1016
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 4, Ch. 23]
rendered directly to the Lord. It is also stated by the Lord Himself that devotional service to His devotees is better than service offered directly to Him. Sometimes the  sahajiyā  class of devotees are only interested in Kṛṣṇa's personal pastimes to the exclusion of the activities of the devotees. This type of devotee is not on a very high level; one who sees the devotee and the Lord on the same level has further progressed.
TEXT 32
ब्राह्मणो ब्रह्मवर्चस्वी राजन्यो जगतीपतिः ।
वैश्यः पठन् विट्पतिः स्याच्छद्रः सत्तमतामियात्।३२।
brāhmaṇo brahma-varcasvī
rājanyo jagatī-patiḥ
vaiśyaḥ paṭhan viṭ-patiḥ syāc
chūdraḥ sattamatām iyāt
brāhmaṇaḥ —the brāhmaṇas;  brahma-varcasvī —one who has attained the power of spiritual success;  rājanyaḥ —the royal order;  jagatī-patiḥ —the king of the world;  vaiśyaḥ —the mercantile class of men;  paṭhan —by reading;  viṭ-patiḥ —becomes master of the animals;  syāt —becomes;  śūdraḥ —the laborer class of men;  sattamatām —the position of a great devotee;  iyāt —attains.
TRANSLATION
If one hears of the characteristics of Pṛthu Mahārāja and is a brāhmaṇa, he becomes perfectly qualified with brahminical powers; if he is a kṣatriya, he becomes a king of the world; if he is a vaiśya, he becomes a master of other vaiśyas and many animals; and if he is a śūdra, he becomes the top-most devotee.
PURPORT
In  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  it is recommended that one should become a devotee regardless of one's condition. Whether one is without desire ( akāma ), or with desire ( sakāma ), or whether one desires liberation ( mokṣa-kāma ), he is advised to worship the Supreme Lord and execute devotional service unto Him. By so doing, one attains all perfection in any field of life. The process of devotional service—especially hearing and chanting—is so powerful that it can bring a person to the perfectional stage. In this verse  brāhmaṇas ,  kṣatriyas ,  vaiśyas  and  śūdras  are mentioned, but here it should be understood that that reference is to the  brāhmaṇa