat tapasā na yāti
na cejyayā nirvapaṇād gṛhād vā
na cchandasā naiva jalāgni-sūryair
vinā mahat-pāda-rajo 'bhiṣekam

"My dear Rahūgaṇa, no one can attain the perfected stage of devotional service without being favored by a great soul or a pure devotee. No one can attain the perfectional stages simply by following the regulative principles of scriptures, or by accepting the renounced order of life, or by prosecuting the prescribed duties of householder life, or by becoming a great student of spiritual science, or by accepting severe austerity and penances for realization." Similarly, when the atheist father Hiraṇyakaśipu asked his son Prahlāda Mahārāja how it was he became attracted to devotional service, the boy replied, "As long as one is not favored by the dust of the feet of pure devotees, he cannot even touch the path of devotional service, which is the solution to all the problems of material life." (SB 7.5.32)

Thus Lord Caitanya told Sanātana Gosvāmī that all scriptures stress association with pure devotees of the Godhead. The opportunity to associate with a pure devotee of the Supreme Lord is the beginning of one's complete perfection. This is also confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.18.13) where it is said that the facilities and benedictions which one achieves by association with a pure devotee are incomparable. They cannot be compared to anything—neither elevation to the heavenly kingdom nor liberation from material energy.

Message of Godhead

Lord Jesus Christ appeared as the son of Godhead, Muhammad introduced himself as the servant of Godhead, and Lord Caitanya presented Himself as the devotee of Godhead.
Message of Godhead 1:

Sometimes the Personality of Godhead descends Himself; otherwise, He deputes His confidential servants to do this act of kindness. All the messiahs-saints who have come before or who will come in the future to preach the transcendental message of the kingdom of Godhead—are to be understood as the most confidential servants of the Personality of Godhead. Lord Jesus Christ appeared as the son of Godhead, Muhammad introduced himself as the servant of Godhead, and Lord Caitanya presented Himself as the devotee of Godhead. But whatever may be their identity, all such messiahs were of the same opinion about one thing. They preached unanimously that there is no peace and prosperity in this mortal world. All of them agreed that we have to go to a separate world, where peace and prosperity have their real being. We have to search out our eternal peace and prosperity in the kingdom of God, which is a place other than this mortal world. Even such messiahs and reformers as Lord Buddha—who did not accept the existence of Godhead and preached morality and ethics in the spirit of atheism—and Śaṅkarācārya—who did not accept the Personality of Godhead and preached morality and ethics in the spirit of pantheism—never preached that there is any possibility of attaining eternal peace and prosperity in this material world.

Mukunda-mala-stotra (mantras 1 to 6 only)

A devotee of Godhead is he who glorifies the Personality of Godhead under the dictation of transcendental ecstasy.
Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 1, Translation and Purport:

O Mukunda, my Lord! Please let me become a constant reciter of Your names, addressing You as Śrī-vallabha ("He who is very dear to Lakṣmī"), Varada ("the bestower of benedictions"), Dayāpara ("He who is causelessly merciful"), Bhakta-priya ("He who is very dear to His devotees"), Bhava-luṇṭhana-kovida ("He who is expert at plundering the status quo of repeated birth and death"), Nātha ("the Supreme Lord"), Jagan-nivāsa ("the resort of the cosmos"), and Nāga-śayana ("the Lord who lies down on the serpent bed").

A devotee of Godhead is he who glorifies the Personality of Godhead under the dictation of transcendental ecstasy. This ecstasy is a by-product of profound love for the Supreme, which is itself attained by the process of glorification. In this age of quarrel and fighting, the process of chanting and glorification recommended here by King Kulaśekhara is the only way to attain perfection.

Persons who are infected with the disease of material attachment and who suffer from the pangs of repeated birth and death cannot relish such recitation of the Lord's glories, just as a person suffering from jaundice cannot relish the taste of sugar candy. By nature sugar candy is as sweet as anything, but to a patient suffering from jaundice it tastes as bitter as anything. Still, sugar candy is the best medicine for jaundice. By regular treatment with doses of sugar candy, one can gradually get relief from the infection of jaundice, and when the patient is perfectly cured, the same sugar candy that tasted bitter to him regains its natural sweetness.

Correspondence

1947 to 1965 Correspondence

One who is not a devotee of Godhead, has not any value for his good qualities because he utilizes his so called good qualities for ulterior purposes.
Letter to Sardar Patel -- Calcutta 28 February, 1949:

Funds are being collected to commemorate Mahatma Gandhiji in a fitting manner and I beg to suggest that the same may be done in the Gandhian way and not otherwise. Gandhiji's whole life was dedicated to the service of humanity at large with special interest for raising the moral standard. His later activities showed that he was equal to every one and all the people of the world knew him more as the spiritual leader than a mere politician. Devotion to Godhead was his ultimate aim and when I say that his sacred memory should be perpetuated not in the ordinary way but in the Gandhian way, I mean that fitting respect to his memory will be done in the following manner.

1. In the midst of his multifarious duties, Gandhiji never missed to attend to his randhun kirtana meeting. This is one of the soundest method for the culture of devotion to God. In the opinion of Srimad-Bhagavatam, one who is imbibed with the devotion of Godhead is also endowed with all the good qualities of the gods. But one who is not a devotee of Godhead, has not any value for his good qualities because he utilizes his so called good qualities for ulterior purposes. As such the easy way to raise the moral standard of people in general, is to make this sankirtana movement more popular all over the world by philosophical discourses based on reasoning and moral and ethical codes. The Vaisnava acaryas especially Lord Caitanya and his six Gosvami disciples give us ample opportunity and scope for this work. Lord Caitanya first inaugurated the sankirtana or randhun movement and the later Gosvamis supported it by scholarly philosophical synthesis. The six sandarbhas by Srila Jiva Goswami are marvelous in this respect.

Page Title:Devotees of Godhead
Compiler:Visnu Murti
Created:26 of Jan, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=1, CC=2, OB=3, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=1
No. of Quotes:7