56 The Nectar of Instruction

Sraddhavan, a staunchly faithful person, and he is actually a
candidate for further advancement in devotional service.
Therefore in the Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya 22.64) it is
said:

Sraddhavan jana haya bhakti-adhikari
‘uttama’, ‘madhyama’, ‘kanistha’——Sraddhd-anusari

“One becomes qualified as a devotee on the elementary
platform, the intermediate platform and the highest plat-
form of devotional service according to the development of
his Sraddha [faith].” Again in Caitanya-caritamrta
(Madhya 22.62) it is said:

‘sraddha’-sabde—visvasa kahe sudrdha niscaya
krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya

“ “By rendering transcendental service to Krsna, one auto-
matically performs all subsidiary activities.’ This confident,
firm faith, favorable to the discharge of devotional service,
is called Sraddha.”” Sraddha, faith in Krsna, is the beginning
of Krsna consciousness. Faith means strong faith. The words
of Bhagavad-gitd are authoritative instructions for faithful
men, and whatever Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita is to be ac-
cepted as it is, without interpretation. This was the way Ar-
juna accepted Bhagavad-gita. After hearing Bhagavad-gita,
Arjuna told Krsna: sarvam etad rtam manye yan mam
vadasi kesava. ‘‘O Krsna, I totally accept as truth all that You
_ have told me.” (Bg. 10.14)

This is the correct way of understanding Bhagavad-gita,
and this is called sraddha. It is not that one accepts a portion
