better than ganges river
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Great sages who have completely taken shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord can at once sanctify those who come in touch with them, whereas the waters of the Ganges can sanctify only after prolonged use. Pure devotees of the Lord are more powerful than the waters of the sacred river Ganges. One can derive spiritual benefit out of prolonged use of the Ganges waters. But one can be sanctified at once by the mercy of a pure devotee of the Lord. In Bhagavad-gita it is said that any person, regardless of birth as sudra, woman, or merchant, can take shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord and by so doing can return to Godhead. To take shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord means to take shelter of the pure devotees. The pure devotees whose only business is serving are honored by the names Prabhupada and Visnupada, which indicate such devotees to be representatives of the lotus feet of the Lord. Anyone, therefore, who takes shelter of the lotus feet of a pure devotee by accepting the pure devotee as his spiritual master can be at once purified. Such devotees of the Lord are honored equally with the Lord because they are engaged in the most confidential service of the Lord, for they deliver out of the material world the fallen souls whom the Lord wants to return home, back to Godhead. Such pure devotees are better known as vice-lords according to revealed scriptures. The sincere disciple of the pure devotee considers the spiritual master equal to the Lord, but always considers himself to be a humble servant of the servant of the Lord. This is the pure devotional path.
(More...) My dear Prabhus, how shall we measure the extant to which our consciousness has already been transformed by our brief association with His Divine Grace? We are at once reminded of the proverbial frog in the well who, while trying to estimate the vast extent of the ocean in terms of his domestic units, i.e. well-widths, simply burst in frustration. Shall we say that our present range of vision is twice that of our former days? Four times? One hundred times? No! There is clearly no comparing the dark, narrow well of material existence with the unlimited vistas of devotional service which are now opened before us by his causeless mercy. Tulayama lavenapi na svargam napunar-bhavam bhagavat-saṅgi-saṅgasya martyanam kim-utasisah (Bhag. 1.18.13) "The value of a moment's association with the devotee of the Lord cannot be compared to the attainment of heavenly planets or liberation from matter and what to speak of worldly benedictions in the form of material prosperity, which is for those who are meant for death." Just see how our lives have changed, my dear friends. Once, we accepted as axiomatic truth that the crowning glory of human life was none other than the base animal propensities enacted liberally and free from the burden of conscience. Indeed, we were then prepared to defend the society of dogs and hogs against all philosophical attacks from more pious, thoughtful men or the different scriptures. Echoing the raucous sentiments of the multi-media "gurus", we were prepared to stamp out the present corrupt regime, and to replace it with a full-fledged society of mongrels. Such was the nature of our intelligence. Just see how wonderfully we have been reformed. Yat pada samsrayah suta munayah prasamayanah sadyah punanty upasprstah svar-dhunyapo' nusevaya, (Bhag. 1.1.15) "O Suta, those great sages who have completely taken shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord can at once sanctify those who come in touch with them, whereas the waters of the Ganges can sanctify only after prolonged use."
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