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Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 7, Ch. 5]
vyavasāyātmikā buddhiḥ samādhau na vidhīyate
“In the minds of those who are too attached to sense enjoyment and material opulence, and who are bewildered by such things, the resolute determination for devotional service to the Supreme Lord does not take place.” Those who are attached to material enjoyment cannot be fixed in devotional service to the Lord. They cannot understand Bhagavān, Kṛṣṇa, or His instruction,  Bhagavad-gītā .  Adānta-gobhir viśatāṁ tamisram : their path actually leads toward hellish life.
As confirmed by Rṣabhadeva,  mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ : one must try to understand Kṛṣṇa by serving a devotee. The word  mahat  refers to a devotee.
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.” (Bg. 9.13) A  mahātmā  is one who is constantly engaged in devotional service, twenty-four hours a day. As explained in the following verses, unless one adheres to such a great personality, one cannot understand Kṛṣṇa. Hiraṇyakaśipu wanted to know where Prahlāda had gotten this Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Who had taught him? Prahlāda sarcastically replied, “My dear father, persons like you never understand Kṛṣṇa. One can understand Kṛṣṇa only by serving a  mahat , a great soul. Those who try to adjust material conditions are said to be chewing the chewed. No one has been able to adjust material conditions, but life after life, generation after generation, people try and repeatedly fail. Unless one is properly trained by a  mahat —a  mahātmā , or unalloyed devotee of the Lord—there is no possibility of one’s understanding Kṛṣṇa and His devotional service.”