206 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 3, Ch. 5

life. One who is attached to sex life is to be understood as devoid of knowl-
edge. Knowledge must be followed by detachment. That is the way of self-
realization. These two essentials for self-realization, knowledge and
detachment, become manifest very quickly if one performs devotional
service to the lotus feet of the Lord. The word dhira is very significant in
this connection. A person who is not disturbed even in the presence of
cause of disturbance is called dhira. Sri Yamunacarya says, ‘Since my
heart has been overwhelmed by the devotional service of Lord Krsna, I
cannot even think of sex life, and if thoughts of sex come upon me | at
once feel disgust.” A devotee of the Lord becomes an elevated dhira by
the simple process of meditating in eagerness on the lotus feet of the Lord.

Devotional service entails being initiated by a bona fide spiritual master
and following his instruction in regard to hearing about the Lord. Such a
bona fide spiritual master is accepted by regularly hearing from him about
the Lord. The improvement in knowledge and detachment can be perceived
by devotees as an actual experience. Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
strongly recommended this process of hearing from a bona fide devotee,
and by following this process one can achieve the highest result, conquer-
ing all other methods.

TEXT 43

faa = aenfeafadtrard
SUI GH 7
aia a oat ada
wat Tse Ayanq vail

visvasya janma-sthiti-samyamarthe
krtavatarasya padambujam te

vrajema sarve saranam yad isa
smytam prayacchaty abhayam svapumsam

visvasya—of the cosmic universe; janma—creation; sthiti— maintenance;
samyamarthe—for the dissolution also; krta—accepted or assumed; avata-
rasya—of the incarnations; pada-ambujam—lotus feet; te—Y our; vrajema—
let us take shelter of; sarve—all of us; saranam—shelter; yat—that which;
tsa—O Lord; smrtam—remembrance; prayacchati—awarding; abhayam—
courage; svapumsam—of the devotees.
