BHAGAVAD-GITA 9:31

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 9:31

 

ksipram bhavati dharmatma

sasvac-chantim nigacchati

kaunteya pratijanihi

na me bhaktah pranasyati

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

ksipram--very soon; bhavati--becomes; dharma-atma--righteous;

sasvat-santim--lasting peace; nigacchati--attains; kaunteya--O son of

Kunti; pratijanihi--declare; na--never; me--My; bhaktah--devotee;

pranasyati--perishes.

 

TRANSLATION

 

He quickly becomes righteous and attains lasting peace. O son of

Kunti, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes.

 

PURPORT

 

This should not be misunderstood. In the Seventh Chapter the Lord says

that one who is engaged in mischievous activities cannot become a

devotee of the Lord. One who is not a devotee of the Lord has no good

qualifications whatsoever. The question remains, then, How can a

person engaged in abominable activities--either by accident or by

intention--be a pure devotee? This question may justly be raised. The

miscreants, as stated in the Seventh Chapter, who never come to the

devotional service of the Lord, have no good qualifications, as is

stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Generally, a devotee who is engaged

in the nine kinds of devotional activities is engaged in the process

of cleansing all material contamination from the heart. He puts the

Supreme Personality of Godhead within his heart, and all sinful

contaminations are naturally washed away. Continuous thinking of the

Supreme Lord makes him pure by nature. According to the Vedas, there

is a certain regulation that if one falls down from his exalted

position he has to undergo certain ritualistic processes to purify

himself. But here there is no such condition, because the purifying

process is already there in the heart of the devotee, due to his

remembering the Supreme Personality of Godhead constantly. Therefore,

the chanting of Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare

Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare should be continued without

stoppage. This will protect a devotee from all accidental falldowns.

He will thus remain perpetually free from all material contaminations.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.