Exalted devotee (BG and SB)

Expressions researched:
"devotees are exalted" |"exalted devotee" |"exalted devotee's" |"exalted devotees"

SB Canto 3

SB 3.32.24, Translation:

The exalted devotee's mind becomes equipoised in sensory activities, and he is transcendental to that which is agreeable and not agreeable.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.24.16, Purport:

Whenever there are some important talks between a devotee and the Lord or between exalted devotees, one should be very much curious to hear them.

SB 4.24.30, Purport:

A devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa does not disrespect Lord Śiva, but worships Lord Śiva as the most exalted devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

SB 4.24.33, Purport:

The Lord is always ready to give instructions to the paramahaṁsas, or the topmost devotees of the Lord, who are completely liberated from all contaminations of the material world. The Lord always gives instructions to such exalted devotees to inform them how they can remain fixed in devotional service.

SB Canto 5

SB 5.1.5, Purport:

Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura had been an advanced devotee in his previous life, but in his next life he became greatly fallen and was attached to a prostitute. Suddenly, however, his entire behavior was changed by the words of the very prostitute who had so much attracted him, and he became a great devotee. In the lives of exalted devotees, there are many such instances, proving that once one has taken to the shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord, he cannot be lost (kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati (BG 9.31)).

SB 5.4.9, Purport:

Of Ṛṣabhadeva's one hundred sons, the eldest, named Bharata, was a great, exalted devotee qualified with the best attributes. In his honor, this planet has become known as Bhārata-varṣa."

SB 5.5.20, Purport:

However, it is also advised, mahīyasām pāda-rajo-'bhiṣeka—one has to serve the mahīyān, one who is very spiritually advanced. Mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ: (SB 5.5.2) by serving the mahat, the exalted devotee, one's path for liberation is open.

SB 5.7.12, Purport:

That most exalted devotee, Mahārāja Bharata, in this way engaged constantly in the devotional service of the Lord. Naturally his love for Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, increased more and more and melted his heart. Consequently he gradually lost all attachment for regulative duties."

SB 5.10.14, Purport:

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: O Mahārāja Parīkṣit, when King Rahūgaṇa chastised the exalted devotee Jaḍa Bharata with harsh words, that peaceful, saintly person tolerated it all and replied properly."

SB 5.10.14, Purport, Purport:

An exalted devotee of the Lord never thinks that he is a paramahaṁsa or a liberated person. He always remains a humble servant of the Lord. In all reverse conditions, he agrees to suffer the results of his past life. He never accuses the Lord of putting him into a distressed condition. These are the signs of an exalted devotee. Tat te 'nukampāṁ susamīkṣyamāṇaḥ.

SB 5.12.14, Purport:

The incident herein described is very significant. In a previous verse it is stated, vinā mahat-pāda-rajo-'bhiṣekam: one cannot attain perfection without smearing the dust from the lotus feet of an exalted devotee on his head.

SB 5.12.16, Purport:

Simply by associating with exalted devotees, anyone can attain perfection of knowledge and with the sword of knowledge can cut to pieces the illusory associations within this material world."

SB 5.17.2, Purport:

Dhruva Mahārāja, the famous son of Mahārāja Uttānapāda, is known as the most exalted devotee of the Supreme Lord because of his firm determination in executing devotional service."

SB 5.18 Summary:

In the land known as Hari-varṣa, the exalted devotee Prahlāda Mahārāja worships Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva.

SB 5.19.7, Purport:

Kholāvecā Śrīdhara is a typical example of how a poor man with no material possessions can become a most exalted devotee of the Lord.

SB 5.24.26, Purport:

Bali Mahārāja said: Persons like us, who are still attached to material enjoyment, who are contaminated by the modes of material nature and who lack the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, cannot follow the supreme path of Prahlāda Mahārāja, the exalted devotee of the Lord."

SB Canto 6

SB 6.7.13, Purport:

Since Nārada was a brahmacārī, a brāhmaṇa and an exalted devotee, even Kṛṣṇa, while acting as a king, offered His respectful obeisances unto Nārada. Such is the conduct visible in the Vedic civilization.

SB 6.9.39, Purport:

Therefore, O killer of the Madhu demon, incessant transcendental bliss flows in the minds of those who have even once tasted but a drop of the nectar from the ocean of Your glories. Such exalted devotees forget the tiny reflection of so-called material happiness produced from the material senses of sight and sound."

SB 6.12.19, Purport:

However, by the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, anyone can become an exalted devotee (striyo vaiśyās tathā śūdrās te 'pi yānti parāṁ gatim). An unalloyed devotee is sure to return home, back to Godhead.

SB 6.12.20, Purport:

You have surmounted the illusory energy of Lord Viṣṇu, and because of this liberation, you have given up the demoniac mentality and have attained the position of an exalted devotee."

SB 6.12.21, Purport:

King Indra wondered how Vṛtrāsura could have been elevated to the position of an exalted devotee. As for Prahlāda Mahārāja, he was initiated by Nārada Muni, and therefore it was possible for him to become a great devotee, although he was born in a family of demons. For Vṛtrāsura, however, Indra could not detect such causes. Therefore he was struck with wonder that Vṛtrāsura was such an exalted devotee that he could fix his mind without deviation upon the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Vāsudeva.

SB 6.14 Summary:

In this Fourteenth Chapter, Parīkṣit Mahārāja asks his spiritual master, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, how such a demon as Vṛtrāsura could become an exalted devotee. In this connection the previous life of Vṛtrāsura is discussed.

SB 6.14.1, Purport:

Since Vṛtrāsura was among the demons, Mahārāja Parīkṣit wondered how it was possible for him to have become such an exalted devotee.

SB 6.17.34-35, Purport:

This magnanimous Citraketu is a dear devotee of the Lord. He is equal to all living entities and is free from attachment and hatred. Similarly, I am also very dear to Lord Nārāyaṇa. Therefore, no one should be astonished to see the activities of the most exalted devotees of Nārāyaṇa, for they are free from attachment and envy. They are always peaceful, and they are equal to everyone."

SB Canto 7

SB 7.1.30, Purport:

If a bona fide listener hears of Kṛṣṇa's pastimes with the gopīs, which seem to be lusty affairs, the lusty desires in his heart, which constitute the heart disease of the conditioned soul, will be vanquished, and he will become a most exalted devotee of the Lord.

SB 7.3.15-16, Purport:

Thus although Hiraṇyakaśipu performed such a severe austerity, he remained a Daitya and a Rākṣasa, whereas Prahlāda Mahārāja, although born of the same Daitya father, became the most exalted devotee and was personally protected by the Supreme Lord.

SB 7.4.37, Purport:

An exalted devotee, or mahātmā, who is rarely to be seen, remains fully conscious of Kṛṣṇa and constantly sees the Lord within the core of his heart.

SB 7.4.39, Purport:

This is explained by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Śūnyāyitaṁ jagat sarvaṁ govinda-viraheṇa me. When an exalted devotee feels that Kṛṣṇa is invisible, having gone away, he cries in separation, and sometimes, when he sees that Kṛṣṇa has returned to care for him, he laughs, just as a child sometimes laughs upon understanding that his mother is taking care of him.

SB 7.4.43, Purport:

One who oppresses a pure devotee loses all the results of his austerities, penances and pious activities. Since Hiraṇyakaśipu was now inclined to chastise his most exalted devotee son, Prahlāda Mahārāja, his opulences began dwindling.

SB 7.5.5, Purport:

Prahlāda Mahārāja, however, being an exalted devotee, had acquired all the qualities of education.

SB 7.5.56-57, Purport:

Thus the boys surrounded Prahlāda Mahārāja, giving up their playthings, and sat down to hear him. Their hearts and eyes being fixed upon him, they looked at him with great earnestness. Prahlāda Mahārāja, although born in a demon family, was an exalted devotee, and he desired their welfare. Thus he began instructing them about the futility of materialistic life."

SB 7.8.14, Purport:

Being obsessed with anger, Hiraṇyakaśipu, who was very great in bodily strength, thus chastised his exalted devotee-son Prahlāda with harsh words."

SB 7.8.40, Purport:

Again, in the family of one such demon, Prahlāda Mahārāja was caused to take birth to exhibit the behavior of an exalted devotee, and then the Lord accepted the body of Nṛsiṁhadeva to kill that same demon, who by the Lord's own will had taken birth in a demoniac family.

SB 7.9.4, Purport:

Nārada Muni continued: O King, although the exalted devotee Prahlāda Mahārāja was only a little boy, he accepted Lord Brahmā's words. He gradually proceeded toward Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva and fell down to offer his respectful obeisances with folded hands."

SB 7.10.14, Purport:

An exalted devotee like Prahlāda Mahārāja is jīvan-mukta; he is liberated even in this very life in the material body.

SB 7.10.14

SB 7.10.19, Purport:

Wherever exalted devotees stay, not only they and their dynasties but the entire country is purified.

SB 7.10.28, Purport:

By great fortune, Hiraṇyakaśipu's son Prahlāda Mahārāja has now been released from death, for although he is a child, he is an exalted devotee. Now he is fully under the protection of Your lotus feet."

SB 7.10.43-44, Purport:

This narration describes the characteristics of the great and exalted devotee Prahlāda Mahārāja, his staunch devotional service, his perfect knowledge, and his perfect detachment from material contamination."

SB 7.10.47, Purport:

Prahlāda Mahārāja was the best among exalted devotees"

SB 7.13.46, Purport:

The conclusion is that a paramahaṁsa is an exalted devotee (bhagavat-priya). Such a paramahaṁsa may be in any stage of life—brahmacāri, gṛhastha, vānaprastha or sannyāsa—and be equally liberated and exalted.

SB Canto 8

SB 8.21.34, Purport:

Bali Mahārāja was undoubtedly the most exalted devotee, whereas previously he had maintained a misunderstanding due to false prestige. By the supreme will of the Lord, he now had to go to the hellish planets, but because he went there by the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he lived there more opulently than one could expect to live in the planets of heaven.

SB 8.22.36, Purport:

Bali Mahārāja certainly became an exalted devotee, but he was somewhat anxious because his association was not purely devotional.

SB Canto 9

SB 9.4.13, Purport:

From Nābhāga, Mahārāja Ambarīṣa took birth. Mahārāja Ambarīṣa was an exalted devotee, celebrated for his great merits."

SB 9.4.24, Purport:

Because Mahārāja Ambarīṣa was a most exalted devotee of the Lord, he trained his subjects in such a way that the citizens in his state were not interested in anything material, including even the happiness of the heavenly planets.

SB 9.5.20, Purport:

Durvāsā Muni said: I am very pleased with you, my dear King. At first I thought of you as an ordinary human being and accepted your hospitality, but later I could understand, by my own intelligence, that you are the most exalted devotee of the Lord. Therefore, simply by seeing you, touching your feet and talking with you, I have been pleased and have become obliged to you."

SB 9.9.45, Purport:

A devotee is always transcendentally situated. paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate: (BG 9.59) one who has seen the Supreme Personality of Godhead is no longer interested in material sense enjoyment. Even such an exalted devotee as Dhruva Mahārāja went to the forest for the sake of material benefit, but when he actually saw the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he refused to accept any material benediction.

SB 9.21 Summary:

As an exalted devotee, Rantideva saw every living entity in relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore he completely engaged his mind, his words and his very self in the service of the Supreme Lord and His devotees.

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

SB 10.1.59, Purport:

The self-realized soul is never disturbed by so-called distress or happiness, and this is especially true of an exalted devotee like Vasudeva, who showed this by his practical example. Vasudeva was not at all disturbed when delivering his first child to Kaṁsa to be killed.

SB 10.8.21, Purport:

For a highly exalted devotee, kaivalya, merging into the existence of the Supreme, appears no better than hell (narakāyate). But here one can simply think of the crawling of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma in the courtyard of Nanda Mahārāja and always merge in transcendental happiness.

SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)

SB 10.37.9, Translation:

My dear King, thereafter Lord Kṛṣṇa was approached in a solitary place by the great sage among the demigods, Nārada Muni. That most exalted devotee spoke as follows to the Lord, who effortlessly performs His pastimes."

SB 11.2.26, Translation:

King Videha (Nimi) understood that the nine sages were exalted devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, overjoyed at their auspicious arrival, he offered them suitable sitting places and worshiped them in a proper way, just as one would worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead."

SB 11.2.55, Translation:

One who has thus captured the Supreme Lord within his heart is to be known as bhāgavata-pradhāna, the most exalted devotee of the Lord."