Text 6] Questions by King Pariksit 427
cleanse one’s own heart, but devotional service to the Lord is so powerful
that it can cleanse the hearts of the people in general, by the devotional
service of the pure empowered devotee. A true representative of the Lord
like Narada, Sukadeva Gosvami, Lord Caitanya, the six Gosvamis and
later Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur or Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Thakur, ete., can deliver all people by their empowered devotional service.

By sincere efforts to hear Srimad-Bhagavatam one realizes his constitu-
tional relationship with the Lord in the transcendental humor of servitude,
friendship, paternal affection or conjugal love, and by such self-realization
one becomes situated at once in the transcendental loving service of the
Lord. All such pure devotees like Narada were not only self-realized souls,
but they were engaged in preaching work automatically by spiritual
impetus, and thus they delivered many poor souls entangled in the
material modes. They became so powerful because they sincerely followed
the Bhagavatam principles by regular hearing and worshiping. By such
actions the accumulated material lusts, etc., become cieansed by the
personal endeavor of the Lord within the heart. The Lord is always within
the heart of the living being, but He becomes manifested by one’s
devotional service.

Purification of the heart by culture of knowledge or mystic yoga may
be all right for the time being for an individual person, but it is like
cleansing the stagnant water in small quantity by chemical processes.
Such clarification of water may stand for the time being and the sediments
settle down, but by a slight agitation everything becomes muddy. The
idea is that devotional service to the Lord is the only method of cleansing
the heart for good. Whereas other methods may be superficially good for
the time being, there is a risk of becoming muddy again due to agitation
of the mind. Devotional service to the Lord, with specific attention for
hearing Srimad-Bhagavatam regularly and always, is the best recommended
method for liberation from the clutches of illusion.

TEXT 6
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BRAMET: WT: BA TAT Ut & A
dhautatma purusah krsna-
pada-miilam na muficati
mukta-sarva-pariklesah
panthah sva-Saranum yatha
