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The History of the Life of Ajāmila
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unto the lotus feet of Krṣṇa, he can be completely purified. One cannot be purified merely by undergoing austerity, penance, brahmacarya and the other methods of atonement I have previously described.
PURPORT
Tat-puruṣa  refers to a preacher of Krṣṇa consciousness, such as the spiritual master. Śrila Narottama dāsa Thākura has said,  chāḍiyā vaiṣṇava-sevā nistāra pāyeche kebā : “Without serving a bona fide spiritual master, an ideal Vaiṣṇava, who can be delivered from the clutches of  māyā ?” This idea is also expressed in many other places. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (5.5.2) says,  mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ : if one desires liberation from the clutches of  māyā , one must associate with a pure devotee  mahātmā . A  mahātmā  is one who engages twenty-four hours daily in the loving service of the Lord. As Krṣṇa says in  Bhagavad-gītā  (9.13):
mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ bhajanty ananya-manaso jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam
“O son of Pṛthā, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.” Thus the symptom of a  mahātmā  is that he has no engagement other than service to Krṣṇa. One must render service to a Vaiṣṇava in order to get freed from sinful reactions, revive one’s original Krṣṇa consciousness and be trained in how to love Krṣṇa. This is the result of  mahātmā-sevā . Of course, if one engages in the service of a pure devotee, the reactions of one’s sinful life are vanquished automatically. Devotional service is necessary not to drive away an insignificant stock of sins, but to awaken our dormant love for Krṣṇa. As fog is vanquished at the first glimpse of sunlight, one’s sinful reactions are automatically vanquished as soon as one begins serving a pure devotee; no separate endeavor is required.