Service to the Lord
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up to the platform of love of Godhead, and thus he is freed from the clutches of the material energy. This is explained in the  Srimad Bhagwatam , Eleventh Canto, Twentieth Chapter, where the Lord says: "For one who becomes attracted by the topics of My Activities out of his own accord—being neither lured nor repelled by material activities—the path of devotional service, leading to the perfection of love of God, becomes possible."
It is not possible, however, to achieve such a stage of perfection without being favored by a pure devotee, or a  Mahatma , a great soul. Without the mercy of a great soul no one can even be liberated from the material clutches, what to speak of rising to the platform of love of Godhead? This is confirmed in the  Srimad Bhagwatam , Fifth Canto, Eleventh Chapter, spoken in connection with the meeting of the King Rohugana of the Sind province in Siberia with King Bharata. The King expressed surprise at seeing Bharata's great stage of spiritual perfection in life.
Bharata replied: "My dear Rohugana, no one can attain the perfected stage of devotional service without being favored by a great soul, or pure devotee. No one can attain such perfectional stages simply by following the regulative principles of Scriptures, nor by acceptance of the renounced order of life, nor by prosecuting the prescribed duties of householder life, nor by becoming a great student of spiritual science, nor by accepting severe austerity and penances performed for realization."
Similarly, in the same  Bhagwatam , Seventh Canto, Fifth Chapter, in connection with the conversation of Prahlad Maharaj with his father, Hiranyakasipu, the following statement appears: "When the atheist father Hiranyakasipu inquired from his son where he got such an attitude of devotional service, the boy replied: 'So long as one is not favored by the dust of the feet of pure devotees, then he cannot even touch the path of devotional service, which is the solution of all the varieties of problems of material life.'"
Lord Chaitanya said to Sanatan Goswami that all the Scriptures stress association with pure devotees of Godhead. The opportunity to associate with a pure devotee of the Supreme Lord is the beginning of one's complete perfection. This statement is also confirmed in the  Srimad Bhagwatam , First Canto, Eighteenth Chapter. It is said there that the facility and benediction achieved by the association of a pure devotee cannot be compared with anything: neither elevation to the heavenly kingdom, nor liberation from this material energy.
Lord Krishna, also, while giving instruction to Arjuna, in the  Srimad Bhagavad Gita , confirmed this as the most confidential instruction, in the