Text 37] Prayers by the Demigods 191
tad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi: “All I want is Your causeless devotional
service in My life, birth after birth.” (Siksdstaka 4) Even if a devotee, by
the supreme will of the Lord, takes birth in this material world, he con-
tinues his devotional service. When King Bharata made a mistake and in
his next life became a deer, his devotional service did not stop, although
some slight chastisement was given to him because of his negligence.
Narada Muni says that even if one falls from the platform of devotional
service, he is not lost, whereas nondevotees are lost entirely because they
are not engaged in service. Bhagavad-gita (9.14) therefore recommends
that one always engage at least in chanting the Hare Krsna
mahé-mantra:
satatam kirtayanto mam
yatantas ca drdha-vratah
namasyantas ca mam bhaktya
nitya-yukté updsate
“Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination,
bowing down before Me, the great souls perpetually worship Me with
devotion.”

One should not give up the process of devotional service, which is per-
formed in nine different ways (sravanam kirtanarn visnoh smaranam
pada-sevanam, etc.). The most important process is hearing (sravanam)
from the guru, sddhu and sdstra—the spiritual master, the saintly
dcaryas and the Vedic literature. Sadhu-sdstra-guru-vakya, cittete
kariyé aikya. We should not hear the commentaries and explanations of
nondevotees, for this is strictly forbidden by Srila Sandtana Gosvami,
who quotes from the Padma Purana:

avaisnava-mukhodgimam
putam hari-kathamrtam
Sravanam naiva kartavyam
sarpocchistam yathaé payah
We should strictly follow this injunction and never try to hear from
Mayavadis, impersonalists, voidists, politicians or so-called scholars.
