1026
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 3, Ch. 25]
accepted a material body. Not only does the human being have a material body, but other living entities, such as cats and dogs, also have material bodies. The devotee of the Lord is merciful to everyone—the cats, dogs, trees, etc. He treats all living entities in such a way that they can ultimately get salvation from this material entanglement. Śivānanda Sena, one of the disciples of Lord Caitanya, gave liberation to a dog by treating the dog transcendentally. There are many instances where a dog got salvation by association with a  sādhu  because a  sādhu  engages in the highest philanthropic activities for the benediction of all living entities. Yet although a  sādhu  is not inimical towards anyone, the world is so ungrateful that even a  sādhu  has many enemies.
What is the difference between an enemy and a friend? It is a difference in behavior. A  sādhu  behaves with all conditioned souls for their ultimate relief from the material entanglement. Therefore, no one can be more friendly than a  sādhu  in relieving a conditioned soul. A  sādhu  is calm, and he quietly and peacefully follows the principles of scripture. A  sādhu  means one who follows the principles of scripture and at the same time is a devotee of the Lord. One who actually follows the principles of scripture must be a devotee of God because all the  śāstras  instruct us to obey the orders of the Personality of Godhead.  Śādhu , therefore, means a follower of the scriptural injunctions and a devotee of the Lord. All these characteristics are prominent in a devotee. A devotee develops all the good qualities of the demigods, whereas a nondevotee, even though academically qualified, has no actual good qualifications or good characteristics in the standard of transcendental realization.
TEXT 22
मय्यनन्येन भावेन भक्तिं कुर्वन्ति ये दृढाम् ।
मत्कृते त्यक्तकर्माणस्त्यक्तस्वजनबान्धवाः ॥२२॥
mayy ananyena bhāvena bhaktiṁ kurvanti ye drḍhām mat-kṛte tyakta-karmāṇas tyakta-svajana-bāndhavāḥ
mayi—unto Me; ananyena bhāvena—with undeviated mind; bhaktim—devotional service; kurvanti—perform; ye—those who; drḍhām—staunch; mat-kṛte—for My sake; tyakta—renounced; karmāṇah—activities; tyakta