292 The Nectar of Devotion
always aspiring to be fixed in meditation upon the lotus feet of
Visnu.

In the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is said that the foolish do not know
that Visnu is the ultimate goal of life. According to the conclusion of
all authoritative Vedic scriptures, when a person comes to the stage
of appreciating Visnu, he is at the beginning of devotional service.
If one cultivates devotional service further and further, under proper
guidance, other features of devotional service will gradually become
manifest. At this stage of santa-rasa, one can see Lord Visnu, the Su-
preme Personality of Godhead, the deliverer of even the demons. The
Lord is appreciated by such would-be devotees as the eternal tran-
scendental form, chief of all self-realized souls, the supersoul, the
supreme Brahman, completely pacified, completely controlled and
pure, merciful to the devotees and untouched by any material con-
dition. This appreciation of Lord Visnu in awe and veneration by the
saintly is to be understood as the sign that they are situated in the
Santa-rasa, or neutral stage of devotional service.

This stage of sdnta-rasa can be attained by the impersonalists only
when they are in association with pure devotees. Otherwise it is not
possible. After Brahman realization, when a liberated soul comes in
contact with a pure devotee of Lord Krsna and submissively accepts
the teachings of Lord Krsna without misinterpretation, he becomes
situated in this neutral stage of devotional service. The best example
of saintly persons situated in the santa-rasa are Sanaka, Sanatana,
Sananda, and Sanat-kumara, the Kumara brothers. These four saintly
persons (known as Catuhsana) were sons of Lord Brahma. After their
birth, when they were ordered by their father to become house-
holders and increase human society, they refused the order. They said
that they had already decided not to become entangled with family
life; they would rather live as saintly brahmacaris for their own perfec-
tion. So these great saints have been living for millions of years now,
but still they appear to be just like boys of four or five years. Their
complexions are very fair, there is an effulgence in their bodies, and
they always travel naked. These four saintly persons almost always
remain together.

In one of the prayers of the Kumara brothers, the declaration is
made: “My Lord Mukunda [Krsna, the giver of liberation], only so
