26 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 6, Ch. 1
(3) dbhdsa-ripa, a slight glimpse of devotional service. As for atone-
ment, if one has caught even a slight glimpse of devotional service, all
needs to undergo prdyascitta, atonement, are superseded. Therefore
atonement is certainly unnecessary when one has achieved spontaneous
love and, above that, attachment with love, which are signs of increasing
advancement in kaddcitki. Even in the stage of abhdsa-riipa bhakti, all
the reactions of sinful life are uprooted and vanquished. Srila Jiva
Gosvami expresses the opinion that the word kartsnyena means that even
if one has a desire to commit sinful actions, the roots of that desire are
vanquished merely by dbhdsa-riipd bhakti. The example of bhdskara,
the sun, is most appropriate. The adbhdsa feature of bhakti is compared to
twilight, and the accumulation of one’s sinful activities is compared to
fog. Since fog does not spread throughout the sky, the sun need do no
more than merely manifest its first rays, and the fog immediately disap-
pears. Similarly, if one has even a slight relationship with devotional ser-
vice, all the fog of his sinful life is immediately vanquished.
TEXT 16
qT AM GIA Wad Tas TTA: |
Tat ||| Hl amracqeargzar 12 il
na tatha hy aghavan rdjan
piiyeta tapa-ddibhih
yatha krsnarpita-pranas
tat-purusa-nisevaya
na—not; tathd—so much; hi—certainly; agha-vadn—a man full of
sinful activities; rajan—O King; piiyeta—can become purified; tapah-
Gdibhih—by executing the principles of austerity, penance,
brahmacarya and other purifying processes; yatha—as much as; krsna-
arpita-pranah—the devotee whose life is fully Krsna conscious; tat-
purusa-nisevayd—by engaging his life in the service of Krsna’s repre-
sentative.
TRANSLATION
My dear King, if a sinful person engages in the service of a bona
fide devotee of the Lord and thus learns how to dedicate his life
