28 The Nectar of Instruction

“Uttama bhakti, or unalloyed devotion unto the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, involves the rendering of
devotional service in a way that is favorable to the Lord.
This devotional service should be free from any extraneous
motive and devoid of fruitive karma, impersonal jridna and
all other selfish desires.”

Bhakti is a sort of cultivation. As soon as we say
“cultivation,” we must refer to activity. Cultivation of
spirituality does not mean sitting down idly for meditation,
as some pseudo-yogis teach. Such idle meditation may be
good for those who have no information of devotional ser-
vice, and for this reason it is sometimes recommended as a
way to check distracting materialistic activities. Meditation
means stopping all nonsensical activities, at least for the time
being. Devotional service, however, not only puts an end to
all nonsensical mundane activities, but also engages one in
meaningful devotional activities. Sri Prahlada Maharaja
recommends:

Sravanam kirtanam visnoh
smaranam pada-sevanam
arcanam vandanam dasyam
sakhyam atma-nivedanam
The nine processes of devotional service are as follows:
1. hearing the name and glories of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead
2. chanting His glories
3. remembering the Lord
