Mantra Eighteen
97
devotee the Lord directs him in such a way that he never acts wrongly. In the  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  it is said that the Lord is so kind upon His devotee that even though he sometimes falls into the entanglement of  vikarma —acts against the directions of the  Vedas —the Lord at once rectifies the mistakes of the devotee from within his heart, because such devotees are very dear to the Lord.
Here in this  mantra  the devotee prays to the Lord to rectify him from within his heart. To err is human: A conditioned soul is very often apt to commit mistakes, and the only remedial measure for such unknown sins is to give oneself up to the Lotus Feet of the Lord, so that He may guide the devotee. The Lord takes this charge for the fully surrendered souls, and thus all problems are solved simply by surrendering oneself unto the Lord and acting in terms of the Lord's directions. Such directions are given to the sincere devotee in two ways. One is by means of the saints, scriptures, and spiritual master; and the other is by the Lord Himself, residing within the heart of everyone. Thus the devotee is protected in all respects.
The Vedic knowledge is transcendental and it cannot be understood simply by mundane educational procedures. One can understand the Vedic  mantras  only by the grace of the Lord and the spiritual master. If one takes shelter of a bona fide spiritual master, it is to be understood that he has obtained the grace of the Lord. The Lord appears as the spiritual master for the devotee. And so the spiritual master, the Vedic injunctions, and the Lord Himself from within all guide the devotee in full strength, and there is no chance of such a devotee falling again into the mire of material illusion. The devotee, thus protected all around, is sure to reach the ultimate destination of perfection. The whole process is hinted at in this  mantra  of  Śrī Iśopaniṣad , and the  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  still further explains this.
Hearing and chanting of the glories of the Lord are themselves acts of piety. The Lord wants everyone to do this, because He is the Well-wisher of all living entities. And by practicing this