10 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 5, Ch. 1
life, but in his next life he became greatly fallen and was attached to a
prostitute. Suddenly, however, his entire behavior was changed by the
words of the very prostitute who had so much attracted him, and he
became a great devotee. In the lives of exalted devotees, there are many
such instances, proving that once one has taken to the shelter of the lotus
feet of the Lord, he cannot be lost (kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktah
pranasyati).

The fact is, however, that one becomes a devotee when he is com-
pletely freed from all reactions to sinful life. As Krsna states in
Bhagavad-gita (7.28):

yesdm tv anta-gatam papam
Jananam punya-karmanam
te dvanda-moha-nirmukta
bhajante mam drdha-vratah
“Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life, whose
sinful actions are completely eradicated and who are freed from the
duality of illusion, engage themselves in My service with determina-
tion.”” On the other hand, as Prahlada Maharaja said:
matir na krsne paratah svato vd
mitho ’bhipadyeta grhavratanam
A person who is too attached to materialistic family life—home, family,
wife, children and so on—cannot develop Krsna consciousness.

These apparent contradictions are resolved in the life of a devotee by
the grace of the Supreme Lord, and therefore a devotee is never bereft of
his position on the path of liberation, which is described in this verse as
Sivatamam padavim.

TEXT 6

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AA MMT AN ATTRA ATA TATA eHeTeTAUT-

4
saftey aratatera
wate Teed TeaMATAa ati aaah
