852 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 4, Ch. 21

vinirdhuta—being specifically cleansed; asesa—unlimited; manah-malah—
mental speculation or the dirt accumulated in the mind; puman—the
person ;asanga—being disgusted; vijfiana—scientifically ; visesa—particularly ;
viryavan—being strengthened in bhakti-yoga; yat—whese; anghri—lotus
feet; mule—at the root of; krta-ketanah—taken shelter; punah—again; na—
never; samsrtim—material existence; klesa-vaham—full of miserable con-
ditions; prapadyate—takes to.

TRANSLATION

When a devotee takes shelter at the lotus feet of the Supreme Person-
ality of Godhead, he is completely cleansed of all misunderstanding or
mental speculation, and he manifests renunciation. This is possible only
when one is strengthened by practicing bhakti-yoga. Once having taken
shelter at the root of the lotus feet of the Lord, a devotee never comes
back to this material existence, which is full of the threefold miseries.

PURPORT

As stated by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu in His Siksdstaka instructions,
by the chanting of the holy name of the Lord—Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna,
Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare
Hare—or by the process of hearing and chanting of the glories of the
Lord, one’s mind is gradually cleansed of all dirt. Due to our material
association since time immemorial, we have accumulated heaps of dirty
things in our minds. The total effect of this takes place when a living entity
identifies himself with his body and is thus entrapped by the stringent
laws of material nature and put into the cycle of repeated birth and death
under the false impression of bodily identification. When one is strength-
ened by practicing bhakti-yoga, his mind is cleansed of this misunder-
standing, and he is no longer interested in material existence or in sense
gratification.

Bhakti, or devotional service, is characterized by vairagya and jfana.
Jiiana refers to understanding that one is not his body, and vairagya
means disinterest in sense gratification. These two primary principles of
separation from material bondage can be realized on the strength of
bhakti-yoga. Thus when a devotee is fixed in the loving service of the
lotus feet of the Lord, he will never come back to this material existence
after quitting his body, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gita by the Lord
(tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti so ’rjuna).

In this verse the word vijiana is specifically important. Jiana, the
knowledge of spiritual identity that one attains when he does not consider
