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S'RÎMAD BHÂGAVATAM – Canto 11, Chapter 02 - Stages of understanding on the spiritual path
Identifier
024754
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
CANTO 11: Krishna's Final Instructions
From Chapter 2: Mahârâja Nimi Meets the Nine Yogendras
(45) S'rî Havir said: 'The one who sees this Spirit in all forms of existence and is of devotional service to the Lord with the notion that all forms of existence are situated within Supreme Lord, belongs to His most advanced devotees
(46) In the stage before this one, on the middle platform, he [the so-called madhyama adhikâri] is of love for the Supreme Lord, of friendship with advanced persons, of mercy to the neophytes and indifferent toward [envious,] hostile souls
(47) He who in his worship of the Lord faithfully engages with the deity [the mûrti] but is neither respectful towards the devotees nor towards others, is a materialistic devotee [a prâkrita or a beginner, a so-called kanishthha adhikâri,].
(48) He who despite the engagement of his senses with their objects, recognizes this universe as the deluding material energy of Lord Vishnu, is certainly a first-class devotee
(49) He who, because he keeps the Lord in mind, is not bewildered by the [inescapable] nature of a material life consisting of birth, decay, hunger, fear, thirst, sensory functions, the life air, the mind and the intelligence, is the foremost devotee
(50) In the mind of someone who has Vâsudeva as His only shelter, lust, karma and [its consequent] material desires will never develop. Such a one is truly a first-class devotee.
(51) A person who is not attached in the egotistical sentiment of a bodily concept of life - in the sense of being of a good birth, of meritorious acts or a certain varnâs'râma status orientation, caste or race, is someone dear to the Lord
(52) He who does not think in opposites in the sense of 'mine' and 'thine' about property and the body, someone who is equal and peaceful with all living beings, no doubt belongs to the best devotees
(53) He who neither is tempted by the opulence found in the three worlds, nor, not even for a moment, half a second or a split of a second, moves away from the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord that are the refuge of the enlightened souls and others, he who - undisturbed in his remembrance - regards the Unconquerable One as his very soul, is a topmost Vaishnava