5 / Purity of Devotional Service
All of the previous instructions imparted by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in his broad statements can be summarized thusly: as long as one is materially inclined or desirous to merge into the spiritual effulgence, one cannot enter into the realm of pure devotional service. Next, Rūpa Gosvāmī states that devotional service is transcendental to all material considerations and that it is not limited to any particular country, class, society or circumstance. As is stated in the  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam , devotional service is transcendental and has no cause. Devotional service is executed without any hope for gain, and it cannot be checked by any material circumstances. It is open for all, without any distinction, and it is the constitutional occupation of the living entities.
In the Middle Ages, after the disappearance of Lord Caitanya's great associate Lord Nityānanda, a class of priestly persons claimed to be the descendants of Nityānanda, calling themselves the  gosvāmī  caste. They further claimed that the practice and spreading of devotional service belonged only to their particular class, which was known as  Nityānanda-vaṁśa . In this way, they exercised their artificial power for some time, until Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Thākur, the powerful  ācārya  of the  Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava sampradāya , completely smashed their idea. There was a great hard struggle for some time, but it has turned out successfully, and it is now correctly and practically established that devotional service is not restricted to a particular class of men. Besides that, anyone who is engaged in devotional service is already on the status of being a high-class  brāhmaṇa . So Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Thākur's struggle for this movement has come out successful.
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