Purification of the heart (CC and other books)

Expressions researched:
"heart" |"hearts" |"purification" |"purified" |"purifies" |"purify" |"purifying"

Notes from the compiler: VedaBase research query: "purif* heart*"@5

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 3.111, Translation:

"O my Lord, You always dwell in the vision and hearing of Your pure devotees. You also live in their lotuslike hearts, which are purified by devotional service. O my Lord, who are glorified by exalted prayers, You show special favor to Your devotees by manifesting Yourself in the eternal forms in which they welcome You."

CC Adi 8 Summary:

One should seriously and sincerely continue to chant the Pañca-tattva names śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda. All these ācāryas will bestow their causeless mercy upon a devotee and gradually purify his heart. When he is actually purified, automatically he will experience ecstasy in chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.

CC Adi 8.24, Purport:

It is an offense to preach the glories of the holy name among persons who have no intelligence or no faith in the subject matter. Such people should be given the chance to hear the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, but in the beginning they should not be instructed about the glories or the spiritual significance of the holy name. By constant hearing of the holy name, their hearts will be purified, and then they will be able to understand the transcendental position of the holy name.

CC Adi 13.86, Purport:

The transference of the Lord from the heart of Jagannātha Miśra to the heart of Śacīmātā is explained by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura as follows: "It is to be concluded that Jagannātha Miśra and Śacīmātā are nitya-siddhas, ever-pure associates of the Lord. Their hearts are always uncontaminated, and therefore they never forget the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A common man in this material world has a contaminated heart. He must therefore first purify his heart to come to the transcendental position. But Jagannātha Miśra and Śacīmātā were not a common man and woman with contaminated hearts. When the heart is uncontaminated, it is said to be in the existential position of Vasudeva. Vasudeva can beget Vāsudeva, or Kṛṣṇa, who is transcendentally situated."

CC Adi 17.266, Purport:

All the sannyāsīs in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, who are preaching all over the world, are regular brāhmaṇa-sannyāsīs. Thus the so-called caste brāhmaṇas should not object to offering them respectful obeisances. By offering such obeisances, as recommended by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, they will diminish their offenses and automatically awaken to their natural position of devotional service. As it is said, nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema sādhya kabhu naya: (Cc. madhya 22.107) kṛṣṇa-prema can be awakened in a purified heart. The more we offer obeisances to sannyāsīs, especially Vaiṣṇava sannyāsīs, the more we diminish our offenses and purify our hearts. Only in a purified heart can kṛṣṇa-prema awaken. This is the process of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's cult, the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 15.275, Translation:

"Why have you allowed the caṇḍāla of jealousy to sit here also? In this way you have contaminated a most purified place, your heart."

CC Madhya 22.107, Translation:

"Pure love for Kṛṣṇa is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens."

CC Madhya 23.13, Purport:

Bhāva-bhakti is the platform of purified goodness. By such purified goodness, one's heart melts in devotional service. Bhāva-bhakti is the first seed of love of Godhead. This emotional stage is there before one attains pure love. When that emotional stage intensifies, it is called prema-bhakti, or transcendental love of Godhead.

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 5.131, Purport:

Nowhere does Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam say that the Bhāgavatam should be heard for one week from professionals. Rather, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.17) says, śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ: one should regularly hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from a self-realized Vaiṣṇava. By such hearing, one becomes pious: hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṇi vidhunoti suhṛt satām. As one thus hears the Bhāgavatam regularly and sincerely, his heart is purified of all material contamination:

naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā

bhagavaty uttama-śloke bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī

"By regularly hearing the Bhāgavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact." (SB 1.2.18)

CC Antya 7.140, Translation:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is always eager to see everyone in the material world happy. Therefore sometimes He chastises someone just to purify his heart.

CC Antya 20.13, Translation:

By performing congregational chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, one can destroy the sinful condition of material existence, purify the unclean heart and awaken all varieties of devotional service.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 2:

The Lord proceeded to quote a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to the effect that a person who is a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa and is one hundred percent engaged in devotional service is far better than a brāhmaṇa who is versed in all the Vedic literatures but who does not engage in the devotional service of the Lord. Because he is carrying the Supreme Lord within his heart, the devotee can purify everyplace and everything.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 23:

By studying Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we can obtain information about our eternal relationship with the Supreme Lord, understand the procedure by which the Lord can be attained and receive the ultimate realization, which is love of Godhead. In explaining to Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī how one can achieve the Supreme Personality of Godhead by devotional service, Lord Caitanya quoted a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.14.21) in which the Lord says that He can be realized only through devotional service executed with faith and love. Indeed, it is devotional service alone which purifies the heart of the devotee and elevates him to the ultimate realization by which he, established in faith, renders service unto the Supreme Lord. Even if one is born in a low family, like a family of caṇḍālas (dog-eaters), one can become filled with transcendental symptoms through realization of the supreme stage of love of Godhead.

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 17:

An example of rising to the stage of ecstatic love by executing the regulative principles of devotional service is given in the life story of Nārada, which is described to Vyāsadeva in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Nārada tells there of his previous life and how he developed to the stage of ecstatic love. He was engaged in the service of great devotees and used to hear their talks and songs. Because he had the opportunity to hear these pastimes and songs of Kṛṣṇa from the mouths of pure devotees, he became very attracted within his heart. Because he had become so eager to hear these topics, he gradually developed within himself an ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa. This ecstatic love is prior to the pure love of Kṛṣṇa, because in the next verse Nārada confirms that by the gradual process of hearing from the great sages he developed love of Godhead. In that connection, Nārada continues to say in the First Canto, Fifth Chapter, verse 28, of the Bhāgavatam, "First I passed my days in the association of the great sages during the rainy autumn season. Every morning and evening I heard them while they were singing and chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, and thus my heart gradually became purified. As soon as I heard them with great attention, the influence of the modes of material ignorance and passion disappeared, and I became firmly fixed in devotional service to the Lord."

These are practical examples of how one can develop to the stage of ecstatic love simply by the association of pure devotees. It is essential, therefore, that one constantly associate with pure devotees who are engaged morning and evening in chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. In this way one will get the chance to purify his heart and develop this ecstatic pure love for Kṛṣṇa.

Nectar of Instruction

Nectar of Instruction 4, Purport:

"Pure love for Kṛṣṇa is eternally established in the hearts of living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, the living entity naturally awakens." Since Kṛṣṇa consciousness is inherent in every living entity, everyone should be given a chance to hear about Kṛṣṇa. Simply by hearing and chanting—śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam (SB 7.5.23)—one's heart is directly purified, and one's original Kṛṣṇa consciousness is immediately awakened. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not artificially imposed upon the heart, it is already there. When one chants the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the heart is cleansed of all mundane contamination.

Nectar of Instruction 4, Purport:

Not only is the chanter of the mahā-mantra purified, but the heart of anyone who happens to hear the transcendental vibration of Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare is also cleansed. Even the souls embodied in lower animals, insects, trees and other species of life also become purified and prepared to become fully Kṛṣṇa conscious simply by hearing the transcendental vibration.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 86:

Although You are constantly with the conditioned soul, only when he becomes purified by devotional service do You become revealed to him. Others, who are bewildered by fruitive activities, either by Vedic injunction or by customary dealings, and who do not take to devotional service, are captivated by the external happiness of the bodily concept of life. You are not revealed to such persons. Rather, You remain far, far away from them. But for one who engages in Your devotional service and purifies his heart by constant chanting of Your holy name, You are very easily understood as his eternal, constant companion.

Krsna Book 87:

The perfection of human life is based on knowledge and renunciation, but it is very difficult to attempt to reach the stage of knowledge and renunciation while in family life. Kṛṣṇa conscious persons therefore take shelter of the association of devotees or sanctified places of pilgrimage. Such persons are aware of the relationship between the Supersoul and the individual living entities, and they are never in the bodily concept of life. Because they always carry You in full consciousness within their hearts, they are so purified that any place they go becomes a holy place of pilgrimage, and the water which washes their feet is able to deliver many sinful persons loitering within this material world.

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Renunciation Through Wisdom 1.9:

To attain true, eternal happiness, which comes only after the dissipation of material bondage, is the real benefit for the soul. Thus any path that does not lead the soul to strive for this supreme goal—eternal transcendental bliss—is considered useless. When eternal bliss is the goal of ritualistic activities (karma-kāṇḍa), then they are transformed into karma-yoga. Through the practice of karma-yoga, the heart is purified of material contamination and one gains knowledge of the Absolute. Thereafter one becomes situated in meditation on the Absolute, and finally one attains bhakti, pure devotional service.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.3:

Devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa is the living entity's eternal birthright; it is not a new subject fabricated by the human mind. A base fool thinks that devotion to Lord Kṛṣṇa is merely a mundane psychological state of mind. But in truth devotional service is our eternal spiritual substance—"the essential spiritual reality" (vāstava-vastu), according to the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.1.2). Devotion to Lord Kṛṣṇa can be invoked naturally in the purified hearts of devotees. When a disease is cured, the patient feels hungry; similarly, when a neophyte accrues sufficient piety by associating with devotees, he feels attraction for devotional service within his heart.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.6:

Remembrance of Lord Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet destroys everything inauspicious and awards the greatest good fortune. It purifies the heart and bestows devotion for the Supreme Soul, along with knowledge enriched with realization and renunciation.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.12:

Once undeviating faith in devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa penetrates a person's heart, the process of purification is firmly underway, even though his external activities may show residues of sin. Lord Kṛṣṇa has boldly broadcast in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.31) His promise that His surrendered devotees can never be vanquished: kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati. That Lord Kṛṣṇa will always protect His devotees is proved in this verse, especially since the Lord, instead of declaring the promise Himself, asks the valiant prince Arjuna to do so on His behalf. The Lord may break His own promise, but because He is favorable to His devotees, He will always try to uphold their promises. By breaking His own promise and keeping Bhīṣmadeva's on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra, the Lord has proved beyond a doubt that He favors His surrendered devotees .

Renunciation Through Wisdom 5.1:

Pure love for Kṛṣṇa is eternally established in the hearts of living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, the living entity naturally awakens.

Light of the Bhagavata

Light of the Bhagavata 23, Purport:

All of us living beings are differentiated expansions of the Lord, but our affection for the Lord is submerged within us, artificially covered by the material quality of ignorance. Spiritual culture is meant to revive this natural affection of the living being for the Lord. The ingredients of fire are already present in safety matches, and only mild friction is needed to ignite a fire. Similarly, our natural affection for the Lord has to be revived by a little culture. Specifically, we have to receive the messages of the Lord with a purified heart.

For spiritual realization one has to purify the heart and know things in their true perspective. As soon as one does this, the flow of one's natural affection begins to glide toward the Lord, and with the progress of this flow one becomes more and more self-realized in various relations with the Lord.