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The Nectar of Devotion
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī warns, however, that if a person is properly initiated by a bona fide spiritual master, he should not think that simply by the acceptance of such initiation his business is then finished. One still has to follow the rules and regulations very carefully. If after accepting the spiritual master, and being initiated one does not follow the rules and regulations of devotional service, then he is again fallen. One must be very vigilant to remember that he is the part and parcel of the transcendental body of Kṛṣṇa, and it is his duty as part and parcel to give service to the whole, or Kṛṣṇa. If we do not render service to Kṛṣṇa then again we fall down. In other words, simply becoming initiated does not elevate one to the position of a high-class  brāhmaṇa . One also has to discharge the duties and follow the regulative principles very rigidly.
Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī also says that if anyone is regularly discharging devotional service there will be no question of a falldown. But even if circumstantially there is some falldown, the  Vaiṣṇava  need have nothing to do with the  prāyaścitta , the ritualistic ceremony for purification. If someone falls down from the principles of devotional service, he need not take to the  prāyaścitta  performances for reformation. He has simply to execute the rules and regulations for discharging devotional service, and that is sufficient for his reinstatement. This is the mystery of the  Vaiṣṇava  (devotional) cult.
Practically there are three processes for elevating one to the platform of spiritual consciousness. These processes are called  karma ,  jñāna  and  bhakti . Ritualistic performances are in the field of  karma . Speculative processes are in the field of  jñāna . One who has taken to  bhakti , the devotional service of the Lord, need have nothing to do with  karma  or  jñāna . It has been already explained that pure devotional service is without any tinge of  karma  or  jñāna .  Bhakti  should have no tinge of philosophical speculation or ritualistic performances.
In this connection Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī gives evidence from  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam , Eleventh Canto, in which it is said by Lord Kṛṣṇa to Uddhava, “The distinction between qualification and disqualification may be made in this way: persons who are already elevated in discharging devotional service will never again take shelter of the processes of fruitive activities or philosophical speculation. If one