There are three divisions of devoteesfirst-class, second-class and third-class. Even the third-class devotees are liberated souls. It is explained in this verse that although they do not have knowledge, simply by seeing the beautiful decoration of the Deity in the temple, they are absorbed in thought of Him and lose all other consciousness. By fixing oneself in Krsna consciousness, engaging the senses in the service of the Lord, one is imperceptibly liberated. This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gita. Simply by discharging uncontaminated devotional service as prescribed in the scriptures, one becomes equal to Brahman. In Bhagavad-gita it is said, brahma-bhuyaya kalpate. This means that the living entity in his original state is Brahman because he is part and parcel of the Supreme Brahman. Because of his forgetfulness of his real nature as an eternal servitor of the Lord, he is overwhelmed and captured by maya. His forgetfulness of his real constitutional position is maya. Otherwise he is eternally Brahman.

When one is trained to become conscious of his position, he understands that he is the servitor of the Lord. Brahman refers to a state of self-realization. Even the third-class devoteewho is not advanced in knowledge of the Absolute Truth but who offers obeisances with great devotion, thinks of the Lord, sees the Lord in the temple and brings forth flowers and fruits to offer to the Deitybecomes imperceptibly liberated. Sraddhayanvitah: with great devotion the devotees offer worshipful respects and paraphernalia to the Deity. The Deities of Radha and Krsna, Laksmi and Narayana, and Rama and Sita, are very attractive to devotees, so much so that when they see the Deity decorated in the temple, they become fully absorbed in thinking of the Lord. That is liberation. In other words, it is confirmed herein that even a third-class devotee is in the transcendental position, above those who are striving for liberation by speculation or other methods. Even great impersonalists like Sukadeva Gosvami and the four Kumaras were attracted by the beauty of the Deities in the temple, by the decorations and by the aroma of tulasi offered to the Lord, and they became devotees. Even though they were in the liberated state, instead of remaining impersonalists they were attracted by the beauty of the Lord and became devotees.

Here the word vilasa is very important. Vilasa refers to the activities or pastimes of the Lord. It is a prescribed duty in temple worship that not only should one visit the temple to see the Deity nicely decorated, but at the same time he should hear the recitation of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita or some similar literature, which is regularly recited in the temple. In Vrndavana, in every temple, there is recitation of the sastras. Even third-class devotees who have no literary knowledge or no time to read Srimad-Bhagavatam or Bhagavad-gita have the opportunity to hear about the pastimes of the Lord. In this way their minds may remain always absorbed in the thought of the LordHis form, His activities and His transcendental nature. This state of Krsna consciousness is a liberated stage. Lord Caitanya, therefore, recommended five important processes in the discharge of devotional service: (1) to chant the holy name of the Lord, Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, (2) to associate with devotees and serve them as far as possible, (3) to hear Srimad-Bhagavatam, (4) to see the decorated temple and the Deity and, if possible, (5) to live in a place like Vrndavana or Mathura. These five items alone can help a devotee achieve the highest perfectional stage. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita and in this verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam. That third-class devotees can also imperceptibly achieve liberation is accepted in all Vedic literatures.

As far as meditation on the arca-vigraha form of the Lord is concerned, we have to look at the Deity beginning with His lotus feet. It is not that we immediately look at His smiling face. We should first try to see the lotus feet of Krsna, and when we are practiced in this way, we can look at His thighs, His waist and His chest. Then we can reach His smiling face. In this manner we should meditate on Krsnas form, and thus we can associate with Krsna by meditating on His smiling face, His flute, His hands, His dress, His consort Srimati Radharani and the other gopis surrounding Him. Thus we should practice observing the Supreme Lord, and to this end He has appeared before us as the arca-vigraha.

There are three kinds of devotee: kanistha-adhikari, madhyama-adhikari and uttama-adhikari. The uttama-adhikari is the most advanced; the madhyama-adhikari is in the middle stage; and the kanistha-adhikari is the neophyte. It is recommended that the neophyte meditate on the Deity daily. He should begin by meditating on the lotus feet, and then when he is practiced, he should turn his gaze toward Krsnas smiling face. The neophyte should also read and hear Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. If we simply try to see and dont listen, the results will not be permanent. In some temples there are Deities but no discussion about Krsna. People attend for some time, but after a while they lose interest. Thus there must be two activities. The Deities must be worshiped, and this is called pancaratriki-vidhi. There must also be bhagavata-vidhi, reading Srimad Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. pancaratriki-vidhi and bhagavata-vidhi go hand in hand. By participating in these two processes, the neophyte can gradually attain the intermediate stage.

The spiritual master is supposed to be in the most advanced stage, but for preaching purposes he descends to the intermediate stage. The uttama-adhikari, the most advanced devotee, does not discriminate between devotees and nondevotees. He sees everyone but himself as a devotee. The truly advanced devotee sees that he is not a devotee but that everyone else is a devotee. The kanistha-adhikari, the neophyte, simply concentrates on the Deity, and that is required in the beginning:

The madhyama-adhikari is not only interested in the Deity, but he can also discern between devotees and nondevotees. He can also understand that this man is innocent and that this man is not. The innocent do not know what is to be done, and they do not know anything about God. They are not actually offenders, but there are others who are offenders. The offenders become immediately envious as soon as they hear about God or His devotees.

The madhyama-adhikari knows that Krsna is God: krsnas tu bhagavan svayam. He wants to develop his love for Krsna. He also wants to see that not a moment is wasted without engagement in Krsna consciousness. He is always careful not to spoil lifes valuable time. That is the first qualification of a madhyama-adhikari. We have a very short period to live, and we never know when we are going to die. There is no certainty. Foolish people think that they will go on living forever, but that is simply foolishness. Life is transient; therefore the devotee wants to utilize every moment for the advancement of Krsna consciousness.

The madhyama-adhikari also has a special taste for chanting the Hare Krsna mantra. He is also very anxious to live in places like Vrndavana, Dvaraka and Mathura, places where Krsna lived. Of course it is a fact that Krsna, being God, has His residence everywhere. He even resides within every atom. Andantara-stha-paramanu-cayantara-stham. Nonetheless, He has special places of residence like Vrndavana, Dvaraka and Mathura; therefore a devotee is anxious to live in those places.

Increasing ones love for God is a gradual process, and the first ingredient is faith. Without faith, there is no question of progress in Krsna consciousness. That faith is created after reading Bhagavad-gita carefully and actually understanding it as it is. Unless one reads Bhagavad-gita, there is no question of faith in Krsna. One must have faith in the words of Krsna, particularly when Krsna says, Abandon all dharmas and surrender to Me. I will give you all protection. If we study Bhagavad-gita as a literary treatise and then throw it away, that is not faith. Faith is explained by Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami thus:

In Bhagavad-gita Krsna says that He is not only a person but the Supreme Personality of Godhead as well. He also says that there is no one superior to Him. If one believes these words, then one will have faith. Impersonalists read Bhagavad-gita, but they do not accept Krsna as a person. In the Twelfth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita, Krsna says that the impersonalist takes more trouble to come to Him. He will come later, but it will take some time. This is because impersonal understanding of the Supreme Absolute Truth is partial understanding. As Krsna states:

We have often given the example of impersonal understanding being like the understanding of the sunshine. One may see the sunshine entering through a window into his room, but this does not mean that one knows everything about the sun. Impersonal understanding of the Absolute Truth is like that. The sunshine is impersonal (Brahman), the sun itself is localized (Paramatma) and the sun-god residing within the sun is a person (Bhagavan). Just as one can understand the three aspects of the sunthe sunshine, the sun itself and the sun-godone can also understand the three aspects of the Supreme Absolute TruthBrahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan.

Impersonalists maintain that the sun is simply a fiery globe and nothing else, but in Bhagavad-gita Krsna specifically states that He spoke Bhagavad-gita to the sun-god Vivasvan. Of course we can hardly imagine how the sun-god can be a person. The sun is a great fiery globe, and we think that it is impossible for anyone to live there, but this thinking is simply shortsighted. It does not follow that no one can live in fire just because we cannot live there. We cannot live in water, yet there are aquatics living there. We live on this planet, which is basically composed of earth, and our bodies are basically composed of earth in order to live here. Bodies are made in such a way that they can live in their environment. Similarly, the sun-god has a body capable of living in fire.

Krsna is sac-cid-ananda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1], being, knowledge and bliss, with form. Impersonal understanding is understanding of the sat feature. Understanding Krsna in full is understanding all of His features. The ananda feature is realized in Bhagavan. Krsna plays on His flute and is accompanied by His pleasure potency, hladini sakti, Srimati Radharani. Of Krsnas many potencies, the hladini sakti is His pleasure-giving potency. That is ananda. Although Krsna is full in Himself, He expands Himself when He wants to enjoy. That expansion is His pleasure potency, Radharani. The gopis are the expansions of Radharani, and the various forms of Krsna are manifest just to taste the mellow of transcendental bliss. Ananda-cinmaya-rasa. Thus Brahman realization is realization of the sat portion, Paramatma realization is realization of the cit portion, and Bhagavan realization is the realization of the ananda portion. In the Vedanta-sutra it is said that the Absolute Truth is anandamayo bhyasat. Krsnas lila is always full of transcendental blissespecially in Vrndavana, His original residence. It is in Vrndavana that Krsna plays with His cowherd boy friends and dances with the gopis. It is also in Vrndavana that Krsna steals mother Yasodas butter. All His activities there are filled with transcendental bliss.

We can begin to experience this bliss by following the prescribed methods of devotional service. When we see the Deity, we can gradually realize how Krsna is smiling, playing on His flute and enjoying the company of Srimati Radharani. Then we also have to hear about Krsna. These two processes will increase in such a way that we will automatically become great devotees. Anicchato me gatim anvim prayunkte. This is actually a scientific method. It is not imagination. People think that this is idol worship and imagination, but this method is prescribed in all the sastras for developing God consciousness. It is an actual science.

In Bhagavad-gita Krsna tells Arjuna that He has revealed this most confidential knowledge to him because Arjuna is His very dear friend. That confidential knowledge is, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja: Just surrender unto Me. (Bg. 18.66) Brahman realization is certainly confidential, and Paramatma realization is still more confidential, but understanding Krsna as He is, is the most confidential knowledge of all.

If ones mind and senses are completely absorbed in Krsna consciousness, one is experiencing bhakti. Bhakti is not a sentiment but a practical science. One may engage in many activities, but in all cases, ones mind must be fully absorbed in Krsna. Although a housewife is always busy working around the house, she always takes care that her hair is nicely combed. Regardless of her engagements, she never forgets to arrange her hair in an attractive way. Similarly, a devotee engages in many activities, but he never forgets Krsnas transcendental form. This is the meaning of perfection.