872 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 4, Ch. 21

tional life, which are the tendencies to commit mistakes, to be illusioned,
to cheat and to possess imperfect senses. A perfect Vaisnava or Krsna con-
scious person is always in this transcendental position because he speaks
according to Krsna and His representative. Because Vaisnavas speak exactly
according to the tune of Krsna, whatever they say is free from these four
defects. For example, Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita that everyone should
always think of Him, everyone should become His devotee, offer Him
obeisances and worship Him, and ultimately everyone should surrender unto
Him. These devotional activities are transcendental and free from mistakes,
illusion, cheating and imperfection. Therefore anyone who is a sincere devo-
tee of Lord Krsna and who preaches this cult, speaking only on the basis
of Krsna’s instructions, is understood to be virajam, or free from the defects
of material contamination. A genuine brahmana or Vaisnava therefore de-
pends eternally on the conclusion of the Vedas or Vedic versions presented
by the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. Only from Vedic knowl-
edge can we understand the actual position of the Absolute Truth, who, as
described in Srimad- Bhagavatam, is manifested in three features—namely,
impersonal Brahman, localized Paramatma and at last the Supreme Person-
ality of Godhead. This knowledge is perfect from time immemorial, and
the brahminical or Vaisnava culture depends on this principle eternally.
One should therefore study the Vedas with faith, not only for one’s per-
sonal knowledge, but for the sake of spreading this knowledge and these
activities through real faith in the words of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead and the Vedas. :
The word mangala (“auspicious”) in this verse is very significant. Srila
Sridhara Svami quotes that to do what is good and to reject what is not
good is called mangala, or auspicious. To do what is good means to accept
everything which is favorable to the discharge of devotional service, and
to reject what is not good means to reject everything not favorable for dis-
charging devotional service. In our Krsna consciousness movement, we ac-
cept this principle by rejecting four prohibited items—namely, illicit sex life,
intoxication, gambling and flesh-eating—and accepting the daily chanting of
at least sixteen rounds of the Hare Krsna maha-mantra and daily meditation
three times a day by chanting the Gayatri mantra. in this way one can keep
his brahminical culture and spiritual strength intact. By following these
principles of devotional service strictly, chanting twenty-four hours a day
the maha-mantra—Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsma, Hare Hare/ Hare
Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare—one makes positive progress
in spiritual life and ultimately becomes completely fit to see the Supreme
Personality of Godhead face to face. Because the ultimate goal of studying
