Mantra Thirteen
71
about the pseudo-spiritual master. In modern times, the number of such pretenders has increased in considerable numbers, and it has become a problem for the pure devotees of the Lord to save the mass of people from the unholy propaganda of these pretenders and imitation incarnations of God.
The  Upaniṣads  indirectly draw our attention to the Primeval Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and the  Bhagavad-gītā , which is the summary of all  Upaniṣads , directly points out Śrī Kṛṣṇa. One should, therefore, hear about Kṛṣṇa as He is in the  Gītā  or in the  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam , and that will gradually help him in cleansing his mind of all contaminated things. The  Bhāgavatam  says: “By hearing the activities of the Lord, one draws the attention of the Lord towards the devotee. And the Lord, being situated in the heart of every living being, helps the devotee by giving him proper direction.” The  Bhagavad-gītā  also confirms this.
This inner direction by the Lord cleanses the heart of the devotee of all dirty things which are produced by the material modes of passion and ignorance. The non-devotees are under the direction of passion and ignorance. By passion one cannot become detached from material affinity, and by ignorance one cannot know what he actually is, and what the Lord is. Thus, in the state of passion, there is no chance for self realization however much one may play the false part of a religionist. For a devotee, by the grace of the Lord, the modes of passion and ignorance are removed, and he at once becomes situated in the quality of goodness, the sign of a perfect  Brāhmaṇa . This stage of brāhminical qualification can be earned by anyone and everyone, provided he follows the path of devotional service under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master. The  Bhāgavatam  says that any lowborn living entity can be made purified under the guidance of a pure devotee of the Lord, because the Lord is so extraordinarily powerful.
The first sign of brāhminical qualification is that the candidate becomes happy, and becomes enthusiastic in the matter of devotional service to the Lord. This unveils before him, auto-