Text 18] Divinity and Divine Service 109

nasta-prayesv abhadresu
nityam bhdgavata-sevaya

bhagavaty uttama-sloke
bhaktir bhavati naisthiki

nasta—destroyed; prayesu—almost to nil; abhadresu—all that is inauspi-
cious; nityam— regularly ; bhagavata—Srimad-Bhdgavatam, or the pure
devotee; sevayd—by serving; bhagavati—unto the Personality of Godhead;
uttama—transcendental; sloke—prayers; bhaktih—loving service; bhavati—
comes into being; naisthiki— irrevocable.

TRANSLATION

By regularly hearing the Bhagavatam and rendering service unto the
pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is practically destroyed,
and loving service unto the glorious Lord, who is praised with transcen-
dental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.

PURPORT

Here is the remedy for eliminating all inauspicious things within the
heart which are considered to be obstacles in the path of self-realization.
The remedy is the association of the Bhagavatas. There are two types of
Bhagavatas, namely the book Bhagavata and the devotee Bhagavata.
Both the Bhagavatas are competent remedies, and both of them or either
of them can be good enough to eliminate the obstacles. A devotee
Bhagavata is as good as the book Bhagavata because the devotee Bhagavata
leads his life in terms of the book Bhagavata, and the book Bhdgavata is
full of information about the Personality of Godhead and His pure
devotees, who are also Bhagavatas. Bhagavata book and person are identical.

The devotee Bhagavata is a direct representative of Bhagavan, the
Personality of Godhead. So by pleasing the devotee Bhagavata one can
receive the benefit of the book Bhdagavata. Human reason fails to understand
how by serving the devotee Bhdgavata or the book Bhagavata one gets
gradual promotion on the path of devotion. But actually these are facts
explained by Srila Naradadeva, who happened to be a maidservant’s son
in his previous life. The maidservant was engaged in the menial service of
the sages, and thus he also came into contact with them. And simply by
associating with them and accepting the remnants of foodstuff left by the
sages, the son of the maidservant got the chance to become the great
devotee and personality, Srila Naradadeva. These are the miraculous
