Text 13] Divinity and Divine Service 101
class position, the devotee can see four principles in the devotional line,
namely the Personality of Godhead, His devotees, the ignorant and the
envious. One has to raise himself at least to the stage of a second-class
devotee and thus become eligible to know the Absolute Truth.

A third-class devotee, therefore, has to receive the instructions of
devotional service from the authoritative sources of Bhagavatam. The
number one Bhagavatam is the established personality of devotee, and the
other Bhagavatam is the message of Godhead. The third-class devotee has,
therefore, to go to the personality of devotee in order to learn the instruc-
tions of devotional service. Such a personality of devotee is not a profes-
sional man who earns his livelihood by the business of Bhagavatam. Such
a devotee must be a representative of Sukadeva Gosvami, like Sita
Gosvami, and must preach the cult of devotional service for the all-around
benefit of all people. A neophyte devotee has very little taste for hearing
from the authorities. Such a neophyte devotee makes a show of hearing
from the professional man to satisfy his senses. This sort of hearing and
chanting has spoiled the whole thing, so one should be very careful about
the faulty process. The holy messages of Godhead, as inculcated in the
Bhagavad-gita or in the Srimad-Bhdgavatam, are undoubtedly transcen-
dental subjects, but even though they are so, such transcendental matters
are not to be received from the professional man who spoils them like the
serpent spoils the milk simply by the touch of his tongue.

A sincere devotee must, therefore, be prepared to hear the Vedic litera-
ture like the Upanisads, Vedanta and other literatures left by the previous
authorities or Gosvamis, for the benefit of his progress. Without hearing
such literatures, one cannot make actual progress. And without hearing
and following the instructions, the show of devotional service becomes
worthless and therefore a sort of disturbance in the path of devotional
service. Unless, therefore, devotional service is established on the principles
of sruti, smrti, purapa or pancaratra authorities, the make-show of
devotional service should at once be rejected. An unauthorized devotee
should never be recognized as a pure devotee. By assimilation of such
messages from the Vedic literatures, one can see the all-pervading localized
aspect of the Personality of Godhead within his own self constantly. This
is called samadhi.

TEXT 13
aa: giateartar TTA: |
waforea ame afafsettateory 112311
