Category:Advancement of a Devotee of God
Theme Analysis
Advancement in devotional life depends first upon mercy received through the spiritual master and Kṛṣṇa. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that without the grace of the spiritual master, one cannot make any advancement, because guru connects the devotee to Kṛṣṇa's mercy and gives the instructions by which service becomes purified. As the devotee advances, Vaiṣṇava qualities increase: humility, tolerance, blameless conduct, freedom from envy, and steady engagement in prescribed devotional duties. Hearing and chanting gradually strengthen faith, develop taste, and awaken attachment to devotional service. Even difficulty, bewilderment, loss, or material opulence may become part of the Lord's arrangement for further advancement when the devotee remains sincere, humble, and protected by service.
- Guru's Mercy Opens the Path: Advancement depends on the grace of the spiritual master, who connects the devotee with Kṛṣṇa's mercy. Without this shelter, progress in devotional life cannot become steady.
- Vaiṣṇava Qualities Must Increase: A devotee should become more tolerant, humble, blameless, and free from envy as Kṛṣṇa consciousness advances. Offense or poor conduct becomes a scar on the Lord's reputation.
- Hearing and Chanting Develop Taste: By advancing in hearing and chanting, faith becomes firm and gradually develops into taste and attachment. This natural growth shows real progress in devotion.
- All Senses Must Serve the Lord: If even one sense remains absorbed in gratification, it can divert the devotee from transcendental advancement. Therefore the devotee minimizes material entanglement and engages life in Kṛṣṇa's service.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Advancement of a Devotee of God Depends on Guru’s Mercy.
Subcategories
This category has the following 3 subcategories, out of 3 total.
Pages in category "Advancement of a Devotee of God"
The following 36 pages are in this category, out of 36 total.
A
- A devotee should always see that his Vaisnava qualities increase with the advancement of his Krsna consciousness. A devotee should be blameless because any offense by the devotee is a scar on the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- A devotee should be so advanced that in spite of being troubled by the asuras, he should tolerate, titiksavah, and still he should be kind upon him, not that "This man is talking against me, against God. Therefore I shall be angry and drive him away." No
- A devotee who wishes to advance in Krsna consciousness must have knowledge of Krsna's personal form, His three principal energies, His pastimes and the relationship of the living entities with Him
- A pure devotee is not envious, hateful, or lazy in the discharge of devotional service. Confident of his advancement, he continually performs his prescribed devotional duties. This is called tat-tat-karma-pravartana
- All such bewilderment of the pure devotees of the Lord is specifically meant for their further advancement in knowledge of the Lord
- Arjuna is found to be similarly bewildered. All such bewilderment of the pure devotees of the Lord is specifically meant for their further advancement in knowledge of the Lord
B
- Being so favored by the Lord, Brahma's schemes and plans are all infallible. If sometimes Brahma is seen to be bewildered, he is bewildered by seeing the action of the internal potency, that is also for his further advancement in transcendental service
- Bhagavad-gita says that a little advancement in bhakti-rasa can save the devotee from the greatest danger - that of missing the opportunity for human life
- By advancing in hearing and chanting, a devotee becomes more firmly fixed in his faith, and gradually his initial faith develops into a taste for devotional service, and that taste gradually develops into attachment
- By the mercy of the spiritual master one is blessed by the mercy of Krsna. Without the grace of the spiritual master one cannot make any advancement
I
- If a devotee advances in spiritual consciousness and thus becomes materially opulent also, his position is a special gift from the Lord. Such opulence is never to be considered material
- If a sincere devotee wants Krsna above everything but at the same time is attached to material possessions, which hinder his advancement in Krsna consciousness, by tactics the Lord takes away all his possessions
- It is sometimes found that if one devotee has advanced in spiritual activities, other devotees are envious of him. Such envious devotees are not completely freed from the bondage of birth and death
P
- Places of pilgrimage yield a special advantage for a devotee in quickly advancing his spiritual life. Lord Krsna lives everywhere, but still it is very easy to approach Him in holy places of pilgrimage because these places are inhabited by great sages
- Prahlada Maharaja achieved the spiritual ecstasies described herein (in SB 7.4.40) by his advancement in spiritual understanding
S
- Sanat-Kumara said, "Others, who are not in Krsna consciousness but are trying to become great mystics or great ritual-performers, cannot advance like the devotees"
- Sanatana further inquired Lord Caitanya, "I do not know how to question You about the advancement of spiritual life, but I beg that You kindly, mercifully, let me know everything that I need know"
T
- The jnanis and the devotees are actually in agreement up to the point of liberation from material contamination. But the jnanis remain pacified on the platform of simple understanding, the devotees develop further spiritual advancement in loving service
- The jnanis, by culture of brahma-vidya, spiritual knowledge, struggle very hard to get out of the clutches of material nature, but a devotee, by dint of his advancement in devotional service, automatically becomes detached from his material body
- The Lord is always ready to give instructions to the pure devotee so that the devotee can advance further and further in devotional service
- The symptoms of a devotee are meekness and humility. Although spiritually very advanced, he will always remain meek and humble, as Kaviraja Gosvami and all the other Vaisnavas have taught us by personal example
- The thirty-first devotee of Lord Nityananda Prabhu was Paramananda Gupta, who was greatly devoted to Lord Krsna and highly advanced in spiritual consciousness. Formerly Nityananda Prabhu also resided at his house for some time
- There are three kinds of devotees: (3) those who are neophytes advancing toward the perfectional platform (sadhaka). The sadhakas are gradually becoming free from fruitive reaction
- They (great devotees) generally reside in places like Vrndavana, Mathura, Dvaraka, Jagannatha Puri and Navadvipa because only devotees assemble in such places. In this way they give saintly association to one another and thus advance
- This is a special concession for a devotee. Even if he attains a body that is nonhuman, by the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead he advances further in devotional service, whether by remembering his past life or by natural causes
- To decrease his (devotee's) material entanglement and help his advancement in spiritual life, he always minimizes his social and political activities and his eating, sleeping, defending, and mating
U
- Unless all of the senses are engaged in the service of the Lord, even one of them engaged in sense gratification can deviate the devotee from the path of transcendental advancement. BG 1972 purports
- Unless one is advanced to this pure state of devotional service, there is a tendency to desire elevation to a higher material position. A mixed devotee may desire to enjoy a comfortable life on another planet with a greater span of life
W
- When he (Dhruva Maharaja) became advanced in self-realization, or devotional service, by the pressure of his toe he could push down the whole earth. That is the difference between ordinary consciousness and Krsna consciousness
- Wherever he (the devotee) lives, he converts that place into Vrndavana and Navadvipa. This means that materialism cannot touch him. This is the secret of success for one advancing in Krsna consciousness