96
Śrī Iśopaniṣad
are given a chance for rectification by taking birth either in the families of good  Brāhmaṇas  or in the families of rich merchants. These are the higher chances for self realization: to become a rich man's son, or to become the son of a good  Brāhmaṇa . And if these chances are misused by the illusioned human being, the result is that such a man loses the good chance of human life offered by the Almighty Lord.
The regulative principles are such that one who follows them is promoted from the plane of fruitive activities to the plane of transcendental knowledge, and from transcendental knowledge he becomes perfect, after many, many births, when he surrenders unto the Lord. This is the general procedure. But one who surrenders at the very beginning, as is mentioned in this  mantra , at once surpasses all the stages of progression by simple adoption of the devotional attitude. As is stated in the  Gītā , the Lord at once takes charge of such a surrendered soul and makes him free from all the reactions to his sinful acts. In the  karma-kāṇḍa  activities there are many sinful actions, and in  jñāna-kāṇḍa , the path of philosophical development, the number of such actions is less. But in devotional service to the Lord, the path of  bhakti , there is practically no chance of sinful reactions. One who is a devotee of the Lord attains all the good qualifications of the Lord Himself, not to mention becoming a  Brāhmaṇa . A devotee automatically attains the qualifications of an expert  Brāhmaṇa  authorized to perform sacrifices, even though such a devotee may not have taken his birth in the family of a  Brāhmaṇa . Such is the omnipotence of the Lord that He can make a man born in the family of a  Brāhmaṇa  as degraded as a lowborn dog-eater, and He can also make a lowborn dog-eater more than a qualified  Brāhmaṇa , simply on the strength of devotional service.
The omnipotent Lord, being situated within the heart of everyone, can give directions to His sincere devotee as to the right path. Such directions are especially offered to the devotee, even if he desires something else. For others God gives sanction to the doer only at the risk of the doer, but in the case of a