View source for A saintly person is one who understands fully that simply by discharging devotional service he can become confident of liberation

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{{terms|"A saintly person is one who understands fully that simply by discharging devotional service he can become confident of liberation"}}
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[[Category:Saintly Persons and Devotional Service to God]]
[[Category:One Who]]
[[Category:Understanding Devotional Service to God]]
[[Category:Fully]]
[[Category:Simply by Devotional Service to God]]
[[Category:Discharging Devotional Service to God]]
[[Category:Become]]
[[Category:Confidence in Devotional Service to God‎]]
[[Category:Devotional Service to God Gives Liberation]]
[[Category:The Nectar of Devotion Chapter 35 - Neutral Love of God]]
[[Category:The Nectar of Devotion Chapters 01 to 51]]
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<h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2>
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<h3>Nectar of Devotion</h3>
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The qualifications of a saintly person are described in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu as follows: A saintly person is one who understands fully that simply by discharging devotional service he can become confident of liberation. He is always situated in the regulative principles of devotional life and at the same time aspires to be liberated from the material entanglement.
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[[Vanisource:NOD 35 (1970)|Nectar of Devotion, 35]]
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This stage of śānta-rasa can be attained by the impersonalists only when they are in association with pure devotees. Otherwise it is not possible. After Brahman realization, when a liberated soul comes in contact with a pure devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa and submissively accepts the teachings of Lord Kṛṣṇa without misinterpretation, he becomes situated in this neutral stage of devotional service. The best example of saintly persons situated in the śānta-rasa are Sanaka, Sanātana, Sananda, and Sanat-kumāra, the Kumāra brothers. These four saintly persons (known as Catuḥsana) were sons of Lord Brahmā. After their birth, when they were ordered by their father to become householders and increase human society, they refused the order. They said that they had already decided not to become entangled with family life; they would rather live as saintly brahmacārīs for their own perfection. So these great saints have been living for millions of years now, but still they appear to be just like boys of four or five years. Their complexions are very fair, there is an effulgence in their bodies, and they always travel naked. These four saintly persons almost always remain together.

In one of the prayers of the Kumāra brothers, the declaration is made: "My Lord Mukunda (Kṛṣṇa, the giver of liberation), only so long as one does not happen to see Your eternal form of bliss and knowledge, appearing just like a newly-grown tāmala tree, with a bluish hue—only for so long can the impersonal feature of the absolute truth, known as Brahman, be very pleasing to a saintly person."

The qualifications of a saintly person are described in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu as follows: A saintly person is one who understands fully that simply by discharging devotional service he can become confident of liberation. He is always situated in the regulative principles of devotional life and at the same time aspires to be liberated from the material entanglement.

A saintly person thinks like this: "When shall I be able to live alone in the caves of the mountains? When shall I be dressed simply with undergarments? When shall I be satisfied by eating simply a little fruit and vegetables? When will it be possible for me to always think of the lotus feet of Mukunda, who is the source of the Brahman effulgence? When, in such a spiritual condition of life, shall I fully understand my days and nights to be insignificant moments in eternal time?"

The devotees and self-realized persons who are engaged in preaching the glories of the Lord always maintain an ecstatic love for the Lord within their hearts. Thus they are benefitted by the rays of the ecstatic moon, and they are called saintly persons.

The impulse of a saintly person is to be engaged in the study of the Vedas, especially the Upaniṣadic portions, to always live in a place where there is no disturbance from the common people, to always think of the eternal form of Kṛṣṇa, to be ready to consider and understand the absolute truth, to always be prominent in exhibiting knowledge, to see the Supreme Lord in His universal form (viśva-rūpa), to associate always with learned devotees and to discuss the conclusion of the Vedas with similarly elevated persons. All of these qualifications of a saintly person serve to raise him to the status of śānta-rasa.
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