SB 1.2.16: O twice-born sages, by serving those devotees who are completely freed from all vice, great service is done. By such service, one gains affinity for hearing the messages of Vāsudeva.
Some important points from Srila Prabhupada's purport
- The servants of God come to propagate God consciousness, and intelligent people should cooperate with them in every respect.
- By serving the servant of God, one can please God more than by directly serving the Lord. The Lord is more pleased when He sees that His servants are properly respected because such servants risk everything for the service of the Lord and so are very dear to the Lord.
- By serving the servants of the Lord, one gradually gets the quality of such servants, and thus one becomes qualified to hear the glories of God. The eagerness to hear about God is the first qualification of a devotee eligible for entering the kingdom of God.
From Sivarama Swami's book "Suddha Bhakti Cintamani" Chapter entitled Eligibility for Devotion One", Pg 85:
"Rendering service to liberated devotees gives neopyhtes the strength to resist their lower conditioned nature and to stick to the higher, pure ideal of pleasing the Lord. Devotees who neglcet to keep the company with superior Vaishnavas , however, are unable to control their lower nature, and their impure faith leads them away from the path of pure devotion to the path of semblance of devotion. In this regard Caitanya Mahaprabhu quotes the following verse to Sanatana Goswami:
SB 5.12.12: My dear King Rahūgaṇa, unless one has the opportunity to smear his entire body with the dust of the lotus feet of great devotees, one cannot realize the Absolute Truth. One cannot realize the Absolute Truth simply by observing celibacy [brahmacarya], strictly following the rules and regulations of householder life, leaving home as a vānaprastha, accepting sannyāsa, or undergoing severe penances in winter by keeping oneself submerged in water or surrounding oneself in summer by fire and the scorching heat of the sun. There are many other processes to understand the Absolute Truth, but the Absolute Truth is only revealed to one who has attained the mercy of a great devotee.
"Rendering service to liberated devotees gives neopyhtes the strength to resist their lower conditioned nature and to stick to the higher, pure ideal of pleasing the Lord. Devotees who neglcet to keep the company with superior Vaishnavas , however, are unable to control their lower nature, and their impure faith leads them away from the path of pure devotion to the path of semblance of devotion. In this regard Caitanya Mahaprabhu quotes the following verse to Sanatana Goswami:
SB 5.12.12: My dear King Rahūgaṇa, unless one has the opportunity to smear his entire body with the dust of the lotus feet of great devotees, one cannot realize the Absolute Truth. One cannot realize the Absolute Truth simply by observing celibacy [brahmacarya], strictly following the rules and regulations of householder life, leaving home as a vānaprastha, accepting sannyāsa, or undergoing severe penances in winter by keeping oneself submerged in water or surrounding oneself in summer by fire and the scorching heat of the sun. There are many other processes to understand the Absolute Truth, but the Absolute Truth is only revealed to one who has attained the mercy of a great devotee.
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