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Bhakti
The Art of Eternal Love
His Divine Grace
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Founder-Ācārya of the Interna ti ona l Soci ety
for Kri s hna Cons ci ous nes s
3
Books by His Divine Grace
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (compl eted by di s ci pl es )
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta
Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead
Teachings of Lord Caitanya
The Nectar of Devotion
The Nectar of Instruction
Śrī Īśopaniṣad
Light of the Bhāgavata
Easy Journey to Other Planets
Teachings of Lord Kapila, the Son of Devahūti
Teachings of Queen Kuntī
Message of Godhead
The Science of Self-Realization
The Perfection of Yoga
Beyond Birth and Death
On the Way to Kṛṣṇa
Rāja-vidyā: The King of Knowledge
Elevation to Kṛṣṇa Consciousness
Kṛṣṇa Consciousness: The Matchless Gift
Kṛṣṇa Consciousness: The Topmost Yoga System
Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers
Life Comes From Life
The Nārada-bhakti-sūtra (compl eted by di s ci pl es )
The Mukunda-mālā-stotra (compl eted by di s ci pl es )
Geetār-gān (Benga l i )
Vairāgya-vidyā (Benga l i )
Buddhi-yoga (Benga l i )
Bhakti-ratna-boli (Benga l i )
Back to Godhead ma ga zi ne (founder)
Books compiled from the teachings
of Śrīla Prabhupāda after his lifetime
The Journey of Self-Discovery
Civilization and Transcendence
The Laws of Nature
Renunciation Through Wisdom
Beyond Illusion and Doubt
Ava i l a bl e from
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On the cover: In Vṛndā va na , Lord Kṛṣ ṇa ’s s upreme
s pi ri tua l a bode, He enga ges i n eterna l excha nges of
l ove wi th Hi s dea res t devotees , Śrīma tī Rā dhā rā ṇī a nd
Her fri ends .
Bhakti, the Art of Eternal Love wa s prepa red from the
i ntroducti on a nd fi rs t cha pter of Śrīl a Pra bhupā da ’s
tra ns l a ti on of the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, ca l l ed The Nectar of
Devotion, a l ong wi th tra ns cri pts of l ectures he ga ve on tha t
book i n 1972 a nd 1973 i n Vṛndā va na , Mumba i , a nd Kol ka ta .
Copyri ght © 2004 The Bha kti veda nta Book Trus t
www.kri s hna .com
www.bbt.i nfo
Fi rs t e-book edi ti on: September 2011
ISBN 978-91-7149-589-1
7
Contents
Introduction
What is “The Nectar of Devotion”?

What is Bhakti?
Benefits of Bhakti
Boundless Love
Definition of Pure Devotional Service
Acting for Kṛṣṇa: the Essence of Bhakti
Definition of a Pure Devotee
Six Features of Pure Bhakti
The Author
Glossary
Kṛṣṇa Consciousness at Home
Sanskrit Pronunciation Guide
8
Introduction
Introduction
Love is one of the words we use most and

understand least. The problem is that there are
many kinds of love. One of the distinctions we can
make between different kinds of love has to do
with time, duration – how long love lasts. Some
love lasts a few days, some lasts a lifetime, and
some lasts forever. Most lovers aspire for the
latter, but in vain.
Love between bodies is bound to be temporary
because the lovers’ bodies are temporary. Ah, but
what about the soul? Will the lovers not meet in
the eternal spiritual world and there enjoy
deathless love?
Perhaps. But the question is, “How do we get to
the spiritual world?” That requires a special kind of
love, the love between the individual soul and the
Supreme Soul, God. Actually, we are caught in a
web of temporary, unsatisfying loving relationships
because we have forgotten how to love God. So the
spiritual love between the individual soul and the
Supreme Soul is the most important kind of love. It
is the only love that is truly eternal. Actually, every
other kind of love we experience is just a reflection
of the original loving exchange between the
individual soul and the Supreme Soul. This special
love is called, in Sanskrit, bhakti. And the process
for awakening that love is called bhakti-yoga, the
9
Introduction
art of eternal love.

Bhakti involves three things: the lover, the
beloved, and the loving relationship. In bhakti, all
three are eternal. The lover, the individual soul, is
eternal; the beloved, the Supreme Soul, is eternal;
and the loving relationship, bhakti, is also eternal.
In the sixteenth century, an extremely advanced
expert in bhakti-yoga named Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī
wrote a handbook on its theory and practice. He
called his book Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, “The
Ocean of the Nectar of Divine Love.” For a long
time its secrets remained locked in the ancient
Sanskrit language. Fortunately for us, a modern
master of the knowledge and techniques of bhakti-
yoga, His Divine Grace Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupāda, translated the book into
English and began training his students in its
mysteries. Śrīla Prabhupāda titled his translation
The Nectar of Devotion.
Love, in its material manifestation, is usually
associated with places – a city like Paris in the
springtime, or a beach where one walked with
one’s beloved. In the same way, spiritual love is
also associated with places. The highest such place
is Vṛndāvana, an earthly manifestation of the
eternal spiritual place where God enjoys loving
pastimes with His eternal associates in the
spiritual sky. In Vṛndāvana there are many temples,
and one of them, the Rādhā-Dāmodara temple, is
forever associated with Rūpa Gosvāmī because his
10
Introduction
physical form is interred there. A small memorial to

him (called a samādhi) rises in one of the temple
courtyards.
Before he came to America in 1965, Śrīla
Prabhupāda lived in a quiet room in the Rādhā-
Dāmodara temple, and through his window he
could see and draw inspiration from the samādhi of
Rūpa Gosvāmī. Seven years later, Śrīla Prabhupāda
returned to the Rādhā-Dāmodara temple. And in
the courtyard, near Rūpa Gosvāmī’s samādhi, he
gave for his disciples a series of lectures on The
Nectar of Devotion. Selections from those lectures,
full of deep spiritual insight into bhakti, have been
interwoven with excerpts from The Nectar of
Devotion to form the substance of this book.
We invite you to share in Rūpa Gosvāmī’s
teachings on bhakti-yoga, the art of eternal love, as
they have come down to us from his foremost
modern follower in disciplic succession. If we can
learn to love God through bhakti-yoga, then we can
learn to love everything and everyone else in the
proper way, in the way that will bring us the most
happiness, the best happiness, the happiness of
eternal love.
The Editors
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What is
The Nectar of Devotion?
The Nectar of Devotion is a summary study of

the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, which was written in
Sanskrit by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhupāda. He was
the chief of the Six Gosvāmīs, who were the direct
disciples of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. When he
first met Lord Caitanya, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī
Prabhupāda was engaged as a minister in the
Muslim government of Bengal, India. He and his
brother Sanātana were then named Dabira Khāsa
and Sākara Mallika respectively, and they held
responsible posts as ministers of Nawab Hussain
Shah. At that time, five hundred years ago, the
Hindu society was very rigid, and if a member of
the brāhmaṇa caste accepted a position of service
under a Muslim ruler he was at once rejected from
brāhmaṇa society. That was the position of the two
brothers, Dabira Khāsa and Sākara Mallika. They
belonged to the highly situated sārasvata-
brāhmaṇa community, but they were ostracized due
to their acceptance of ministerial posts in the
government of Hussain Shah. It is the grace of Lord
Caitanya that He accepted these two exalted
personalities as His disciples and raised them to
the position of gosvāmīs, the highest position of
brahminical culture. Similarly, Lord Caitanya
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accepted Haridāsa Ṭhākura as His disciple,

although Haridāsa happened to be born of a
Muslim family, and Lord Caitanya later on made
him the ācārya of the chanting of the holy name of
the Lord: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare
Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare
Hare.
Lord Caitanya’s principle is universal. Anyone
who knows the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and
is engaged in the service of the Lord is accepted as
being in a higher position than a person born in the
family of a brāhmaṇa. That is the original principle
accepted by all Vedic literatures, especially by the
Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The
principle of Lord Caitanya’s movement in educating
and elevating everyone to the exalted post of a
gosvāmī is taught in The Nectar of Devotion.
Lord Caitanya met the two brothers Dabira
Khāsa and Sākara Mallika in a village known as
Rāmakeli in the district of Maldah, and after that
meeting the brothers decided to retire from
government service and join Lord Caitanya. Dabira
Khāsa, who was later to become Rūpa Gosvāmī,
retired from his post and collected all the money he
had accumulated during his service. It is described
in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta that his accumulated
savings in gold coins equaled millions of dollars
and filled a large boat. He divided the money in a
very exemplary manner, which should be followed
by devotees in particular and by humanity in
13
general. Fifty percent of his accumulated wealth

was distributed to the Kṛṣṇa conscious persons,
namely the brāhmaṇas and the Vaiṣṇavas; twenty-
five percent was distributed to relatives; and
twenty-five percent was kept against emergency
expenditures and personal difficulties. Later on,
when Sākara Mallika also proposed to retire, the
Nawab was very much agitated and put him into
jail. But Sākara Mallika, who was later to become
Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī, took advantage of his
brother’s personal money, which had been
deposited with a village banker, and escaped from
the prison of Hussain Shah. In this way both
brothers joined Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
Rūpa Gosvāmī later met Lord Caitanya at
Prayāga (Allahabad, India), and on the
Daśāśvamedha bathing ghāṭa of that holy city the
Lord instructed him continually for ten days. The
Lord particularly instructed Rūpa Gosvāmī on the
science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. These teachings of
Lord Caitanya to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhupāda
are narrated in our book Teachings of Lord
Caitanya.
Later, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhupāda
elaborated the teachings of the Lord with profound
knowledge of revealed scriptures and authoritative
references from various Vedic literatures. Śrīla
Śrīnivāsa Ācārya describes in his prayers to the Six
Gosvāmīs that they were all highly learned
scholars, not only in Sanskrit but also in foreign
14
languages such as Persian and Arabic. They very

scrutinizingly studied all the Vedic scriptures in
order to establish the movement of Caitanya
Mahāprabhu on the authorized principles of Vedic
knowledge. The present Kṛṣṇa consciousness
movement is also based on the authority of Śrīla
Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhupāda. We are therefore
generally known as rūpānugas, or followers in the
footsteps of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhupāda. It is
only for our guidance that Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī
prepared his book Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, which is
now presented in the form of The Nectar of
Devotion.
15
What is Bhakti?
What is Bhakti?
Bhakti means “devotional service.” Every

service has some attractive feature that drives the
servitor progressively on and on. Every one of us
within this world is perpetually engaged in some
sort of service, and the impetus for such service is
the pleasure we derive from it. Driven by affection
for his wife and children, a family man works day
and night. A philanthropist works in the same way
for love of the greater family, and a nationalist for
the cause of his country and countrymen. That
force which drives the philanthropist, the
householder, and the nationalist is called rasa, or a
kind of mellow (relationship) whose taste is very
sweet.
Bhakti-rasa is a mellow different from the
ordinary rasa enjoyed by mundane workers.
Mundane workers labor very hard day and night in
order to relish a certain kind of rasa that is
understood as sense gratification. The relish or
taste of the mundane rasa does not long endure,
and therefore mundane workers are always apt to
change their position of enjoyment. A businessman
is not satisfied by working the whole week;
therefore, wanting a change for the weekend, he
goes to a place where he tries to forget his
business activities. Then, after the weekend is
spent in forgetfulness, he again changes his
16
What is Bhakti?
position and resumes his actual business activities.

Material engagement means accepting a particular
status for some time and then changing it. This
position of changing back and forth is technically
known as bhoga-tyāga, which means a position of
alternating sense enjoyment and renunciation.
A living entity cannot steadily remain either in
sense enjoyment or in renunciation. Change is
going on perpetually, and we cannot be happy in
either state, because of our eternal constitutional
position. Sense gratification does not endure for
long, and it is therefore called capala-sukha, or
flickering happiness. For example, an ordinary
family man who works very hard day and night and
is successful in giving comforts to the members of
his family thereby relishes a kind of mellow, but his
whole advancement of material happiness
immediately terminates along with his body as
soon as his life is over. Death is therefore taken as
the representative of God for the atheistic class of
men. The devotee realizes the presence of God by
devotional service, whereas the atheist realizes the
presence of God in the shape of death. At death
everything is finished, and one has to begin a new
chapter of life in a new situation, perhaps higher or
lower than the last one. In any field of activity –
political, social, national, or international – the
result of our actions will be finished with the end of
life. That is sure.
Bhakti-rasa, however, the mellow relished in
17
What is Bhakti?
the transcendental loving service of the Lord, does

not finish with the end of life. It continues
perpetually and is therefore called amṛta, that
which does not die but exists eternally. This is
confirmed in all Vedic literatures. The Bhagavad-
gītā says that a little advancement in bhakti-rasa
can save the devotee from the greatest danger –
that of missing the opportunity to be a human
being in the next life. The rasas derived from our
feelings in social life, in family life, or in the
greater family life of altruism, philanthropy,
nationalism, socialism, communism, etc., do not
guarantee that one’s next life will be as a human
being. We prepare our next life by our actual
activities in the present life. A living entity is
offered a particular type of body as a result of his
action in the present body. These activities are
taken into account by a superior authority known as
daiva, or the authority of God. This daiva is
explained in the Bhagavad-gītā as the prime cause
of everything, and in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is
stated that a man takes his next body by daiva-
netreṇa, which means by the supervision of the
authority of the Supreme. In an ordinary sense,
daiva is explained as “destiny.” Daiva supervision
gives us a body selected from 8,400,000 forms; the
choice does not depend on our selection but is
awarded to us according to our destiny. If our body
at present is engaged in the activities of Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, then it is guaranteed that we will
18
What is Bhakti?
have at least a human body in our next life. A

human being engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness,
even if unable to complete the course of bhakti-
yoga, takes birth in the higher divisions of human
society so that he can automatically further his
advancement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore, all
bona fide activities in Kṛṣṇa consciousness are
amṛta, or permanent. This is the subject matter of
The Nectar of Devotion.
19
Benefits of Bhakti
Benefits of Bhakti
This eternal engagement in bhakti-rasa can be

understood by a serious student upon studying The
Nectar of Devotion. Adoption of bhakti-rasa, or
Kṛṣṇa consciousness, will immediately bring one to
an auspicious life free from anxieties and will bless
one with transcendental existence, thus minimizing
the value of liberation. Bhakti-rasa itself is
sufficient to produce a feeling of liberation,
because it attracts the attention of the Supreme
Lord, Kṛṣṇa. Generally, neophyte devotees are
anxious to see Kṛṣṇa, or God, but God cannot be
seen or known by our present materially blunt
senses. The process of devotional service as it is
recommended in The Nectar of Devotion will
gradually elevate one from the material condition
of life to the spiritual status, wherein the devotee
becomes purified of all designations. The senses
can then become uncontaminated, being constantly
in touch with bhakti-rasa. When the purified senses
are employed in the service of the Lord, one
becomes situated in bhakti-rasa life, and any action
performed for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa in this
transcendental bhakti-rasa stage of life can be
relished perpetually. When one is thus engaged in
devotional service, all varieties of rasas, or
mellows, turn into eternity. In the beginning one is
trained according to the principles of regulation
20
Benefits of Bhakti
under the guidance of the ācārya, or spiritual

master, and gradually, when one is elevated,
devotional service becomes automatic and
spontaneous eagerness to serve Kṛṣṇa. There are
twelve kinds of rasas, which are explained in The
Nectar of Devotion, and by renovating our
relationship with Kṛṣṇa in five primary rasas we can
live eternally in full knowledge and bliss.
The basic principle of the living condition is that
we have a general propensity to love someone. No
one can live without loving someone else. This
propensity is present in every living being. Even an
animal like a tiger has this loving propensity at
least in a dormant stage, and it is certainly present
in the human beings. The missing point, however,
is where to repose our love so that everyone can
become happy. At the present moment the human
society teaches one to love his country or family or
his personal self, but there is no information where
to repose the loving propensity so that everyone
can become happy. That missing point is Kṛṣṇa, and
The Nectar of Devotion teaches us how to
stimulate our original love for Kṛṣṇa and how to be
situated in that position where we can enjoy our
blissful life.
In the primary stage a child loves his parents,
then his brothers and sisters, and as he daily grows
up he begins to love his family, society, community,
country, nation, or even the whole human society.
But the loving propensity is not satisfied even by
21
Benefits of Bhakti
loving all human society; that loving propensity

remains imperfectly fulfilled until we know who is
the supreme beloved. Our love can be fully
satisfied only when it is reposed in Kṛṣṇa. This
theme is the sum and substance of The Nectar of
Devotion, which teaches us how to love Kṛṣṇa in
five different transcendental mellows.
22
Boundless Love
Boundless Love
Our loving propensity expands just as a

vibration of light or air expands, but we do not
know where it ends. The Nectar of Devotion
teaches us the science of loving every one of the
living entities perfectly by the easy method of
loving Kṛṣṇa. We have failed to create peace and
harmony in human society, even by such great
attempts as the United Nations, because we do not
know the right method. The method is very simple,
but one has to understand it with a cool head. The
Nectar of Devotion teaches all men how to perform
the simple and natural method of loving Kṛṣṇa, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. If we learn how to
love Kṛṣṇa, then it is very easy to immediately and
simultaneously love every living being. It is like
pouring water on the root of a tree or supplying
food to one’s stomach. The method of pouring
water on the root of a tree or supplying food to the
stomach is universally scientific and practical, as
every one of us has experienced. Everyone knows
well that when we eat something, or in other
words, when we put food into the stomach, the
energy created by such action is immediately
distributed throughout the whole body. Similarly,
when we pour water on the root, the energy thus
created is immediately distributed throughout the
entirety of even the largest tree. It is not possible
23
Boundless Love
to water the tree part by part, nor is it possible to

feed the different parts of the body separately. The
Nectar of Devotion will teach us how to turn the
one switch that will immediately brighten
everything, everywhere. One who does not know
this method is missing the point of life.
As far as material necessities are concerned,
the human civilization at the present moment is
very much advanced in living comfortably, but still
we are not happy, because we are missing the
point. The material comforts of life alone are not
sufficient to make us happy. The root cause of our
dissatisfaction is that our dormant loving
propensity has not been fulfilled despite our great
advancement in the materialistic way of life. The
Nectar of Devotion will give us practical hints how
we can live in this material world perfectly engaged
in devotional service and thus fulfill all our desires
in this life and the next.
The Nectar of Devotion is not presented to
condemn any way of materialistic life, but the
attempt is to give information to religionists,
philosophers, and people in general how to love
Kṛṣṇa. One may live without material discomfiture,
but at the same time one should learn the art of
loving Kṛṣṇa. At the present moment we are
inventing so many ways to utilize our propensity to
love, but factually we are missing the real point:
Kṛṣṇa. We are watering all parts of the tree, but
missing the tree’s root. We are trying to keep our
24
Boundless Love
body fit by all means, but we are neglecting to

supply food to the stomach. Missing Kṛṣṇa means
missing one’s self also. Real self-realization and
realization of Kṛṣṇa go together simultaneously. For
example, seeing oneself in the morning means
seeing the sunrise also; without seeing the
sunshine no one can see himself. Similarly, unless
one has realized Kṛṣṇa there is no question of self-
realization.
25
Definition of Pure Devotional Service
Definition of
Pure Devotional Service
The authorized descriptions of bhakti, or

devotional service, following in the footsteps of
previous ācāryas, can be summarized in the
following statement by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī: “First-
class devotional service is known by one’s
tendency to be fully engaged in Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, serving the Lord favorably.” The
purport is that one may also be in Kṛṣṇa
consciousness unfavorably, but that cannot be
counted as pure devotional service. Pure devotional
service should be free from the desire for any
material benefit or for sense gratification, as these
desires are cultivated through fruitive activities and
philosophical speculation. Generally, people are
engaged in different activities to get some material
profit, while most philosophers are engaged in
proposing transcendental realization through
volumes of word jugglery and speculation. Pure
devotional service must always be free from such
fruitive activities and philosophical speculations.
One has to learn Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or pure
devotional service, from the authorities by
spontaneous loving service.
26
Acting for Kṛṣṇa:

the Essence of Bhakti
This devotional service is a sort of cultivation. It

is not simply inaction for people who like to be
inactive or devote their time to silent meditation.
There are many different methods for people who
want this, but cultivation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is
different. The particular word used by Śrīla Rūpa
Gosvāmī in this connection is anuśīlana, or
cultivation by following the predecessor teachers
(ācāryas). As soon as we say “cultivation,” we must
refer to activity. Without activity, consciousness
alone cannot help us. All activities may be divided
into two classes: one class may be for achieving a
certain goal, and the other may be for avoiding
some unfavorable circumstance. In Sanskrit, these
activities are called pravṛtti and nivṛtti – positive
and negative action. There are many examples of
negative action. For instance, a diseased person
has to be cautious and take medicine in order to
avoid making his illness worse.
Those who are cultivating spiritual life and
executing devotional service are always engaged in
activity. Such activity can be performed with the
body or with the mind. Thinking, feeling, and willing
are all activities of the mind, and when we will to
do something, the activity comes to be manifest by
27
the gross bodily senses. Thus, in our mental

activities we should always try to think of Kṛṣṇa
and try to plan how to please Him, following in the
footsteps of the great ācāryas and the personal
spiritual master. There are activities of the body,
activities of the mind, and activities of speech. A
Kṛṣṇa conscious person engages his words in
preaching the glories of the Lord. This is called
kīrtana. And by his mind a Kṛṣṇa conscious person
always thinks of the activities of the Lord – as He is
speaking on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra or
engaging in His various pastimes in Vṛndāvana with
His devotees. In this way one can always think of
the activities and pastimes of the Lord. This is the
mental culture of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Similarly, we can offer many services with our
bodily activities. But all such activities must be in
relationship with Kṛṣṇa. This relationship is
established by connecting oneself with the bona
fide spiritual master, who is the direct
representative of Kṛṣṇa in disciplic succession.
Therefore, the execution of Kṛṣṇa conscious
activities with the body should be directed by the
spiritual master and then performed with faith. The
connection with the spiritual master is called
initiation. From the date of initiation by the spiritual
master, the connection between Kṛṣṇa and a
person cultivating Kṛṣṇa consciousness is
established. Without initiation by a bona fide
spiritual master, the actual connection with Kṛṣṇa
28
consciousness is never performed.

This cultivation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not
material. The Lord has three general energies –
namely, the external energy, the internal energy,
and the marginal energy. The living entities are
called marginal energy, and the material cosmic
manifestation is the action of the external, or
material, energy. Then there is the spiritual world,
which is a manifestation of the internal energy. The
living entities, who are called marginal energy,
perform material activities when acting under the
inferior, external energy. And when they engage in
activities under the internal, spiritual energy, their
activities are called Kṛṣṇa conscious. This means
that those who are great souls or great devotees do
not act under the spell of the material energy, but
act instead under the protection of the spiritual
energy. Any activities done in devotional service, or
in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, are directly under the
control of the spiritual energy. In other words,
energy is a sort of strength, and this strength can
be spiritualized by the mercy of both the bona fide
spiritual master and Kṛṣṇa.
In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, by Kṛṣṇadāsa
Kavirāja Gosvāmī, Lord Caitanya states that it is a
fortunate person who comes in contact with a bona
fide spiritual master by the grace of Kṛṣṇa. To one
who is serious about spiritual life Kṛṣṇa gives the
intelligence to come in contact with a bona fide
spiritual master, and then by the grace of the
29
spiritual master one becomes advanced in Kṛṣṇa

consciousness. In this way the whole jurisdiction of
Kṛṣṇa consciousness is directly under the spiritual
energy – Kṛṣṇa and the spiritual master.
30
The definition of a pure devotee, as given by

Rūpa Gosvāmī in his Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, can
be summarized thus: his service is favorable and is
always in relation to Kṛṣṇa. In order to keep the
purity of such Kṛṣṇa conscious activities, one must
be freed from all material desires and philosophical
speculation. Any desire except for the service of
the Lord is called material desire. And
“philosophical speculation” refers to the sort of
speculation which ultimately arrives at a conclusion
of voidism or impersonalism. This conclusion is
useless for a Kṛṣṇa conscious person. Only rarely
by philosophical speculation can one reach the
conclusion of worshiping Vāsudeva, or Kṛṣṇa. This
is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā itself. The
ultimate end of philosophical speculation, then,
must be Kṛṣṇa, with the understanding that Kṛṣṇa is
everything, the cause of all causes, and that one
should therefore surrender unto Him. If this
ultimate goal is reached, then philosophical
advancement is favorable, but if the conclusion of
philosophical speculation is voidism or
impersonalism, that is not bhakti.
Karma, or fruitive activities, is sometimes
understood to consist of ritualistic activities. There
are many persons who are very much attracted by
the ritualistic activities described in the Vedas. But
31
if one becomes attracted simply to ritualistic

activities without understanding Kṛṣṇa, his
activities are unfavorable to Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Actually, Kṛṣṇa consciousness can be based simply
on hearing about Kṛṣṇa, chanting about Him,
remembering Him, etc. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
describes nine different processes, besides which
everything done is unfavorable to Kṛṣṇa
consciousness.
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has also quoted a definition
from the Nārada Pañcarātra, as follows: “One
should be free from all material designations and,
by Kṛṣṇa consciousness, must be cleansed of all
material contamination. He should be restored to
his pure identity, in which he engages his senses in
the service of the proprietor of the senses.” So
when our senses are engaged for Kṛṣṇa, the actual
proprietor of the senses, that activity is called
devotional service. In our conditioned state our
senses are engaged in serving the bodily demands.
When the same senses are engaged in executing
the order of Kṛṣṇa, our activities are called bhakti.
As long as one identifies himself as belonging
to a certain family, a certain society, or a certain
nation, he is said to be covered with designations.
When one is fully aware that he does not belong to
any family, society, or country but is eternally
related to Kṛṣṇa, he then realizes that his energy
should be employed not in the interests of so-
called family, society, or country but in the
32
interests of Kṛṣṇa. This is purity of purpose and the

platform of pure devotional service in Kṛṣṇa
consciousness.
33
Next Rūpa Gosvāmī gives six unique features of

pure devotional service.
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.
1. Kṛṣṇa Consciousness Brings Relief
from All 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 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
34
committed in our past lives. Generally, one

commits sinful activities due to ignorance. But
ignorance is no excuse for evading the reaction –
distresses. 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 not yet been 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.
There are many results of past sinful activities
for which we are suffering at the present moment,
and we may be suffering in the future due to our
present sinful activities. But all of these reactions
35
to sinful deeds can immediately be stopped if we

take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. As evidence for this,
Rūpa Gosvāmī quotes a verse from the Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam (11.14.19). This verse is in connection
with Lord Kṛṣṇa’s instruction to Uddhava, where He
says, “My dear Uddhava, devotional service unto
Me is just like a blazing fire that can burn into
ashes unlimited fuel supplied to it.” The purport is
that as the blazing fire can burn any amount of fuel
to ashes, so devotional service to the Lord in Kṛṣṇa
consciousness can burn up all the fuel of sinful
activities. For example, in the Gītā Arjuna thought
that fighting was a sinful activity, but Kṛṣṇa
engaged him on the battlefield under His order, and
so the fighting became devotional service.
Therefore, Arjuna was not subjected to any sinful
reaction.
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī quotes a verse from the
Third Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.33.6), in
which Devahūti addresses her son, Kapiladeva, an
incarnation of Kṛṣṇa who taught a type of yoga
called sāṅkhya, and says, “My dear Lord, there are
nine different kinds of devotional service,
beginning from hearing and chanting. Anyone who
hears about Your pastimes, who chants about Your
glories, who offers You obeisances, who thinks of
You and, in this way, executes any of the nine kinds
of devotional service – even if he is born in a family
of dog-eaters [the lowest grade of mankind] –
becomes immediately qualified to perform
36
sacrifices.” As such, how is it possible that anyone

actually engaged in devotional service in full Kṛṣṇa
consciousness has not become purified? It is not
possible. One who is engaged in Kṛṣṇa
consciousness and devotional service has without
doubt become freed from all contaminations of
material sinful activities. Devotional service
therefore has the power to actually nullify all kinds
of reactions to sinful deeds. A devotee is
nevertheless always alert not to commit any sinful
activities; this is his specific qualification as a
devotee. Thus the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam states that
by performing devotional service a person who was
born even in a family of dog-eaters may become
eligible to take part in the performance of the
ritualistic ceremonies recommended in the Vedas.
It is implicit in this statement that a person born
into a family of dog-eaters is generally not fit for
performing yajña, or sacrifice. The priestly caste in
charge of performing these ritualistic ceremonies
recommended in the Vedas is called the brāhmaṇa
order. Unless one is a brāhmaṇa, he cannot
perform these ceremonies.
A person is born in a brāhmaṇa family or in a
family of dog-eaters due to his past activities. If a
person is born in a family of dog-eaters it means
that his past activities were all sinful. But if even
such a person takes to the path of devotional
service and begins to chant the holy names of the
Lord – Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare
37
Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare

Hare – he is at once fit to perform the ritualistic
ceremonies. This means that his sinful reactions
have immediately become neutralized.
It is stated in the Padma Purāṇa that there are
four kinds of effects due to sinful activities, which
are listed as follows: (1) the effect which is not yet
fructified, (2) the effect which is lying as seed, (3)
the effect which is already mature, and (4) the
effect which is almost mature. It is also stated that
all these four effects become immediately
vanquished for those who surrender unto the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, and
become engaged in His devotional service in full
Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Those effects described as “almost mature”
refer to the distress from which one is suffering at
present, and the effects “lying as seed” are in the
core of the heart, where there is a certain stock of
sinful desires, which are like seeds. The Sanskrit
word kūṭam means that they are almost ready to
produce the seed, or the effect of the seed. “An
immature effect” refers to the case where the
seedling has not begun. From this statement of
Padma Purāṇa it is understood that material
contamination is very subtle. Its beginning, its
fruition and results, and how one suffers such
results in the form of distress, are part of a great
chain. When one catches some disease, it is often
very difficult to ascertain the cause of the disease,
38
where it originated, and how it is maturing. The

suffering of a disease, however, does not appear
all of a sudden. It actually takes time. And as in the
medical field, for precaution’s sake, the doctor
injects a vaccination to prevent the growing of
contamination, the practical injection to stop all the
fructifications of the seeds of our sinful activities is
simply engagement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Ajāmila, a Sinner Saved
In this connection, Śukadeva Gosvāmī speaks in
the Sixth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (6.2.17)
about the story of Ajāmila, who began life as a fine
and dutiful brāhmaṇa but who in his young
manhood became wholly corrupted by a prostitute.
At the end of his wicked life, just by calling the
name “Nārāyaṇa [Kṛṣṇa],” he was saved despite so
much sin. Śukadeva points out that austerity,
charity, and the performance of ritualistic
ceremonies for counteracting sinful activities are
recommended processes, but that by performing
them one cannot remove the sinful desire-seed
from the heart, as was the case with Ajāmila in his
youth. This sinful desire-seed can be removed only
by achieving Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And this can be
accomplished very easily by chanting the mahā-
mantra, or Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, as recommended by
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. In other words, unless
one adopts the path of devotional service, one
cannot be one-hundred-percent clean from all
39
sinful reactions.
By performing Vedic ritualistic activities, by
giving money in charity, and by undergoing
austerity one can temporarily become free from the
reactions of sinful activities, but at the next
moment one must again become engaged in sinful
activities. For example, a person suffering from
venereal disease on account of excessive
indulgence in sex life has to undergo some severe
pain in medical treatment, and he is then cured for
the time being. But because he has not been able
to remove the sex desire from his heart, he must
again indulge in the same thing and become a
victim of the same disease. So medical treatment
may give temporary relief from the distress of such
venereal disease, but unless one is trained to
understand that sex life is abominable, it is
impossible to be saved from such repeated
distress. Similarly, the ritualistic performances,
charity, and austerity that are recommended in the
Vedas may temporarily stop one from acting in
sinful ways, but as long as the heart is not clear,
one will have to repeat sinful activities again and
again.
Another example given in the Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam concerns the elephant who enters a
lake and takes a bath very seriously, cleansing his
body thoroughly. Then as soon as he comes onto
the shore he again takes some dust from the earth
and throws it over his body. Similarly, a person who
40
is not trained in Kṛṣṇa consciousness cannot

become completely free from the desire for sinful
activities. Neither the meditative yoga process nor
philosophical speculations nor fruitive activities
can save one from the seeds of sinful desires. Only
by being engaged in devotional service can this be
done.
There is another evidence in the Fourth Canto
of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (4.22.39), wherein Sanat-
kumāra says, “My dear king, the false ego of a
human being is so strong that it keeps him in
material existence as if tied up by a strong rope.
Only the devotees can cut off the knot of this
strong rope very easily, by engaging themselves in
Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Others, who are not in Kṛṣṇa
consciousness but are trying to become great
mystics or great ritual performers, cannot advance
like the devotees. Therefore, it is the duty of
everyone to engage himself in the activities of
Kṛṣṇa consciousness in order to be freed from the
tight knot of false ego and engagement in material
activities.”
This tight knot of false ego is due to ignorance.
As long as one is ignorant about his identity, he is
sure to act wrongly and thereby become entangled
in material contamination. This ignorance of factual
knowledge can also be dissipated by Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, as is confirmed in the Padma
Purāṇa as follows: “Pure devotional service in
Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the highest enlightenment,
41
and when such enlightenment is there, it is just like

a blazing forest fire, killing all the inauspicious
snakes of desire.” The example is being given in
this connection that when there is a forest fire the
extensive blazing automatically kills all the snakes
in the forest. There are many, many snakes on the
ground of the forest, and when a fire takes place, it
burns the dried foliage, and the snakes are
immediately attacked. Animals who have four legs
can flee from the fire or can at least try to flee, but
the snakes are immediately killed. Similarly, the
blazing fire of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is so strong that
the snakes of ignorance are immediately killed.
Kṛṣṇa’s Promise
Everyone in the material world is full of
anxieties. That is the nature of material existence.
One after another, problems come. So if someone
would promise us, “Just depend on me; I will solve
all your problems,” how much relief we would feel!
Just imagine! Of course, we may not believe it. If
some ordinary human being says to us, “Do not
worry; I will take charge of all your affairs,” we may
doubt his ability to do so because we know his
limitations. But when Kṛṣṇa says, “I will take
charge of you,” we should have full faith in His
words and feel so much relief. Kṛṣṇa is not an
ordinary man – He is the all-powerful Supreme
Personality of Godhead. He is Yogeśvara, the
master of all mystic power, and He is the Absolute
42
Truth. Therefore, when He promises in the

Bhagavad-gītā, “Give up all other attempts to solve
your problems and just surrender to Me. I will take
charge of you and nullify all your sinful reactions,”
we should feel assured that we will be delivered
from the reactions of all our sinful activities.
2. Kṛṣṇa Consciousness is All-Auspicious
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has given a definition of
auspiciousness. He says that actual auspiciousness
means welfare activities for all the people of the
world. At the present moment groups of people are
engaged in welfare activities in terms of society,
community, or nation. There is even an attempt in
the form of the United Nations for world-help
activity. But due to the shortcomings of limited
national activities, such a general mass welfare
program for the whole world is not practically
possible. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement,
however, is so nice that it can render the highest
benefit to the entire human race. Everyone can be
attracted by this movement, and everyone can feel
the result. Therefore, Rūpa Gosvāmī and other
learned scholars agree that a broad propaganda
program for the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement of
devotional service all over the world is the highest
humanitarian welfare activity.
The End of All Suffering
We suffer because of our sinful activities, and
we enjoy because of our pious activities. But in this
43
material world, whether we enjoy or suffer, the

common factor is suffering. Suppose in my next life
I get a good birth due to my pious activities in this
life – I may have sufficient wealth, a good
education, and physical beauty. But even if I’m born
into the family of a rich man, the sufferings of
taking birth will be the same as those of a child
born into a poor family. The sufferings of taking
birth are equal for the poor and the rich. Similarly,
when there is some disease – a fever, for example
– it is not less painful for the rich man than for the
poor man. The pain is the same. Therefore, as long
as there is material existence, this suffering and
enjoyment will remain on the same level: ultimately
painful. But if we take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness,
Kṛṣṇa assures us, ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi: “I will free you from all sins and all
suffering.” That is real auspiciousness.
When Kṛṣṇa takes charge of us, He gradually
educates us from within and without so that we
may go back home, back to Godhead. From the
material point of view it is auspicious to achieve
wealth, education, beauty, high parentage, and so
on, but all these are adulterated with so many
sufferings. Therefore, they are not actually
auspicious. Real auspiciousness is to go back
home, back to Godhead, for an eternal life of bliss
and knowledge. And that can be achieved only by
engagement in pure devotional service to Lord
Kṛṣṇa, without any material motive. So engaging in
44
pure devotional service is the beginning of all

auspiciousness. And to achieve that we have to
follow the rules and regulations, chant the Hare
Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra daily, and engage always in
the service of the Lord.
The Cycl e of Sufferi ng

The root ca us e of s ufferi ng i s avidyā, i gnora nce of our
rea l i denti ty a s eterna l s erva nts of Lord Kṛṣ ṇa . Beca us e of
thi s i gnora nce, we tend to a cqui re s i nful des i res (bījam) i n
conta ct wi th the objects of the s ens es . When we a ct on thes e
45
des i res , we commi t s i n (pāpam). The s i nful rea cti on i s a t fi rs t
unma ni fes t (aprārabdha), but over ti me (even over l i feti mes )
the rea cti on to s i n ma ni fes ts a s s ufferi ng (prārabdha) a nd the
di s pos i ti on to commi t further s i n (kūṭam). The proces s of
bhakti, or Kṛṣ ṇa cons ci ous nes s , countera cts a l l thes e s ta ges
of s ufferi ng.
3. Kṛṣṇa Consciousness Produces
Supreme Happiness
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has analyzed the different
sources of happiness. He has divided happiness
into three categories, which are (1) happiness
derived from material enjoyment, (2) happiness
derived by identifying oneself with the Supreme
Brahman, and (3) happiness derived from Kṛṣṇa
consciousness.
In the tantra-śāstra Lord Śiva speaks to his wife,
Satī, in this way: “My dear wife, a person who has
surrendered himself at the lotus feet of Govinda
and who has thus developed pure Kṛṣṇa
consciousness can be very easily awarded all the
perfections desired by the impersonalists; and
beyond this, he can enjoy the happiness achieved
by the pure devotees.”
Happiness derived from pure devotional service
is the highest because it is eternal, whereas the
happiness derived from material perfection or from
understanding oneself to be Brahman is inferior
because it is temporary. There is no preventing
one’s falling down from material happiness, and
there is even every chance of falling down from the
spiritual happiness derived out of identifying
46
oneself with the impersonal Brahman.

It has been seen that great Māyāvādī sannyāsīs
– very highly educated and almost realized souls –
may sometimes take to political activities or to
social welfare activities. The reason is that they
actually do not derive any ultimate transcendental
happiness in the impersonal understanding and
therefore must come down to the material platform
and take to such mundane affairs. There are many
instances, especially in India, where these
Māyāvādī sannyāsīs descend to the material
platform again. But a person who is fully in Kṛṣṇa
consciousness will never return to any sort of
material platform. However alluring and attractive
they may be, he always knows that no material
welfare activities can compare to the spiritual
activity of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Happiness from Nondevotional Yoga is Inferior
The mystic perfections achieved by actually
successful yogis are eight in number. Aṇimā-siddhi
refers to the power by which one can become so
small that he can enter into a stone. But modern
scientific improvements also enable us to enter
into stone, because they provide for excavating so
many subways, penetrating the hills, etc. So aṇimā-
siddhi, the mystic perfection of trying to enter into
stone, has also been achieved by material science.
Similarly, all of the yoga-siddhis, or perfections, are
material arts. For example, in one yoga-siddhi there
47
is development of the power to become so light

that one can float in the air or on water. That has
also been achieved by modern science. It has
enabled us to fly in the air, float on the surface of
the water, and travel under the water.
Of course, in the categories of mystic
perfection there are certain processes that the
material scientists have not yet been able to
develop. For instance, a mystic yogi can enter into
the sun planet simply by using the rays of the
sunshine. This perfection is called laghimā.
Similarly, a yogi can touch the moon with his finger.
Though the modern astronauts go to the moon with
the help of spaceships, they undergo many
difficulties, whereas a person with mystic
perfection can extend his hand and touch the moon
with his finger. This siddhi is called prāpti, or
acquisition. With this prāpti-siddhi, not only can the
perfect mystic yogi touch the moon planet, but he
can extend his hand anywhere and take whatever
he likes. He may be sitting thousands of miles
away from a certain place, and if he likes he can
take fruit from a garden there. This is prāpti-siddhi.
The modern scientists have manufactured
nuclear weapons with which they can destroy an
insignificant part of this planet, but by the yoga-
siddhi known as īśitā one can create and destroy an
entire planet simply at will. Another perfection is
called vaśitā, and by this perfection one can bring
anyone under his control. This is a kind of
48
hypnotism that is almost irresistible. Sometimes it

is found that a yogi who may have attained a little
perfection in this vaśitā mystic power comes out
among the people and speaks all sorts of
nonsense, controls their minds, exploits them,
takes their money, and then goes away.
There is another mystic perfection, which is
known as prākāmya (magic). By this prākāmya
power one can achieve anything he likes. For
example, one can make water enter into his eye
and then again come out from within the eye.
Simply by his will he can perform such wonderful
activities.
The highest perfection of mystic power is called
kāmāvasāyitā. This is also magic, but whereas the
prākāmya power acts to create wonderful effects
within the scope of nature, kāmāvasāyitā permits
one to contradict nature – in other words, to do the
impossible. Of course, one can derive great
amounts of temporary happiness by achieving such
yogic materialistic perfections.
Material Happiness: Temporary at Best
Foolishly, people who are enamored of the
glitter of modern materialistic advancement are
thinking that the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is
for less intelligent men. “I am better off being busy
with my material comforts – maintaining a nice
apartment, family, and sex life.” These people do
not know that at any moment they can be kicked
49
out of their material situation. Due to ignorance,

they do not know that real life is eternal. The
temporary comforts of the body are not the goal of
life, and it is due only to darkest ignorance that
people become enamored of the glimmering
advancement of material comforts. Śrīla
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has therefore said that the
advancement of material knowledge renders a
person more foolish, because it causes one to
forget his real identity by its glitter. This is doom
for him, because this human form of life is meant
for getting out of material contamination. By the
advancement of material knowledge, people are
becoming more and more entangled in material
existence. They have no hope of being liberated
from this catastrophe.
Rejecting the Dream of Material Happiness
We are enamored by the glitter of this material
world just as moths are attracted by a fire. Moths
enter with great speed into the fire, without
knowing that they are going to die. Their forceful
entrance into the fire means sure death. Similarly,
modern science has created some so-called
comforts of life for temporary enjoyment, but at the
same time we take the risk of so many dangerous
conditions. As the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says,
padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām: In this world there is
danger at every step.
Our attempts to mitigate discomfort are like the
50
attempts of a laborer to get some relief when

carrying a heavy burden. When he is too
uncomfortable, he shifts the burden from his head
to his shoulder. But that does not eliminate the
difficulty of carrying the burden. Similarly, we are
trying to get material comforts by producing so
many scientific inventions, but they do not actually
provide happiness. We are simply changing the
position of our burden. For instance, in America the
people have to accept so much danger just to drive
around in their motorcars. They may try to increase
their happiness by improving transportation, but
they are just shifting the burden around. They
therefore create more and more problems. They
have so many cars that they have to construct more
roads and highways, one on top of another. Still
they experience traffic congestion, accidents,
pollution, and discomfort. This is a vain endeavor.
The scientists think they are solving the problems
of life, but the discomforts of life are still there.
And the scientists must fail, because this material
world is by nature full of discomfort, as Kṛṣṇa
Himself confirms in the Bhagavad-gītā:
duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam. How, then, can you make
it a happy place?
We may dream of something dangerous, that a
tiger or snake is coming, and then we want to
change to another dream. Similarly, our attempt to
become happy in this material world by
manufacturing some artificial means of happiness
51
is simply a useless dream. Real happiness is to

take shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa.
A Pure Devotee Wants Nothing But Bhakti
In the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya it is stated that
Prahlāda Mahārāja, a great devotee of the Lord,
prayed to Nṛsiṁhadeva (the half-lion, half-man
incarnation) as follows: “My dear Lord, I repeatedly
pray unto Your lotus feet that I may simply be
stronger in devotional service. I simply pray that my
Kṛṣṇa consciousness may be more strong and
steady, because happiness derived from Kṛṣṇa
consciousness and devotional service is so
powerful that with it one can have all the other
perfections of religiousness, economic
development, sense gratification, and even the
attainment of liberation from material existence.”
Actually, a pure devotee does not aspire after
any of these perfections, because the happiness
derived from devotional service in Kṛṣṇa
consciousness is so transcendental and so
unlimited that no other happiness can compare to
it. It is said that even one drop of happiness in
Kṛṣṇa consciousness stands beyond comparison
with an ocean of happiness derived from any other
activity. Thus, any person who has developed even
a little quantity of pure devotional service can very
easily kick out all the other kinds of happiness
derived from religiousness, economic development,
sense gratification, and liberation.
52
There was a great devotee of Lord Caitanya

known as Kholāvecā Śrīdhara, who was a very poor
man. He was doing a small business selling cups
made from the leaves of plantain trees, and his
income was almost nothing. Still, he was spending
fifty percent of his small income on the worship of
the Ganges, and with the other fifty percent he was
somehow living. Lord Caitanya once revealed
Himself to this confidential devotee, Kholāvecā
Śrīdhara, and offered him any opulence he liked.
But Śrīdhara informed the Lord that he did not want
any material opulence. He was quite happy in his
present position and wanted only to gain
unflinching faith and devotion unto the lotus feet of
Lord Caitanya. That is the position of pure
devotees. If they can be engaged twenty-four hours
each day in devotional service, they do not want
anything else, not even the happiness of liberation
or of becoming one with the Supreme.
In the Nārada Pañcarātra it is also said that any
person who has developed even a small amount of
devotional service doesn’t care a fig for any kind of
happiness derived from religiousness, economic
development, sense gratification, or the five kinds
of liberation. Any kind of happiness derived from
religiousness, economic development, liberation, or
sense gratification cannot even dare to enter into
the heart of a pure devotee. It is stated that as the
personal attendants and maidservants of a queen
follow the queen with all respect and obeisances,
53
similarly the joys of religiousness, economic

development, sense gratification, and liberation
follow the devotional service of the Lord. In other
words, a pure devotee does not lack any kind of
happiness derived from any source. He does not
want anything but service to Kṛṣṇa, but even if he
should have another desire, the Lord fulfills it
without the devotee’s asking.
4. The Rarity of Pure Devotional Service
In the preliminary phase of spiritual life there
are different kinds of austerities, penances, and
similar processes for attaining self-realization.
However, even if an executor of these processes is
without any material desire, he still cannot achieve
devotional service. And aspiring by oneself alone to
achieve devotional service is also not very hopeful,
because Kṛṣṇa does not agree to award devotional
service to merely anyone. Kṛṣṇa can easily offer a
person material happiness or even liberation, but
He does not agree very easily to award a person
engagement in His devotional service. Devotional
service can in fact be attained only through the
mercy of a pure devotee. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta
(Madhya 19.151) it is said, “By the mercy of the
spiritual master who is a pure devotee and by the
mercy of Kṛṣṇa one can achieve the platform of
devotional service. There is no other way.”
The rarity of devotional service is also
confirmed in the tantra-śāstra, where Lord Śiva says
54
to Satī, “My dear Satī, if one is a very fine

philosopher, analyzing the different processes of
knowledge, he can achieve liberation from material
entanglement. By performance of the ritualistic
sacrifices recommended in the Vedas one can be
elevated to the platform of pious activities and
thereby enjoy the material comforts of life to the
fullest extent. But all such endeavors can hardly
offer anyone devotional service to the Lord, not
even if one tries for it by such processes for many,
many thousands of births.”
In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Prahlāda Mahārāja
confirms that merely by personal efforts or by the
instructions of higher authorities one cannot attain
to the stage of devotional service. One must
become blessed by the dust of the lotus feet of a
pure devotee, who is completely freed from the
contamination of material desires.
Tasting the Honey of Bhakti
Devotional service is dependent on the mercy
of Kṛṣṇa and His devotees. Unless we surrender to
the lotus feet of a pure devotee, it is not possible
to come to the platform of pure devotional service.
By his own efforts a bee cannot taste the honey
within a bottle. The bottle must be opened by a
superior. If the bee simply licks the outside of the
bottle, thinking, “Now I am tasting honey,” then he
is in illusion. Similarly, no one can enter into
devotional service unless the door is opened by a
55
devotee. Therefore Rūpa Gosvāmī says, ādau

gurvāśrayam: The first step in devotional service is
to accept a guru from a disciplic succession that
follows the principles of bhakti. Then you will very
easily enter onto the path of devotional service.
You have to select a guru who is niṣkiñcana, “free
of material desires.” One who has accepted the
lotus feet of the Lord has finished with all material
desires. Such a pure devotee wants only to be
engaged in the Lord’s service in whatever condition
of life he is in.
King Yudhiṣṭhira was such a pure devotee. In
the Fifth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (5.6.18)
Nārada says to Yudhiṣṭhira, “My dear king, it is
Lord Kṛṣṇa, known as Mukunda, who is the eternal
protector of the Pāṇḍavas and the Yadus. He is also
your spiritual master and instructor in every
respect. He is the only worshipable God for you. He
is very dear and affectionate, and He is the director
of all your activities, both individual and familial.
And what’s more, He sometimes carries out your
orders as if He were your messenger! My dear king,
how very fortunate you are, because for others all
these favors given to you by the Supreme Lord
would not even be dreamt of.” The purport to this
verse is that the Lord easily offers liberation but He
rarely agrees to offer a soul devotional service,
because by devotional service the Lord Himself
becomes purchased by the devotee.
5. Bhakti Minimizes the Happiness of
56
Becoming One with the Supreme

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī says that if brahmānanda,
or the happiness of becoming one with the
Supreme, is multiplied by one trillionfold, it still
cannot compare to an atomic fraction of the
happiness derived from the ocean of devotional
service.
In the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya Prahlāda
Mahārāja, while satisfying Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva with
his prayers, says, “My dear Lord of the universe, I
am feeling transcendental pleasure in Your
presence and have become merged in the ocean of
happiness. I now consider the happiness of
brahmānanda to be no more than the water in the
impression left by a cow’s hoof in the earth,
compared to this ocean of bliss.” Similarly, it is
confirmed in the Bhāvārtha-dīpikā, Śrīdhara Svāmī’s
commentary on the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, “My dear
Lord, some of the fortunate persons who are
swimming in the ocean of Your nectar of devotion,
and who are relishing the nectar of the narration of
Your pastimes, certainly know ecstasies that
immediately minimize the value of the happiness
derived from religiousness, economic development,
sense gratification, and liberation. Such a
transcendental devotee regards any kind of
happiness other than devotional service as no
better than straw in the street.”
6. Only Bhakti Can Attract Kṛṣṇa
57
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has stated that devotional

service attracts even Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa attracts
everyone, but devotional service attracts Kṛṣṇa. The
symbol of devotional service in the highest degree
is Rādhārāṇī. Kṛṣṇa is called Madana-mohana,
which means that He is so attractive that He can
defeat the attraction of thousands of Cupids. But
Rādhārāṇī is still more attractive, for She can
attract even Kṛṣṇa. Therefore devotees call Her
Madana-mohana-mohinī – the attractor of the
attractor of Cupid.
Madana means sex attraction. So since Kṛṣṇa is
Madana-mohana, one can neglect even sex
attraction if one is attracted to Kṛṣṇa. Sex attracts
everyone in this material world. Indeed, the whole
material world is running on sex, and so-called
happiness begins from sexual intercourse.
Generally, a man marries to satisfy his sex desire.
In that way, he begets children. When the children
are grown, they marry and have more children. It is
all for the same purpose: sex. Material happiness
means these three things: śrī (a beautiful woman),
aiśvarya (wealth), and prajā (offspring). Generally,
people want a good wife, a good bank balance, and
a good family. If a man has these things, he is
considered successful.
Through the effort to acquire and maintain a
wife, children, friends, and wealth, the attraction
for this material world becomes tighter and tighter.
58
We should avoid being attracted by the glitter of

this material world and try to become attracted by
Kṛṣṇa. In this connection, Śrī Yāmunācārya said,
yad-avadhi mama cetaḥ kṛṣṇa-pādāravinde
nava-nava-rasa-dhāmany udyataṁ rantum āsīt
tad-avadhi bata nārī-saṅgame smaryamāne
bhavati mukha-vikāraḥ suṣṭhu niṣṭhīvanaṁ ca
“Since I have been attracted by the beauty of
Kṛṣṇa and have begun to serve His lotus feet, I am
experiencing an ever-new taste. Therefore, as soon
as I think of sexual intercourse, my lips curl with
distaste and I want to spit.” When one is attracted
by Kṛṣṇa, Cupid is defeated and one conquers over
this material world. Otherwise, the material world
is very difficult to surpass. But if anyone grabs
Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet very strongly, calling out, “Kṛṣṇa,
save me!” Kṛṣṇa promises, “I will save you. Do not
worry.” In the Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna,
“You can declare to the world, I will protect My
pure devotee.” People do not know that their only
business is to take shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa
and thus achieve the aim of human life, which is to
get out of the clutches of the material world. Any
other business means we are becoming entangled
in this material world.
Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, the Queen of Bhakti
To perform devotional service means to follow
in the footsteps of Rādhārāṇī, and devotees in
Vṛndāvana put themselves under the care of
59
Rādhārāṇī in order to achieve perfection in their

devotional service. In other words, devotional
service is not an activity of the material world; it is
directly under the control of Rādhārāṇī. In the
Bhagavad-gītā it is confirmed that the mahātmās,
or great souls, are under the protection of daivī
prakṛti, the internal energy – Rādhārāṇī. So, being
directly under the control of the internal potency of
Kṛṣṇa, devotional service attracts even Kṛṣṇa
Himself.
This fact is corroborated by Kṛṣṇa in the
Eleventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.14.20),
where He says, “My dear Uddhava, you may know
it from Me that the attraction I feel for devotional
service rendered by My devotees is not to be
attained even by the performance of mystic yoga,
philosophical speculation, ritualistic sacrifices, the
study of Vedānta, the practice of severe austerities,
or the giving of everything in charity. These are, of
course, very nice activities, but they are not as
attractive to Me as the transcendental loving
service rendered by My devotees.”
How Kṛṣṇa becomes attracted by the devotional
service of His devotees is described by Nārada
Muni in the Seventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
(7.10.48–49). There Nārada addresses King
Yudhiṣṭhira while the king is appreciating the
glories of the character of Prahlāda Mahārāja. A
devotee always appreciates the activities of other
devotees. Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja was appreciating
60
the qualities of Prahlāda, and that appreciation is

one symptom of a pure devotee. A pure devotee
never thinks himself great; he always thinks that
other devotees are greater than himself. The king
was thinking, “Prahlāda Mahārāja is actually a
devotee of the Lord, while I am nothing,” and while
thinking this he was addressed by Nārada as
follows: “My dear King Yudhiṣṭhira, you [the
Pāṇḍava brothers] are the only fortunate people in
this world. The Supreme Personality of Godhead
has appeared on this planet and is presenting
Himself to you as an ordinary human being. He is
always with you in all circumstances. He is living
with you and covering Himself from the eyes of
others. Others cannot understand that He is the
Supreme Lord, but He is still living with you as your
cousin, as your friend, and even as your messenger.
Therefore you must know that nobody in this world
is more fortunate than you.”
In the Bhagavad-gītā, when Kṛṣṇa appeared in
His universal form Arjuna prayed, “My dear Kṛṣṇa, I
thought of You as my cousin-brother, and so I have
shown disrespect to You in so many ways, calling
You ‘Kṛṣṇa’ or ‘friend.’ But You are so great that I
could not understand.” So that was the position of
the Pāṇḍavas: although Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, the greatest among all
greats, He remained with those royal brothers,
being attracted by their devotion, by their
friendship, and by their love. That is the proof of
61
how great this process of devotional service is. It

can attract even the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. God is great, but devotional service is
greater than God because it attracts Him. People
who are not in devotional service can never
understand what great value there is in rendering
service to the Lord.
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Appendixes
63
The Author
The Author
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

Prabhupāda appeared in this world in 1896 in
Calcutta, India. He first met his spiritual master,
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī, in
Calcutta in 1922. Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, a
prominent religious scholar and the founder of
sixty-four Gauḍīya Maṭhas (Vedic institutes), liked
this educated young man and convinced him to
dedicate his life to teaching Vedic knowledge. Śrīla
Prabhupāda became his student and, in 1933, his
formally initiated disciple.
At their first meeting, in 1922, Śrīla
Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī requested Śrīla
Prabhupāda to broadcast Vedic knowledge in
English. In the years that followed, Śrīla
Prabhupāda wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad-
gītā, assisted the Gauḍīya Maṭha in its work and, in
1944, started Back to Godhead, an English
fortnightly magazine. Singlehandedly, Śrīla
Prabhupāda edited it, typed the manuscripts,
checked the galley proofs, and even distributed the
individual copies. The magazine is now being
continued by his disciples.
In 1950 Śrīla Prabhupāda retired from married
life, adopting the vānaprastha (retired) order to
devote more time to his studies and writing. He
traveled to the holy city of Vṛndāvana, where he
64
The Author
lived in humble circumstances in the historic

temple of Rādhā-Dāmodara. There he engaged for
several years in deep study and writing. He
accepted the renounced order of life (sannyāsa) in
1959. At Rādhā-Dāmodara, Śrīla Prabhupāda began
work on his life’s masterpiece: a multivolume
commentated translation of the eighteen-thousand-
verse Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (Bhāgavata Purāṇa). He
also wrote Easy Journey to Other Planets.
After publishing three volumes of the
Bhāgavatam, Śrīla Prabhupāda came to the United
States, in September 1965, to fulfill the mission of
his spiritual master. Subsequently, His Divine Grace
wrote more than fifty volumes of authoritative
commentated translations and summary studies of
the philosophical and religious classics of India.
When he first arrived by freighter in New York
City, Śrīla Prabhupāda was practically penniless.
Only after almost a year of great difficulty did he
establish the International Society for Krishna
Consciousness, in July of 1966. Before he passed
away on November 14, 1977, he had guided the
Society and seen it grow to a worldwide
confederation of more than one hundred āśramas,
schools, temples, institutes, and farm communities.
In 1972 His Divine Grace introduced the Vedic
system of primary and secondary education in the
West by founding the gurukula school in Dallas,
Texas. Since then his disciples have established
similar schools throughout the United States and
65
The Author
the rest of the world.

Śrīla Prabhupāda also inspired the construction
of several large international cultural centers in
India. At Śrīdhāma Māyāpur, in West Bengal,
devotees are building a spiritual city centered on a
magnificent temple – an ambitious project for
which construction will extend over many years to
come. In Vṛndāvana are the Krishna-Balaram
Temple and International Guesthouse, gurukula
school, and Śrīla Prabhupāda Memorial and
Museum. There are also major temples and cultural
centers in Mumbai, New Delhi, Ahmedabad,
Siliguri, and Ujjain. Other centers are planned in
many important locations on the Indian
subcontinent.
Śrīla Prabhupāda’s most significant
contribution, however, is his books. Highly
respected by scholars for their authority, depth, and
clarity, they are used as textbooks in numerous
college courses. His writings have been translated
into over fifty languages. The Bhaktivedanta Book
Trust, established in 1972 to publish the works of
His Divine Grace, has thus become the world’s
largest publisher of books in the field of Indian
religion and philosophy.
In just twelve years, despite his advanced age,
Śrīla Prabhupāda circled the globe fourteen times
on lecture tours that took him to six continents. In
spite of such a vigorous schedule, Śrīla Prabhupāda
continued to write prolifically. His writings
66
The Author
constitute a veritable library of Vedic philosophy,

religion, literature, and culture.
67
The Author
Glossary
Ācārya: an ideal teacher who knows the

revealed scriptures, behaves exactly according
to their injunctions, and teaches his students
to adopt these principles also.
Arjuna: an eternal associate of Kṛṣṇa.
Bhagavad-gītā: a seven-hundred-verse
record of a conversation between Lord Kṛṣṇa
and His disciple Arjuna, recorded in the
Mahābhārata.
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: one of the
principal works on the science of bhakti-yoga,
written by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in the sixteenth
century.
Bhakti-yoga: the system of cultivation of
bhakti, or pure devotional service to God,
which is untinged by sense gratification or
philosophical speculation.
Brāhmaṇa: a member of the intellectual,
priestly class; a person wise in Vedic
knowledge, fixed in goodness, and
knowledgeable about Brahman, the Absolute
Truth.
Caitanya-caritāmṛta: the foremost
biography of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
Written in Bengali and Sanskrit in the late
sixteenth century by Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja
Gosvāmī, it brilliantly presents the Lord’s
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The Author
pastimes and teachings.

Caitanya Mahāprabhu (1486–1534): Lord
Kṛṣṇa in the aspect of His own devotee. He
appeared in Navadvīpa, West Bengal, and
inaugurated the congregational chanting of
the holy names of the Lord to teach pure love
of God.
Disciplic succession: a chain of spiritual
masters and their disciples who in turn
became spiritual masters.
False ego: the conception that “I am this
material body, mind, or intelligence.”
Gosvāmī: a person who has his senses
under full control.
Guru: spiritual master.
Haridāsa Ṭhākura: a confidential
associate of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu who,
though born in a Muslim family, was so
absorbed in the nectar of chanting the holy
name of Kṛṣṇa that he chanted day and night.
Kurukṣetra: a place of pilgrimage about
ninety miles north of New Delhi where Lord
Kṛṣṇa spoke the Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna five
thousand years ago. It was here that the great
Mahābhārata war was fought.
Liberation: freedom from birth and death.
Mahā-mantra: “the great mantra”: Hare
Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare
Hare.
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The Author
Māyāvādī: an impersonalist.
Nārada Muni: a pure devotee of the Lord,
one of the sons of Lord Brahmā, who travels
throughout the universes in his eternal body,
glorifying devotional service while delivering
the science of bhakti. He is the spiritual
master of Vyāsadeva and of many other great
devotees.
Nārada Pañcarātra: Nārada Muni’s book
on the processes of Deity worship and mantra
meditation.
Nawab Hussain Shah: the Muslim
governor of Bengal during the time of Śrī
Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
Pāṇḍavas: the five pious kṣatriya brothers
Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīma, Arjuna, Nakula, and
Sahadeva. They were intimate friends of Lord
Kṛṣṇa’s and inherited the leadership of the
world on their victory over the Kurus in the
Battle of Kurukṣetra.
Prahlāda Mahārāja: a great devotee of
Lord Kṛṣṇa who was persecuted by his
atheistic father, Hiraṇyakaśipu, but was
always protected by the Lord and ultimately
saved by Him in the form of Nṛsiṁhadeva, the
Lord’s half-man, half-lion incarnation.
Rādhārāṇī: Lord Kṛṣṇa’s most intimate
consort, who personifies His pleasure potency.
Rūpa Gosvāmī: chief of the Six Gosvāmīs
of Vṛndāvana, who were empowered by Lord
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Caitanya Mahāprabhu to establish and

distribute the philosophy of Kṛṣṇa
consciousness.
Sanātana Gosvāmī: one of the Six
Gosvāmīs of Vṛndāvana, who were empowered
by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu to establish and
distribute the philosophy of Kṛṣṇa
consciousness. He was the older brother of
Rūpa Gosvāmī, who accepted him as his
spiritual master.
Satī: the wife of Lord Śiva and the
daughter of Dakṣa. She burned herself alive
when her father insulted her husband.
Self-realization: the understanding that
one is not the body but a spirit soul and that
one is an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa.
Śiva, Lord: the demigod who supervises
the material mode of ignorance (tamo-guṇa)
and who annihilates the material cosmos.
Six Gosvāmīs: six renounced followers of
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu whom He deputed to
go to Vṛndāvana to excavate the places of
Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes and write books on Kṛṣṇa
consciousness.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: the foremost of the
eighteen Purāṇas. The complete science of
God, it establishes the supreme position of
Lord Kṛṣṇa.
Supreme Brahman: the Personality of
Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
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Tantra-śāstra: Vedic literatures consisting

mostly of dialogues between Lord Śiva and
Durgā. They contain instructions on Deity
worship and other aspects of spiritual
practice.
Vedānta: the philosophy of the Vedānta-
sūtra of Śrīla Vyāsadeva, containing a
conclusive summary of Vedic philosophical
knowledge and showing Kṛṣṇa as the goal.
Vedas: the four original scriptures (Ṛg,
Sāma, Atharva, and Yajur).
Vṛndāvana: Kṛṣṇa’s eternal abode, where
He fully manifests His quality of sweetness;
the village on this earth where He enacted His
childhood pastimes five thousand years ago.
Yadus: the descendants of Yadu. They
constitute the dynasty in which Lord Kṛṣṇa
appeared.
Yāmunācārya: a great Vaiṣṇava spiritual
master and author in the Śrī-sampradāya, one
of the important disciplic lines of Vaiṣṇavas.
Yoga, mystic: meditative yoga.
Yudhiṣṭhira: the eldest of the Pāṇḍavas in
the Mahābhārata, and the son of Dharmarāja
or Yamarāja, the god of death.
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Kṛṣṇa Consciousness at Home

by Mahātmā Dāsa
In Bhakti, the Art of Eternal Love, Śrīla

Prabhupāda makes it clear how important it is for
everyone to practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness,
devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa. Of course, living
in the association of Kṛṣṇa’s devotees in a temple
or ashram makes it easier to practice devotional
service. But if you’re determined, you can follow at
home the teachings of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and
thus convert your home into a temple.
Spiritual life, like material life, means practical
activity. The difference is that whereas we perform
material activities for the benefit of ourselves or
those we consider ours, we perform spiritual
activities for the benefit of Lord Kṛṣṇa, under the
guidance of the scriptures and the spiritual master.
The key is to accept the guidance of the scripture
and the guru. Kṛṣṇa declares in the Bhagavad-gītā
that a person can achieve neither happiness nor
the supreme destination of life – going back to
Godhead, back to Lord Kṛṣṇa – if he or she does not
follow the injunctions of the scriptures. And how to
follow the scriptural rules by engaging in practical
service to the Lord – that is explained by a bona
fide spiritual master. Without following the
instructions of a spiritual master who is in an
authorized chain of disciplic succession coming
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from Kṛṣṇa Himself, we cannot make spiritual

progress. The practices outlined here are the
timeless practices of bhakti-yoga as given by the
foremost spiritual master and exponent of Kṛṣṇa
consciousness in our time, His Divine Grace A. C.
Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, founder-ācārya
of the International Society for Krishna
Consciousness (ISKCON).
The purpose of spiritual knowledge is to bring
us closer to God, or Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says in the
Bhagavad-gītā (18.55), bhaktyā māṁ abhijānāti: “I
can be known only by devotional service.”
Knowledge guides us in proper action. Spiritual
knowledge directs us to satisfy the desires of Kṛṣṇa
through practical engagements in His loving
service. Without practical application, theoretical
knowledge is of little value.
Spiritual knowledge is meant to direct us in all
aspects of life. We should endeavor, therefore, to
organize our lives in such a way as to follow
Kṛṣṇa’s teachings as far as possible. We should try
to do our best, to do more than is simply
convenient. Then it will be possible for us to rise to
the transcendental plane of Kṛṣṇa consciousness,
even while living far from a temple.
Chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa Mantra
The first principle in devotional service is to
chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra (mahā means
“great”; mantra means “sound that liberates the
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mind from ignorance”):

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare
You should chant these holy names of the Lord
as much as possible – anywhere and at any time –
but it is also very helpful to set a specific time of
the day to regularly chant. Early morning hours are
ideal.
The chanting can be done in two ways: singing
the mantra, called kīrtana (usually done in a group),
and saying the mantra to oneself, called japa
(which literally means “to speak softly”).
Concentrate on hearing the sound of the holy
names. As you chant, pronounce the names clearly
and distinctly, addressing Kṛṣṇa in a prayerful
mood. When your mind wanders, bring it back to
the sound of the Lord’s names. Chanting is a prayer
to Kṛṣṇa that means “O energy of the Lord [Hare],
O all-attractive Lord [Kṛṣṇa], O Supreme Enjoyer
[Rāma], please engage me in Your service.” The
more attentively and sincerely you chant these
names of God, the more spiritual progress you will
make. Since God is all-powerful and all-merciful, He
has kindly made it very easy for us to chant His
names, and He has also invested all His powers in
them. Therefore the names of God and God Himself
are identical. This means that when we chant the
holy names of Kṛṣṇa and Rāma we are directly
associating with God and being purified. Therefore
we should always try to chant with devotion and
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reverence. The Vedic literature states that Lord

Kṛṣṇa is personally dancing on your tongue when
you chant His holy name.
When you chant alone, it is best to chant on
japa beads (available at www.blservices.com or at
any ISKCON temple). This not only helps you fix
your attention on the holy name, but it also helps
you count the number of times you chant the
mantra daily. Each strand of japa beads contains
108 small beads and one large bead, the head
bead. Begin on a bead next to the head bead and
gently roll it between the thumb and middle finger
of your right hand as you chant the full Hare Kṛṣṇa
mantra. Then move to the next bead and repeat the
process. In this way, chant on each of the 108
beads until you reach the head bead again. This is
one round of japa. Then, without chanting on the
head bead, reverse the beads and start your second
round on the last bead you chanted on.
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Initiated devotees vow before the spiritual

master to chant at least sixteen rounds of the Hare
Kṛṣṇa mantra daily. But even if you can chant only
one round a day, the principle is that once you
commit yourself to chanting that round, you should
try to complete it every day without fail. When you
feel you can chant more, then increase the
minimum number of rounds you chant each day –
but don’t fall below that number. You can chant
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more than your fixed number, but you should

maintain a set minimum each day. (Please note
that the beads are sacred and therefore should
never touch the ground or be put in an unclean
place. To keep your beads clean, it’s best to carry
them in a special bead bag, such as the one that
comes as part of most mantra meditation kits.)
Aside from chanting japa, you can also sing the
Lord’s holy names in kīrtana. While you can
perform kīrtana individually, it is generally
performed with others. A melodious kīrtana with
family or friends is sure to enliven everyone.
ISKCON devotees use traditional melodies and
instruments, especially in the temple, but you can
chant to any melody and use any musical
instruments to accompany your chanting. As Lord
Caitanya said, “There are no hard and fast rules for
chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa.” One thing you might want to
do, however, is order some kīrtana and japa
audiotapes or CDs.
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Setting Up Your Altar

You will likely find that your japa and kīrtana
are especially effective when done before an altar.
Lord Kṛṣṇa and His pure devotees are so kind that
they allow us to worship them even through their
pictures. It is something like mailing a letter: You
cannot mail a letter by placing it in just any box;
you must use the mailbox authorized by the
government. Similarly, we cannot imagine a picture
of God and worship that, but we can worship the
authorized picture of God, and Kṛṣṇa accepts our
worship through that picture.
Setting up an altar at home means receiving the
Lord and His pure devotees as your most honored
guests. Where should you set up the altar? Well,
how would you seat a guest? An ideal place would
be clean, well lit, and free from drafts and
household disturbances. Your guest, of course,
would need a comfortable chair, but for the picture
of Kṛṣṇa’s form a wall shelf, a mantelpiece, a
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corner table, or the top shelf of a bookcase will do.

You wouldn’t seat a guest in your home and then
ignore him; you’d provide a place for yourself to sit,
too, where you could comfortably face him and
enjoy his company. So don’t make your altar
inaccessible.
What do you need for an altar? Here are the
essentials:
1. A picture of Śrīla Prabhupāda.
2. A picture of Lord Caitanya and His
associates.
3. A picture of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa.
In addition, you may want an altar cloth, water
cups (one for each picture), candles with holders, a
special plate for offering food, a small bell,
incense, an incense holder, and fresh flowers,
which you may offer in vases or simply place before
each picture. If you’re interested in more elaborate
Deity worship, ask any of the ISKCON devotees.
The first person we worship on the altar is the
spiritual master. The spiritual master is not God.
Only God is God. But because the spiritual master
is His dearmost servant, God has empowered him,
and therefore he deserves the same respect as that
given to God. He links the disciple with God and
teaches him the process of bhakti-yoga. He is
God’s ambassador to the material world. When a
president sends an ambassador to a foreign
country, the ambassador receives the same respect
as that accorded the president, and the
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ambassador’s words are as authoritative as the

president’s. Similarly, we should respect the
spiritual master as we would God, and revere his
words as we would His.
There are two main kinds of gurus: the
instructing guru and the initiating guru. Everyone
who takes up the process of bhakti-yoga as a result
of coming in contact with ISKCON owes an
immense debt of gratitude to Śrīla Prabhupāda.
Before Śrīla Prabhupāda left India in 1965 to spread
Kṛṣṇa consciousness abroad, almost no one outside
India knew anything about the practice of pure
devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa. Therefore,
everyone who has learned of the process through
his books, his Back to Godhead magazine,
recordings of his words, or contact with his
followers should offer respect to Śrīla Prabhupāda.
As the founder and spiritual guide of the
International Society for Krishna Consciousness, he
is the instructing guru of us all.
As you progress in bhakti-yoga, you may
eventually want to accept initiation. Before he left
this world in 1977, Śrīla Prabhupāda encouraged his
qualified disciples to carry on his work by initiating
disciples of their own in accordance with his
instructions. At present there are many spiritual
masters in ISKCON. To learn how you can get
spiritual guidance from them, ask a devotee at your
nearby temple, or write to one of the ISKCON
centers listed at the end of this book.
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The second picture on your altar should be one

of the pañca-tattva, Lord Caitanya and His four
leading associates. Lord Caitanya is the incarnation
of God for this age. He is Kṛṣṇa Himself, descended
in the form of His own devotee to teach us how to
surrender to Him, specifically by chanting His holy
names and performing other activities of bhakti-
yoga. Lord Caitanya is the most merciful
incarnation, for He makes it easy for anyone to
attain love of God through the chanting of the Hare
Kṛṣṇa mantra.
And of course your altar should have a picture
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī
Kṛṣṇa, with His eternal consort, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.
Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is Kṛṣṇa’s spiritual potency. She
is devotional service personified, and devotees
always take shelter of Her to learn how to serve
Kṛṣṇa.
You can arrange the pictures in a triangle, with
the picture of Śrīla Prabhupāda on the left, the
picture of Lord Caitanya and His associates on the
right, and the picture of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, which, if
possible, should be slightly larger than the others,
on a small raised platform behind and in the center.
Or you can hang the picture of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa on
the wall above.
Carefully clean the altar each morning.
Cleanliness is essential in Deity worship.
Remember, you wouldn’t neglect to clean the room
of an important guest, and when you establish an
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altar you invite Kṛṣṇa and His pure devotees to

reside as the most exalted guests in your home. If
you have water cups, rinse them out and fill them
with fresh water daily. Then place them
conveniently close to the pictures. You should
remove flowers in vases as soon as they’re slightly
wilted, or daily if you’ve offered them at the base
of the pictures. You should offer fresh incense at
least once a day, and, if possible, light candles and
place them near the pictures when you’re chanting
before the altar.
Please try the things we’ve suggested so far.
It’s very simple, really: If you try to love God, you’ll
gradually realize how much He loves you. That’s
the essence of bhakti-yoga.
Prasāda: How to Eat Spiritually
By His immense transcendental energies, Kṛṣṇa
can actually convert matter into spirit. If we place
an iron rod in a fire, before long the rod becomes
red-hot and acts just like fire. In the same way,
food prepared for and offered to Kṛṣṇa with love
and devotion becomes completely spiritualized.
Such food is called kṛṣṇa-prasāda, which means
“the mercy of Lord Kṛṣṇa.”
Eating prasāda is a fundamental practice of
bhakti-yoga. In other forms of yoga one must
artificially repress the senses, but the bhakti-yogī
can engage his or her senses in a variety of
pleasing spiritual activities, such as tasting
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delicious food offered to Lord Kṛṣṇa. In this way the

senses gradually become spiritualized and bring
the devotee more and more transcendental
pleasure by being engaged in devotional service.
Such spiritual pleasure far surpasses any material
experience.
Lord Caitanya said of prasāda, “Everyone has
tasted these foods before. However, now that they
have been prepared for Kṛṣṇa and offered to Him
with devotion, these foods have acquired
extraordinary tastes and uncommon fragrances.
Just taste them and see the difference in the
experience! Apart from the taste, even the
fragrance pleases the mind and makes one forget
any other fragrance. Therefore, it should be
understood that the spiritual nectar of Kṛṣṇa’s lips
must have touched these ordinary foods and
imparted to them all their transcendental
qualities.”
Eating only food offered to Kṛṣṇa is the
perfection of vegetarianism. In itself, being a
vegetarian is not enough; after all, even pigeons
and monkeys are vegetarians. But when we go
beyond vegetarianism to a diet of prasāda, our
eating becomes helpful in achieving the goal of
human life – reawakening the soul’s original
relationship with God. In the Bhagavad-gītā Lord
Kṛṣṇa says that unless one eats only food that has
been offered to him in sacrifice, one will suffer the
reactions of karma.
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How to Prepare and Offer Prasāda

As you walk down the supermarket aisles
selecting the foods you will offer to Kṛṣṇa, you
need to know what is offerable and what is not. In
the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Kṛṣṇa states, “If one offers
Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit,
or water, I will accept it.” From this verse it is
understood that we can offer Kṛṣṇa foods prepared
from milk products, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and
grains. (Hare Kṛṣṇa cookbooks are available at
www.blservices.com, www.krishna.com, or at any
ISKCON temple store.)
Meat, fish, and eggs are not offerable. And a
few vegetarian items are also forbidden – garlic
and onions, for example, which are in the mode of
darkness. (Hing, or asafetida, is a tasty substitute
for them in cooking and is available at most Indian
groceries and ISKCON temple stores.) Nor can you
offer to Krṣṇa coffee or teas that contain caffeine.
If you like these beverages, purchase caffeine-free
coffee and herbal teas.
While shopping, be aware that you may find
meat, fish, and egg products mixed with other
foods; so be sure to read labels carefully. For
instance, some brands of yogurt and sour cream
contain gelatin, a substance made from the horns,
hooves, and bones of slaughtered animals. Also,
make sure the cheese you buy contains no animal
rennet, an enzyme from the stomach tissues of
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slaughtered calves. Most hard cheese sold in

Western countries contains this rennet, so be
careful about any cheese you can’t verify as being
free from animal rennet.
Also avoid foods cooked by nondevotees.
According to the subtle laws of nature, the cook
acts upon the food not only physically but mentally
as well. Food thus becomes an agent for subtle
influences on your consciousness. The principle is
the same as that at work with a painting: a painting
is not simply a collection of strokes on a canvas but
an expression of the artist’s state of mind, which
affects the viewer. So if you eat food cooked by
nondevotees – employees working in a factory, for
example – then you’re sure to absorb a dose of
materialism and karma. So as far as possible use
only fresh, natural ingredients.
In preparing food, cleanliness is the most
important principle. Nothing impure should be
offered to God; so keep your kitchen very clean.
Always wash your hands thoroughly before entering
the kitchen. While preparing food, do not taste it,
for you are cooking the meal not for yourself but for
the pleasure of Kṛṣṇa. Arrange portions of the food
on dinnerware kept especially for this purpose; no
one but the Lord should eat from these dishes. The
easiest way to offer food is simply to pray, “My
dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, please accept this food,” and to
chant each of the following prayers three times
while ringing a bell (see the Sanskrit pronunciation
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guide on page 57):

1. Prayer to Śrīla Prabhupāda:
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
“I offer my respectful obeisances unto His
Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupāda, who is very dear to Lord Kṛṣṇa on this
earth, having taken shelter at His lotus feet. Our
respectful obeisances are unto you, O spiritual
master, servant of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī
Gosvāmī. You are kindly preaching the message of
Lord Caitanyadeva and delivering the Western
countries, which are filled with impersonalism and
voidism.”
2. Prayer to Lord Caitanya:
namo mahā-vadānyāya kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te
kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya-nāmne gaura-tviṣe namaḥ
“O most munificent incarnation! You are Kṛṣṇa
Himself appearing as Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya
Mahāprabhu. You have assumed the golden color
of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, and You are widely
distributing pure love of Kṛṣṇa. We offer our
respectful obeisances unto You.”
3. Prayer to Lord Kṛṣṇa:
namo brahmaṇya-devāya go-brāhmaṇa-hitāya ca
jagad-dhitāya kṛṣṇāya govindāya namo namaḥ
“I offer my respectful obeisances unto Lord
Kṛṣṇa, who is the worshipable Deity for all
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brāhmaṇas, the well-wisher of the cows and the

brāhmaṇas, and the benefactor of the whole world.
I offer my repeated obeisances to the Personality of
Godhead, known as Kṛṣṇa and Govinda.”
Remember that the real purpose of preparing
and offering food to the Lord is to show your
devotion and gratitude to Him. Kṛṣṇa accepts your
devotion, not the physical offering itself. God is
complete in Himself – He doesn’t need anything –
but out of His immense kindness He allows us to
offer food to Him so that we can develop our love
for Him.
After offering the food to the Lord, wait at least
five minutes for Him to partake of the preparations.
Then you should transfer the food from the special
dinnerware and wash the dishes and utensils you
used for the offering. Now you and any guests may
eat the prasāda. While you eat, try to appreciate
the spiritual value of the food. Remember that
because Kṛṣṇa has accepted it, it is nondifferent
from Him, and therefore by eating it you will
become purified.
Everything you offer on your altar becomes
prasāda, the mercy of the Lord. Flowers, incense,
the water, the food – everything you offer for the
Lord’s pleasure becomes spiritualized. The Lord
enters into the offerings, and thus the remnants are
nondifferent from Him. So you should not only
deeply respect the things you’ve offered, but you
should distribute them to others as well.
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Distribution of prasāda is an essential part of Deity

worship.
Everyday Life: The Four Regulative Principles
Anyone serious about progressing in Kṛṣṇa
consciousness must try to avoid the following four
sinful activities:
1. Eating meat, fish, or eggs. These foods are
saturated with the modes of passion and
ignorance and therefore cannot be offered to the
Lord. A person who eats these foods participates
in a conspiracy of violence against helpless
animals and thus stops his spiritual progress
dead in its tracks.
2. Gambling. Gambling invariably puts one
into anxiety and fuels greed, envy, and anger.
3. The use of intoxicants. Drugs, alcohol, and
tobacco, as well as any drinks or foods
containing caffeine, cloud the mind,
overstimulate the senses, and make it
impossible to understand or follow the principles
of bhakti-yoga.
4. Illicit sex. This is sex outside of marriage
or sex in marriage for any purpose other than
procreation. Sex for pleasure compels one to
identify with the body and takes one far from
Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The scriptures teach that
sex is the most powerful force binding us to the
material world. Anyone serious about advancing
in Kṛṣṇa consciousness should minimize sex or
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eliminate it entirely.
Engagement in Practical Devotional Service
Everyone must do some kind of work, but if you
work only for yourself you must accept the karmic
reactions of that work. As Lord Kṛṣṇa says in the
Bhagavad-gītā (3.9), “Work done as a sacrifice for
Viṣṇu [Kṛṣṇa] has to be performed. Otherwise work
binds one to the material world.”
You needn’t change your occupation, except if
you’re now engaged in a sinful job such as working
as a butcher or bartender. If you’re a writer, write
for Kṛṣṇa; if you’re an artist, create for Kṛṣṇa; if
you’re a secretary, type for Kṛṣṇa. You may also
directly help the temple in your spare time, and you
should sacrifice some of the fruits of your work by
contributing a portion of your earnings to help
maintain the temple and propagate Kṛṣṇa
consciousness. Some devotees living outside the
temple buy Hare Kṛṣṇa literature and distribute it to
their friends and associates, or they engage in a
variety of services at the temple. There is also a
wide network of devotees who gather in each
other’s homes for chanting, worship, and study.
Write to your local temple or the Society’s secretary
to learn of any such programs near you.
Additional Devotional Principles
There are many more devotional practices that
can help you become Kṛṣṇa conscious. Here are
two vital ones:
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Studying Hare Kṛṣṇa literature. Śrīla

Prabhupāda, the founder-ācārya of ISKCON,
dedicated much of his time to writing books such
as the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is and Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam. Hearing the words – or reading the
writings – of a realized spiritual master is an
essential spiritual practice. So try to set aside some
time every day to read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books.
You can see an online catalog of available books
and other media at www.blservices.com or
www.krishna.com.
Associating with devotees. Śrīla Prabhupāda
established the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement to give
people in general the chance to associate with
devotees of the Lord. This is the best way to gain
faith in the process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and
become enthusiastic in devotional service.
Conversely, maintaining intimate connections with
nondevotees slows one’s spiritual progress. So try
to visit the Hare Kṛṣṇa center nearest you as often
as possible.
In Closing
The beauty of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is that you
can take as much as you’re ready for. Kṛṣṇa Himself
promises in the Bhagavad-gītā (2.40), “There is no
loss or diminution in this endeavor, and even a
little advancement on this path protects one from
the most fearful type of danger.” So bring Kṛṣṇa
into your daily life, and we guarantee you’ll feel the
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benefit.
Hare Kṛṣṇa!
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Glossary
Guide to Sanskrit
Pronunciation
The system of transliteration used in this book

conforms to a system that scholars have accepted
to indicate the pronunciation of each sound in the
Sanskrit language.
The short vowel a is pronounced like the u in
but, long ā like the a in far. Short i is pronounced as
i in pin, long ī as in pique, short u as in pull, and
long ū as in rule. The vowel ṛ is pronounced like ri
in rim, e like the ey in they, o like the o in go, ai
like the ai in aisle, and au like the ow in how. The
anusvara (ṁ) is pronounced like the n in the French
word bon, and visarga (ḥ) is pronounced as a final
h sound. At the end of a couplet, aḥ is pronounced
aha, and iḥ is pronounced ihi.
The guttural consonants – k, kh, g, gh, and ṅ –
are pronounced from the throat in much the same
manner as in English. K is pronounced as in kite, kh
as in Eckhart, g as in give, gh as in dig-hard, and ṅ
as in sing.
The palatal consonants – c, ch, j, jh, and ñ –
are pronounced with the tongue touching the firm
ridge behind the teeth. C is pronounced as in chair,
ch as in staunch-heart, j as in joy, jh as in
hedgehog, and ñ as in canyon.
The cerebral consonants – ṭ, ṭh, ḍ, ḍh, and ṇ –
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Glossary
are pronounced with the tip of the tongue turned up

and drawn back against the dome of the palate. Ṭ
is pronounced as in tub, ṭh as in light-heart, ḍ as in
dove, ḍh as in red-hot, and ṇ as in nut.
The dental consonants – t, th, d, dh, and n –
are pronounced in the same manner as the
cerebrals, but with the forepart of the tongue
against the teeth.
The labial consonants – p, ph, b, bh, and m –
are pronounced with the lips. P is pronounced as in
pine, ph as in uphill, b as in bird, bh as in rub-
hard, and m as in mother.
The semivowels – y, r, l, and v – are
pronounced as in yes, run, light, and vine
respectively. The sibilants – ś, ṣ, and s – are
pronounced, respectively, as in the German word
sprechen and the English words shine and sun. The
letter h is pronounced as in home.
94
Glossary
Contents
Introduction 9
What is “The Nectar of Devotion”? 12
What is Bhakti? 16
Benefits of Bhakti 20
Boundless Love 23
Definition of Pure Devotional Service 26
Acting for Kṛṣṇa: the Essence of Bhakti 27
Definition of a Pure Devotee 31
Six Features of Pure Bhakti 34
The Author 64
Glossary 93
Kṛṣṇa Consciousness at Home 93
Sanskrit Pronunciation Guide 93
95

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What books did Srila Prabhupada write?

What books did Srila Prabhupada write?

What are some of the benefits of bhakti according to the text?

What are some of the benefits of bhakti according to the text?

This is a complimentary e-book offered as a

service by the BBT for ISKCON devotees.

Know other devotees who would like a copy?

What is “The Nectar of Devotion”?

Love is one of the words we use most and

art of eternal love.

physical form is interred there. A small memorial to

The Nectar of Devotion is a summary study of

accepted Haridāsa Ṭhākura as His disciple,

general. Fifty percent of his accumulated wealth

languages such as Persian and Arabic. They very

Bhakti means “devotional service.” Every

position and resumes his actual business activities.

the transcendental loving service of the Lord, does

have at least a human body in our next life. A

This eternal engagement in bhakti-rasa can be

under the guidance of the ācārya, or spiritual

loving all human society; that loving propensity

Our loving propensity expands just as a

to water the tree part by part, nor is it possible to

body fit by all means, but we are neglecting to

The authorized descriptions of bhakti, or

Acting for Kṛṣṇa:

This devotional service is a sort of cultivation. It

the gross bodily senses. Thus, in our mental

consciousness is never performed.

spiritual master one becomes advanced in Kṛṣṇa

Definition of a Pure Devotee

The definition of a pure devotee, as given by

if one becomes attracted simply to ritualistic

interests of Kṛṣṇa. This is purity of purpose and the

Six Features of Pure Bhakti

Next Rūpa Gosvāmī gives six unique features of

committed in our past lives. Generally, one

to sinful deeds can immediately be stopped if we

sacrifices.” As such, how is it possible that anyone

Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare

where it originated, and how it is maturing. The

is not trained in Kṛṣṇa consciousness cannot

and when such enlightenment is there, it is just like

Truth. Therefore, when He promises in the

material world, whether we enjoy or suffer, the

pure devotional service is the beginning of all

The Cycl e of Sufferi ng

oneself with the impersonal Brahman.

is development of the power to become so light

hypnotism that is almost irresistible. Sometimes it

out of their material situation. Due to ignorance,

attempts of a laborer to get some relief when

is simply a useless dream. Real happiness is to

There was a great devotee of Lord Caitanya

similarly the joys of religiousness, economic

to Satī, “My dear Satī, if one is a very fine

devotee. Therefore Rūpa Gosvāmī says, ādau

Becoming One with the Supreme