286 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 7, Ch. 10

pious. Therefore, a pure devotee is anydbhilasita-siinyam. He has no
desire for material profit, nor does the Lord induce him to try to profit
materially. When a devotee needs something, the Supreme Personality of
Godhead supplies it (yoga-ksemarn vahamy aham).

Sometimes materialists go to a temple to offer flowers and fruit to the
Lord because they have learned from Bhagavad-gita that if a devotee
offers some flowers and fruits, the Lord accepts them. In Bhagavad-gita
(9.26) the Lord says:

patram puspam phalam toyam
yo me bhaktya prayacchati
tad aham bhakty-upahrtam

asnami prayatatmanah

“If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I
will accept it.” Thus a man with a mercantile mentality thinks that if he
can get some material benefit, like a large amount of money, simply by
offering a little fruit and flower, this is good business. Such persons are
not accepted as pure devotees. Because their desires are not purified,
they are still mercantile men, even though they go to temples to make a
show of being devotees. Sarvopddhi-vinirmuktam tat-paratvena nir-
malam: only when one is fully freed from material desires can one be
purified, and only in that purified state can one serve the Lord. Hrsikena
hrsikesa-sevanam bhaktir ucyate. This is the pure devotional platform.

TEXT 5

ALTA A 8 CT: AEA ATT: |
ATA Aa: ATA TM US ATTEN UN

Gsdsdno na vai bhrtyah
svdminy dsisa dtmanah

na svami bhrtyatah svamyam
icchan yo rati cdsisah

asdsanah—a person who desires (in exchange for service); na—not;
vai—indeed; bhrtyah—a qualified servant or pure devotee of the Lord;
