Service to the Lord 103

of material miseries. The second class devotee is firmly convinced and of strong
faith, but has no power to cite evidence from revealed Scriptures. The third
class devotee is one whose faith is not very strong but is eligible to be promoted
to the position of second class devotee or first class devotee by the gradual
cultivation of devotional service.

It is said in Srimad Bhagwatam, Eleventh Canto, Second Chapter, that the
first class devotee always sees the Supreme Lord as the Soul of all living entities.
Therefore, in seeing all living entities, he sees Krishna and nothing but Krishna.
A devotee who places his full faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
who makes friendship with the pure devotees, who shows favor to the in-
nocent person, and who avoids those who are atheistic or are against devotional
service—such a devotee is called a second class pure devotee. And a person
who is engaged in the devotional service of the Lord according to the direc-
tion of the Spiritual Master, or by family tradition, and worships the diety
of the Lord, but has not much cultivation of knowledge in devotional service,
and does not know who is a devotee and who is a non-devotee—such a person
is called a third class pure devotee. The last-mentioned are not actually pure
devotees. They are almost in the devotional line, but their position is not very
secure.

The purport is that, when a person shows his love for God and his friend-
ship for the devotees and his mercy for the innocent and his reluctance to the
non-devotees, he becomes in the category of a pure devotee. Such a person,
by developing devotional service, can perceive that every living entity is
part and parcel of the Supreme. In each and every living entity he can see the
Supreme Person, and therefore he becomes highly developed in Krishna
Consciousness. At this stage he does not make any distinction as to who is
a devotee and who is a non-devotee. He sees everyone in the service of the
Lord. A pure devotee, however, continues to develop all great qualities in
his body, while engaged in Krishna Consciousness and devotional service.
It is stated in Srimad Bhagwatam, Fifth Canto, Chapter Eighteen, that anyone
who has attained pure unalloyed devotional service to the Supreme Lord
develops all the good qualities of the demigods; whereas a person who hasn’t
developed pure devotional service to the Lord, in spite of his being materially
qualified, is sure to go astray as he hovers on the mental plane. Therefore,
his material qualification is valueless.
