Faith in Guru and Surrender to Krsna 83

every living entity. In that state he attains pure
devotional service unto Me.” (Bg. 18.54)

In the brahma-bhutah stage one no longer identi-
fies with matter. The first symptom of one’s having
become established on the brahma-bhutah platform is
that one becomes jolly (prasannatma). On that plat-
form, there is neither lamentation nor hankering.
But even if we rise to this stage and do not take to
the loving service of Krsna, there is the possibility of
falling down again into the material whirlpool. We
may rise very high in the sky, but if we have no
shelter there, if we do not land on some planet, we
will again fall down. A simple understanding of the
brahma-bhutah stage will not help us unless we take
to the shelter of Krsna’s lotus feet. As soon as we en-
gage ourselves in the service of Krsna, there is no
longer any chance of falling down again into the
material world.

Our nature is such that we want some engagement.
A child may commit mischief, but he cannot refrain
from mischief unless he is given some engagement.
When he is given some toys, his attention is diverted
and his mischievous activities stop. We are like mis-
chievous children, and therefore we must have spiri-
tual engagement. Simply understanding that we are
spirit soul will not help. Understanding that we are
spirit, we have to sustain the spirit by spiritual en-
gagement. It is not uncommon in India for a man to
give up all material engagements, to leave his home
and family and take the renounced order, sannyasa,
and after meditating for some while, begin doing
