268 Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead

A devotee is never afraid of death or of changing his body; his con-
sciousness is transformed into Krsna consciousness, and even if he does
not go back to Godhead, even if he transmigrates to another material body,
he has nothing to fear. A vivid example is Bharata Maharaja. Although in
his next life he became a deer, in the life after that he became completely
free from all material contamination and was elevated to the kingdom of
God. The Bhagavad-gita affirms, therefore, that a devotee is never van-
quished. A devotee’s path to the spiritual kingdom, back home, back to
Godhead, is guaranteed. Even though a devotee slips in one birth, the con-
tinuation of his Krsna consciousness elevates him further and further until
he goes back to Godhead. Not only does a pure devotee purify his own
personal existence, but whoever becomes his disciple also ultimately be-
comes purified and able to enter the kingdom of God without difficulty.
Not only can a pure devotee easily surpass death, but by his grace his
followers also can do so without difficulty. The power of devotional
service is so great that a pure devotee can electrify another person by his
transcendental instruction on crossing over the ocean of nescience.

The instructions of a pure devotee to his disciple are also very simple.
No one feels any difficulty in following in the footsteps of a pure devotee.
Anyone who follows in disciplic succession from recognized devotees of
the Lord, such as Lord Brahma, Lord Siva, the Kumaras, Manu, Kapila,
King Prahlada, King Janaka, Sukadeva Gosvami, Yamaraja, etc., very
easily finds the door of liberation open. On the other hand, those who are
not devotees but are engaged in uncertain processes of self-realization, such
as jiidna, yoga and karma, are understood to be still contaminated. Such
contaminated persons, although apparently advanced in self-realization,
cannot even liberate themselves, not to speak of others who follow them.
Such nondevotees are compared to chained animals, for they are not able
to go beyond the jurisdiction of the formalities of a certain type of faith.
In the Bhagavad-gita they are condemned as veda-vadah. They cannot
understand that the Vedas deal with activities of the material modes of
nature—goodness, passion and ignorance.

Lord Krsna advised Arjuna that one has to go beyond the jurisdiction
of the duties prescribed in the Vedas and take to Krsna consciousness,
devotional service. It is said in the Bhagavad-gita, nistraigunyo bhavarjuna,
“My dear Arjuna, just try to become transcendental to the Vedic rituals.”
This transcendental position beyond the Vedic ritualistic performances is
devotional service. In the Bhagavad-gita the Lord clearly says that persons
who are engaged in His devotional service without adulteration are situated
in Brahman. Actual Brahman realization means Krsna consciousness and
