100
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 1, Ch. 2]
TRANSLATION
That Absolute Truth is realized by the seriously inquisitive student or sage who is well equipped with knowledge and who has become detached by rendering devotional service and hearing the Vedānta-śruti.
PURPORT
The Absolute Truth is realized in full by the process of devotional service to the Lord Vāsudeva or the Personality of Godhead who is the full-fledged Absolute Truth. Brahman is His transcendental bodily effulgence, and Paramātmā is His partial representation. As such, Brahman or Paramātmā realization of the Absolute Truth is but a partial realization. There are four different types of living beings, the  karmīs , the  jñānīs , the  yogīs  and the devotees. The  karmīs  are materialistic, whereas the other three are transcendental. The first-class transcendentalists are the devotees who have realized the Supreme Person. The second-class transcendentalists are those who have partially realized the plenary portion of the absolute person. And the third-class transcendentalists are those who have barely realized the spiritual focus of the absolute person. As stated in the  Bhagavad-gītā  and other Vedic literatures, the Supreme Person is realized by devotional service, which is backed by full knowledge and detachment from the material association. We have already discussed the point that devotional service is followed by knowledge and detachment from material association. As Brahman and Paramātmā realization are imperfect realizations of the Absolute Truth, so the means of realizing Brahman and Paramātmā, i.e., the paths of  jñāna  and  yoga , are also imperfect means of realizing the Absolute Truth. Devotional service, which is based on the foreground of full knowledge combined with detachment from material association fixed up on the aural reception of the  Vedānta-śruti , is the only perfect method of realizing the Absolute Truth by the seriously inquisitive student. Devotional service is not, therefore, meant for the less intelligent class of transcendentalist. There are three classes of devotees, namely first, second, and third class. The third-class devotees, or the neophytes, who have no knowledge nor are detached from the material association, but who are simply attracted by the preliminary processes of worshiping the Deity in the temple, are called material devotees. Material devotees are more attached to material benefit than transcendental profit. Therefore, one has to make definite progress from the position of material devotional service to the second-class devotional position. In the second-