Bhakti means when he realizes, God realization, then naturally he becomes unattached to material activities. That is the test. Not that simply by having tilaka or kaṇṭhi, one becomes a devotee. How much he is detached to the material attraction, that is the test. That is the test. Vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ janayaty āśu vairāgyam (SB 1.2.7). If he has no vairāgya, if he is still attached to material things, his devotion is not yet . . .
So these things are very nice. I will request you to study what is bhakti, what is pure devotion, what is Vāsudeva. Everything is there. It is a science, great science. It is not sentiment, neither it is so-called religious faith. It is a science. Vijñānam. Yad vijñānaṁ samanvitaḥ. So people do not know. Therefore they take it as a religious movement and reject it. No. Don't reject it. It is a science. You try to understand if you have got brain.
So this bhakti-yoga means pure bhakti-yoga. Bhakti-yoga, that is described by Rūpa Gosvāmī:
- anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ
- jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam
- ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-
- śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā
- (Brs. 1.1.11)
Similarly, in the Nārada Pañcarātra it is stated, bhakti-yoga:
- sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ
- tat-paratvena nirmalam
- hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-
- sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate
- (CC Madhya 19.170)
So long we have upādhi, "I am American," "I am Indian," or "I am Brāhmiṇ," "I am Śūdra," or "I am black . . ." These are upādhi, because this is all bodily designation. This Brāhmiṇ, Kṣatriya, Vaiśya, Śūdra, these designation to make a systematic progress of human life. But actually, when one becomes pure devotee, he is above all these things. He is above all these things. Caṇḍālo 'pi dvija-śreṣṭho hari-bhakti-parāyaṇaḥ. "Even one is caṇḍāla, if he becomes a pure devotee, then he becomes better than a Brāhmiṇ." They are not ordinary things.