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The Glories of Devotional Service
1047
When one is trained to become conscious of his position, he understands that he is the servitor of the Lord. Brahman refers to a state of self-realization. Even the third-class devotee, who is not advanced in knowledge of the Absolute Truth but simply offers obeisances with great devotion, thinks of the Lord, sees the Lord in the temple and brings forth flowers and fruits to offer to the Deity, becomes imperceptibly liberated.  Śraddhayānvitāḥ : with great devotion the devotees offer worshipful respects and paraphernalia to the Deity. The Deities of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, Lakṣmī and Nārāyaṇa, and Rāma and Sītā are very attractive to devotees, so much so that when they see the statue decorated in the temple of the Lord they become fully absorbed in thought of the Lord. That is the state of liberation. In other words, it is confirmed herewith that even a third-class devotee is in the transcendental position, above those who are trying for liberation by speculation or by other methods. Even great impersonalists like Śukadeva Gosvāmī and the four Kumāras were attracted by the beauty of the Deities in the temple, by the decorations and by the aroma of  tulasī  offered to the Lord, and they became devotees. Even though they were in the liberated state, instead of remaining impersonalists they were attracted by the beauty of the Lord and became devotees.
Here the word  vilāsa  is very important.  Vilāsa  means the activities or pastimes of the Lord. It is a prescribed duty in temple worship that not only should one visit the temple to see the Deity nicely decorated, but at the same time he should hear the recitation of  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam ,  Bhagavad-gītā  or some similar literature, which is regularly recited in the temple. It is the system in Vṛndāvana that in every temple there is recitation of the  śāstras . Even third-class devotees who have no literary knowledge or no time to read  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  or  Bhagavad-gītā  get the opportunity to hear about the pastimes of the Lord. In this way their minds may remain always absorbed in the thought of the Lord—His form, His activities and His transcendental nature. This state of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is a liberated stage. Lord Caitanya, therefore, recommended five important processes in the discharge of devotional service: (1) to chant the holy name of the Lord, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, (2) to associate with devotees and serve them as far as possible, (3) to hear  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam , (4) to see the decorated temple and the Deity, and, if possible, (5) to live in a place like Vṛndāvana or Mathurā. These five items alone can help a devotee to achieve the highest perfectional stage. This is confirmed in  Bhagavad-gītā  and here in the  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam . That third-