354 Sri Caitanya-caritamrta [Madhya-lila, Ch. 22
PURPORT

Pious activities bring about material opulence, but one cannot acquire devo-
tional service by any amount of material pious activity, not by giving charity,
opening big hospitals and schools or working philanthropically. Devotional service
can be attained only by the mercy of a pure devotee. Without a pure devotee’s
mercy, One cannot even escape the bondage of material existence. The word
mahat in this verse means “a pure devotee.” As confirmed in Bhagavad-gita:

mahatmanas tu mam partha
daivirn prakrtim asritah
bhajanty ananya-manaso
jfiatva bhatadim avyayam
“O son of Prtha, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protec-
tion of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because
they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaust-
ible.” (Bg. 9.13)

One also has to associate with such a mahatmd who has accepted Krsna as the
supreme source of the entire creation. Without being a mahadtmd, one cannot
understand Krsna’s absolute position. A mahatma is rare and transcendental, and
he is a pure devotee of Lord Krsna. Foolish people consider Krsna a human being,
and they consider Lord Krsna’s pure devotee an ordinary human being also. What-
ever one may be, one must take shelter at the lotus feet of a devotee mahatma
and treat him as the most exalted well-wisher of all human society. We should
take shelter of such a mahatmda and ask for his causeless mercy. Only by his
benediction can one be relieved from attachment to a materialistic way of life.
When one is thus relieved, he can engage in the Lord’s transcendental loving ser-
vice through the mercy of the mahatmé.

TEXT 52
AACISSAA! a APS
A coaya AAI TATA |
aq wUA CaA Barfield
far WesriTace te FScasy Il ¢2 I
rahdganaitat tapasa na yati
na cejyaya nirvapanad grhad va
na cchandasé naiva jalagni-sdryair
vind mahat-pada-rajo-‘bhisekam
