Revatinandana: We always encourage chanting Hare Krsna, is that so?

Prabhupada: Yes. That is the only method in this age. By chanting Hare Krsna, one’s… The reservoir of understanding will be cleared. And then you, he can receive, he can receive the spiritual knowledge. Without cleansing the heart it is very difficult to understand and receive spiritual knowledge. All these reformatory measures — brahmacari, grhastha, vanaprastha — they are simply the cleansing method.

And bhakti is also a cleansing method, vidhi-bhakti. But by engaging oneself in this Deity worship, he also becomes cleansed. Tat-paratve… Sarvopadhi… As he becomes enlightened or advanced in understanding that he is eternal servant of Krsna, he becomes purified. He becomes purified.

Sarvopadhi means he doesn’t… Sarvopadhi. He tries to eliminate his upadhi,
his designation, that “I am American,” “I am Indian,” “I am this,” “I am
that.” So in this way, when you become fully eliminated of this bodily
concept of life, then nirmalam. He becomes nirmala, uncontaminated.

And so long this concept of life is going on that “I am this,” “I am that,” “I am that,” he’s still in the… Sa bhaktah prakrtah smrtah. Arcayam eva haraye… Even in this process, when they are engaged in Deity worship, arcayam haraye yat-pujam sraddhayehate, with great devotion doing, but na tad bhaktesu canyesu, but he has no sympathy with others or he does not know what is the position of a devotee, then sa bhaktah prakrtah smrtah: “He is called material devotee, material devotee.”

December 19, 1970