70 THE PATH OF PERFECTION

practicing yoga. For them, yoga is nothing more than their per-
sonal concern. A devotee, however, is not satisfied just in elevat-
ing his personal self.

vaticha-kalpatarubhyas ca
krpa-sindhubhya eva ca

patitanam pavanebhyo
vaisnavebhyo namo namah

“I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaisnava devotees
of the Lord, who can fulfill the desires of everyone, just like desire
trees, and who are full of compassion for the fallen souls.” A
devotee displays great compassion toward conditioned souls. The
word ‘Arpad means ‘‘mercy,”’ and sindhu means ‘‘ocean.’’ A devo-
tee is an ocean of mercy, and he naturally wants to distribute this
mercy. Lord Jesus Christ, for instance, was God conscious, Krsna
conscious, but he was not satisfied in keeping this knowledge
within himself. Had he continued to live alone in God conscious-
ness, he would not have met crucifixion. But no. Being a devotee
and naturally compassionate, he also wanted to take care of others
by making them God conscious. Although he was forbidden to
preach God consciousness, he continued to do so at the risk of his
own life. This is the nature of a devotee.

It is therefore stated in Bhagavad-gita (18.68-69) that the
devotee who preaches is most dear to the Lord.

ya idam paramam guhyam
mad-bhaktesv abhidhasyati

bhaktim mayi param krtva
mam evaisyaty asamsayah

‘*For one who explains the supreme secret to the devotees, devo-
tional service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back
to Me.”
na ca tasman manusyesu
kascin me priya-krttamah
bhavita na ca me tasmad
anyah priyataro bhuvi

Determination and Steadiness in Yoga 71

‘‘There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor
will there ever be one more dear.’” Therefore the devotees go out
to preach, and going forth, they sometimes meet opposing ele-
ments. Sometimes they are defeated, sometimes disappointed,
sometimes able to convince, sometimes unable. It is not that ev-
ery devotee is well equipped to preach. Just as there are different
types of people, there are three classes of devotees. In the third
class are those who have no faith. If they are engaged in devo-
tional service officially, for some ulterior purpose, they cannot
achieve the highest perfectional stage. Most probably they will
slip, after some time. They may become engaged, but because
they haven’t complete conviction and faith, it is very difficult for
them to continue in Krsna consciousness. We have practical ex-
perience in discharging our missionary activity that some people
come and apply themselves to Krsna consciousness with some
hidden motive, and as soon as they are economically a little well
situated, they give up this process and take to their old ways again.
It is only by faith that one can advance in Krsna consciousness. As
far as the development of faith is concerned, one who is well
versed in the literatures of devotional service and has attained the
stage of firm faith is called a first-class person in Krsna conscious-
ness. And in the second class are those who are not very advanced
in understanding the devotional scriptures but who automatically
have firm faith that krsna-bhakti, or service to Krsna, is the best
course and so in good faith have taken it up. Thus they are
superior to the third class, who have neither perfect knowledge of
the scriptures nor good faith but by association and simplicity are
trying to follow. The third-class person in Krsna consciousness
may fall down, but when one is in the second class or first class, he
does not fall down. One in the first class will surely make progress
and achieve the result at the end. As far as the third-class person
in Krsna consciousness is concerned, although he has faith
in the conviction that devotional service to Krsna is very good, he
has no knowledge of Krsna through the scriptures like the
Srimad-Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-gita. Sometimes these third-
class persons in Krsna consciousness have some tendency toward
karma-yoga and jfdna-yoga, and sometimes they are disturbed,

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