The science of devotional service - Srimad Bhagavatam #3

This is the third section of an in-depth course on the Srimad Bhagavatam we are conducting.
You can join the course on Telegram:
t.me/bhagavatam4u
In this part:
- Verses 1.2.6 to 1.2.10 answer the first two questions, and the 1.2.30 to 1.2.34 answer the next two.
- The other verses from the second chapter, from 1.2.11 to 1.2.29 give more details about the process of bhakti. They are very important.
- 1.2.11: Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavān are three aspects of the same absolute truth. Krsna in His personal form is the highest aspect, devotional service is not just a process meant for sentimental people, but the only perfect method to fully understand God.
- 1.2.12: By studying Vedic knowledge, one can develop knowledge and detachment. When one becomes successful in this study, he or she may come to the platform of devotional service. All other processes recommended in the Vedas have solely the goal of gradually elevating a person to the platform of bhakti
- 1.2.13: When one finally comes to the devotional platform, there is further work to be done, progressing through the three categories of devotees. For someone who is starting, deity worship in the temple according to the rules and regulations is strongly recommended. If a devotee can go regularly to the temple and be involved in the services there he or she can gradually advance.
- 1.2.14: Apart from our material desires, another formidable obstacle in our spiritual path is karma. We have to break through this tangle of knots and gradually free ourselves from these impediments.
- 1.2.15: How to liberate ourselves from karma and thus become free to serve the Lord? By using the sword of transcendental knowledge. This is the intelligence that allows us to control the mind and senses. We get it by hearing from advanced devotees.
- 1.2.16: How to develop taste for hearing? Amongst all devotees, preachers are the most dear to Krsna. By serving such devotees we can gradually develop their qualities, and thus acquire a taste for hearing about Krsna.
- 1.2.17: Even advanced devotees can fall down, what is then the hope for us? Once we acquire a taste for hearing the message of Srimad Bhagavatam, our path back to Godhead becomes wide open, because Krsna Himself, in the form of Paramatma inside the heart starts to clean such material desires.
- 1.2.18: By associating with the book Bhāgavata and the devotee Bhāgavata one can receive transcendental knowledge very easily, and as a result, he becomes fixed in the devotional service of the Lord. This steadiness marks the entrance to the advanced stages of devotional service.
- 1.2.19: When we become fixed in the platform of devotional service we finally become free from the influence of passion and ignorance, and consequently free of lust, desire, hankering, etc. All unhappiness and lamentation disappear and we become situated in the mode of goodness, later transcending it and becoming situated in the spiritual platform.
- 1.2.20-21: As long as we are strongly influenced by passion and ignorance, we see and hear everything through the filter of these two modes. Our intelligence becomes thus incapable of understanding the delicate details of transcendental knowledge. Our comprehension improves dramatically when we reach the mode of goodness and becomes fully developed when we reach the transcendental stage. With this, the ahaṅkāra (false ego), the knot of material illusion inside the heart, is destroyed.
- Love for Krsna is an intrinsical part of the soul and has just to be awakened through the practice of devotional service. It appears naturally through spiritual practice in the association of pure devotees after all anarthas and other impediments are cleared. Prema doesn't have to be obtained from an external source.

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