Text 17] Pure Devotional Service: The Change in Heart
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channel of devotional service, the door of perfection is immediately opened. In the  Bhagavad-gītā  the Lord has explained such contact in the following words: “Endeavors in devotional service are never baffled. Nor is there failure. A slight beginning of such activities is sufficient even to deliver a person from the great ocean of material fears.” (Bg. 2.40) As a highly potent drug injected intravenously acts at once on the whole body, similarly the transcendental topics of the Lord injected through the ear of the pure devotee of the Lord can act very efficiently. Aural realization of the transcendental messages implies total realization, just as fructification of one part of a tree implies fructification of all other parts. This realization for a moment in the association of pure devotees like Śukadeva Gosvāmī prepares one’s complete life for eternity. And as such, the sun fails to rob the pure devotee of his duration of life inasmuch as he is constantly busy in the devotional service of the Lord, purifying his existence. Death is a symptom of the material infection of the eternal living being, and due to material infection only the eternal living entity is subjected to the law of birth, death, old age and disease.
The materialistic way of pious activities, like charity, etc., is recommended in the  smṛti śāstras  as quoted by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Thākur. Money given in charity to a suitable person is guaranteed bank balance in the next life. Such charity is recommended to be given to a  brāhmaṇa . If the money is given in charity to a non- brāhmaṇa  (without brahmanical qualification) the money is returned in the next life in the same proportion. If it is given in charity to a half-educated  brāhmaṇa , even then the money is returned double. If the money is given in charity to a learned and fully qualified  brāhmaṇa , the money is returned a hundred and thousand times, and if the money is given to a  veda-pāraga  (one who has factually realized the path of the  Vedas ), it is returned by unlimited multiplication. The ultimate end of Vedic knowledge is to realize the Personality of Godhead Lord Kṛṣṇa, as it is stated in the  Bhagavad-gītā  ( vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ ). There is a guarantee of money being returned if given in charity, regardless of the proportion. Similarly, a moment passed in the association of a pure devotee by hearing and chanting the transcendental messages of the Lord is a perfect guarantee for eternal life, for returning home, back to Godhead.  Mad-dhāma gatvā punar janma na vidyate . In other words, a devotee of the Lord is guaranteed eternal life. A devotee’s old age or disease in the present life is but an impetus to such guaranteed eternal life.