Text 21] The Glories of Devotional Service 1025
ajdta-satravah santah
sddhavah sddhu-bhiisanah

titiksavah—tolerant; karunikah—merciful; suhrdah—friendly; sarva-
dehinam-—to all living entities; ajata-Satravah—inimical to none; santah—
peaceful; sadhavah—abiding by scriptures; sidhu-bhisanah—adorned with
sublime characteristics.

TRANSLATION

The symptoms of a sadhu are that he is tolerant, merciful and friendly
to all living entities. He has no enemies, he is peaceful, he abides by the
scriptures, and all his characteristics are sublime.

PURPORT

A sddhu, as described above, is a devotee of the Lord. His concern,
therefore, is to enlighten people in devotional service to the Lord. That is
his mercy. He knows that without devotional service to the Lord, human
life is spoiled. A devotee travels all over the country, from door to door,
preaching, ‘“‘Be Krsna conscious. Be a devotee of Lord Krsna. Don’t spoil
your life in simply fulfilling your animal propensities. Human life is meant
for self-realization or Krsna consciousness.’ These are the preachings of a
sddhu. He is not satisfied with his own liberation. He always thinks about
others. He is the most compassionate personality towards all the fallen
souls. @ne of his qualifications, therefore, is kdrunika, great mercy to the
fallen souls. While engaged in preaching work he has to meet with so many
opposing elements, and therefore the sddhu or devotee of the Lord has to
be very tolerant. Someone may ill-treat him because the conditioned souls
are not prepared to receive the transcendental knowledge of devotional
service. They don’t like it; that is their disease. The sddhu has the thankless
task of impressing upon them the importance of devotional service.
Sometimes devotees are personally attacked with violence. Lord Jesus
Christ was crucified, Haridasa Thakura was caned in twenty-two market-
places, and Lord Caitanya’s principal assistant, Nityananda, was violently
attacked by Jagai and Madhai. But still they were tolerant because their
mission was to deliver the fallen souls. @ne of the qualifications of a sadhu
is that he is very tolerant and is merciful to all fallen souls. He is merciful
because he is the well-wisher of all living entities. He is not only a well-
wisher of human society, but a well-wisher of animal society as well. It is
said here, sarva-dehindm, which indicates all living entities who have
