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resume from where it left off. Devotional service is  ahaituky apratihatā ; it is not the effect of any mundane cause, nor can it be terminated by any mundane cause or permanently curtailed by any material interruption. Therefore a devotee should be confident about his engagement and should not be very interested in the activities of the  karmīs ,  jñānīs  and  yogīs .
There are certainly many good qualities among fruitive actors, philosophical speculators and mystic  yogīs , but all good qualities automatically develop in the character of a devotee. No extraneous endeavor is needed. As confirmed by  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  (5.18.12), all the good qualities of the demigods manifest progressively in one who has developed pure devotional service. Because a devotee is not interested in any material activity, he does not become materially contaminated. He is immediately situated on the platform of transcendental life. However, one who engages in mundane activity—be he a so-called  jñānī ,  yogī ,  karmī , philanthropist, nationalist, or whatever—cannot attain the higher stage of  mahātmā . He remains a  durātmā , or cripple-minded person. According to  Bhagavad-gītā  (9.13):
mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ bhajanty ananya-manaso jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam
“O son of Pṛthā, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully