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Pure devotional service is the only means to attract Krsna

Expressions researched:
"Pure devotional service is the only means to attract Kṛṣṇa"

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Nectar of Devotion

He states that there are six characteristics of pure devotional service, which are as follows: 1) Pure devotional service brings immediate relief from all kinds of material distress. 2) Pure devotional service is the beginning of all auspiciousness. 3) Pure devotional service automatically puts one in transcendental pleasure. 4) Pure devotional service is rarely achieved. 5) Those in pure devotional service deride even the conception of liberation. 6) Pure devotional service is the only means to attract Kṛṣṇa.

There are five kinds of liberation, namely to become one with the Lord, to live with the Supreme Lord on the same planet, to have the same features as the Lord, to enjoy the same opulences as the Lord, and to live as a companion of the Lord. A devotee, not to speak of rejecting material sense gratification, does not even want any of the five kinds of liberation. He is satisfied simply by discharging loving service to the Lord. That is the characteristic of pure devotion.

In the above statement by Kapiladeva from the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the actual position of a pure devotee is described, and the primary characteristics of devotional service are also defined. Further characteristics of devotional service are described by Rūpa Gosvāmī with evidences from different scriptures. He states that there are six characteristics of pure devotional service, which are as follows:

1) Pure devotional service brings immediate relief from all kinds of material distress.
2) Pure devotional service is the beginning of all auspiciousness.
3) Pure devotional service automatically puts one in transcendental pleasure.
4) Pure devotional service is rarely achieved.
5) Those in pure devotional service deride even the conception of liberation.
6) Pure devotional service is the only means to attract Kṛṣṇa.

Kṛṣṇa is all-attractive, but pure devotional service attracts even Him. This means that pure devotional service is even transcendentally stronger than Kṛṣṇa Himself, because it is Kṛṣṇa's internal potency. Relief from Material Distress

In the Bhagavad-gītā, the Lord says that one should surrender unto Him, giving up all other engagements. The Lord also gives His word there that He will protect such surrendered souls from the reactions of all sinful activities. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī says that the distresses from sinful activities are due both to the sins themselves and to sins committed in our past lives. Generally, one commits sinful activities due to ignorance. But ignorance is no excuse for evading the reaction—sinful activities. Sinful activities are of two kinds: those which are mature and those which are not mature. The sinful activities for which we are suffering at the present moment are called mature. The many sinful activities stored within us for which we have not yet suffered are considered immature. For example, a man may have committed criminal acts but is not yet arrested for them. Now, as soon as he is detected, arrest is awaiting him. Similarly, for some of our sinful activities we are awaiting distresses in the future, and for others, which are mature, we are suffering at the present moment.

In this way there is a chain of sinful activities and their concomitant distresses, and the conditioned soul is suffering life after life due to these sins. He is suffering in the present life the results of sinful activities from his past life, and he is meanwhile creating further sufferings for his future life. Mature sinful activities are exhibited if one is suffering from some chronic disease, if one is suffering from some legal implication, if one is born in a low and degraded family, or if one is uneducated or very ugly.

Page Title:Pure devotional service is the only means to attract Krsna
Compiler:HanumanIC
Created:2017-04-27, 05:17:39
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=1, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:1