Page 18 - Metaphysical questions of life

his devo onal ac vi es, desires only to please Lord Krishna with no ex-
pecta on of a material recompense. Such a pure-hearted devotee has

no anxiety because of his singular desire to please the Lord. This places
him above the bewildering duality of the material world because he
does not waver in the performance of his prescribed du es to please
the Lord. He remains steady in success or failure without le ng anyone
to impede his own service. The sincere devotee remains sa sfied with
whatever the Lord gives him for his maintenance by his honest and vir-

tuous service. These are some of the visible characteris cs of the devo-
tee endowed with transcendental knowledge and quali es.

In fact, the pure devotee is never a loser. Krishna reveals this special
quality of pure devo on:

nehābhikrama‐nāśo ’s / pratyavāyo na vidyate
sv‐alpam apy asya dharmasya / trāyate mahato bhayāt

“In this endeavor there is no loss or diminu on, and a li le advance-
ment on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of
fear.” (Bg 2.40)

“Ac vity in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or ac ng for the benefit of Kṛṣṇa with-
out expecta on of sense gra fica on, is the highest transcendental

quality of work. Even a small beginning of such ac vity finds no impedi-
ment, nor can that small beginning be lost at any stage. Any work be-
gun on the material plane has to be completed, otherwise the whole
a empt becomes a failure. But any work begun in Kṛṣṇa consciousness
has a permanent effect, even though not finished. The performer of
such work is therefore not at a loss even if his work in Kṛṣṇa conscious-

ness is incomplete. One percent done in Kṛṣṇa consciousness bears per-
manent results, so that the next beginning is from the point of two per-
cent, whereas in material ac vity without a hundred percent success
there is no profit.”

The transcendental quality of pure devo onal service is always benefi-

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