Nārada Bhakti Sūtra

[JhankiRani]

Chapter 1: The Value of Devotion


athāto bhaktiḿ vyākhyāsyāmaḥ

SYNONYMS
atha — now; ataḥ — therefore; bhaktim — devotional service;
vyākhyāsyāmaḥ — we shall try to explain.

TRANSLATION
Now, therefore, I will try to explain the process of devotional service.

PURPORT
Devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, where the Lord says that a self-realized person is always in the transcendental state known as brahma-bhūta, which is characterized by joyfulness. When one is self-realized he becomes joyful. In other words, he is free from the material contamination of lamentation and hankering. As long as we are in material existence, we lament for the losses in our life and hanker for that which we do not have. A self-realized person is joyful because he is free from material lamentation and hankering.


A self-realized person also sees all living entities equally. For him, there is no distinction between the higher and lower species of life. It is also stated that a learned man does not distinguish between a wise brāhmaṇa and a dog because he sees the soul within the body, not the external bodily features. Such a perfected, self-realized person becomes eligible to understand bhakti, or devotional service to the Lord.


Bhakti is so sublime that only through bhakti can one understand the constitutional position of the Lord. That is clearly stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (18.55): bhaktyā mām abhijānāti. "One can understand the Supreme Lord through devotional service, and by no other process." There are different processes of understanding the Absolute Truth, but if a person wants to understand the Supreme Lord as He is, he has to take to the process of bhakti-yoga. There are other mystic processes, such as karma-yoga, jñāna-yoga, and dhyāna-yoga, but it is not possible to understand the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, except through His devotional service. This is confirmed in the Fourth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā (4.3), where we learn that Kṛṣṇa spoke the Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna simply because he was the Lord's devotee and friend. The Bhagavad-gītā teaches the process of bhakti-yoga, and therefore Lord Kṛṣṇa explained it to Arjuna because he was a great devotee. As far as spiritual life is concerned, becoming a devotee of the Lord is the highest perfection.
People are generally misled by the spell of the illusory energy of material nature. There are innumerable living entities within the material nature, and only some of them are human beings. According to the Vedic literature, there are 8,400,000 species of life. In the Padma Purāṇa it is said that there are 900,000 species of life in the water, 2,000,000 species of plants, 1,100,000 species of insects and reptiles, 1,000,000 species of birds, 3,000,000 species of beasts, and only 400,000 species of human beings. So the humans are the least numerous species of all.
All living entities can be divided into two divisions: those that can move and those that are stationary, such as trees. But there are also many further divisions. Some species fly in the air, some live in the water, and some live on the ground. Among the living entities who live on the ground, only 400,000 are human species, and out of these 400,000 human species, many are uncivilized or unclean; they are not up to the standard of proper civilization. From the historical point of view, the Āryans are the most civilized section of human beings, and among the Āryans, the Indians are especially highly cultured. And among the Indians, the brāhmaṇas are the most expert in knowledge of the Vedas.
The Vedic culture is respected all over the world, and there are people everywhere eager to understand it. The highest perfectional stage of understanding Vedic culture is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, in the Fifteenth Chapter (15.15), where the Lord says that the purpose of all the Vedas is to understand Him (Lord Kṛṣṇa). Fortunate are those who are attracted to the Vedic cultural life.
The Hindus call themselves followers of the Vedas. Some say they follow the Sāma Veda, and some say they follow the Ṛg Veda. Different people claim to follow different sections of the Vedas, but in fact for the most part they are not followers of the Vedas because they do not follow the rules and regulations of the Vedas. Therefore Lord Caitanya says that since the so-called followers of the Vedas perform all kinds of sinful activities, the number of actual followers of the Vedas is very small; and even among this small, exclusive number, most are addicted to the processes described in the Vedas' karma-kāṇḍa section, by which one can elevate oneself to the perfectional stage of economic development.
The strict followers of the karma-kāṇḍa portions of the Vedas perform various sacrifices for worship of different demigods in order to achieve particular material results. Out of many millions of such worshipers, some may actually engage in the process of understanding the Supreme, the Absolute Truth. They are called jñānīs. Perfection for a jñānī lies in attaining the stage of brahma-bhūta, or self-realization. Only after self-realization is attained does the stage of understanding devotional service begin. The conclusion is that one can begin the process of devotional service, or bhakti, when one is actually self-realized. One who is in the bodily concept of existence cannot understand the process of devotional service.
It is for this reason that the Nārada-bhakti-sūtra begins, "Now, therefore, I shall try to explain the process of devotional service." The word "therefore" indicates that this process of devotional service is for the self-realized soul, one who is already liberated. Similarly, the Vedānta-sūtra begins athāto brahma jijñāsā. The word brahma-jijñāsā refers to inquiry into the Supreme Absolute Truth, and it is recommended for those who have been elevated from the lower stage of addiction to the karma-kāṇḍa portion of the Vedas to the position of interest in the jñāna-kāṇḍa portion. Only when a person is perfectly situated in the realization that he is not the body but a spirit soul can he begin the process of bhakti, or devotional service.

[JhankiRani]

loka-vedeṣu tad-anukūlācaraṇaḿ tad-virodhiṣūdāsīnatā

SYNONYMS

loka — in society and politics; vedeṣu — and in the Vedic rituals; tat — for that; anukūla — of what is favorable; ācaraṇam — performance; tat — for that; virodhiṣu — for what is opposed; udāsīnatā — indifference.

TRANSLATION

Indifference toward what stands in the way of devotional service means to accept only those activities of social custom and Vedic injunction that are favorable to devotional service.

PURPORT

Material existence is a life of revolt against the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There are many ways in which the living entities can manifest this spirit of revolt, such as engaging in fruitive activities, mental speculation, or mystic yoga to achieve material perfections. Generally, all conditioned souls desire to lord it over the material nature. Everyone wants to become a demilord, either by social or political activities or by Vedic rituals. Everyone wants to elevate himself to a higher status of existence or, out of frustration, become one with the Supreme. All these desires are different types of materialism; they are not favorable for devotional service.

A pure devotee rejects demigod worship and worships only Lord Kṛṣṇa or His Viṣṇu expansions. Until a person is completely free of material contamination, he might want to worship God in hope of fulfilling material desires. But even if a person has material desires, if he scrupulously worships the Supreme Lord he will very soon become purified of all such desires. On the other hand, persons whose activities are dictated by material desires and who are also addicted to worshiping the demigods cannot become pure devotees at any stage of their lives. The Lord, situated within everyone's heart, fulfills the desires of the demigod-worshipers — but in the Bhagavad-gītā the Lord says that such demigod-worshipers are of small intelligence (alpa-medhasaḥ). In other words, as long as one is controlled by the modes of nature, one will be prone to worship the demigods for material purposes, but one who curbs this tendency and worships Kṛṣṇa exclusively can rise above the modes and attain pure devotional service.

One cannot be situated on the platform of pure devotional service, however, unless one is freed from all kinds of sinful reactions. To counteract various sinful reactions, there are prescribed duties in the ritualistic section of the Vedas, and those in the lower stage of life can become freed from all sinful reactions by strictly following the Vedic ritualistic processes. Then they can become situated in pure devotional service. Thus it should be understood that a person who is situated in pure devotional service must have in his past life already executed all the Vedic rituals with great determination. In other words, after reaching the stage of devotional service, a person does not have to execute any process of atonement mentioned in the ritualistic section of the Vedas. He is already sinless.

[JhankiRani]

bhavatu niścaya-dārḍhyād ūrdhvaḿ śāstra-rakṣaṇam

SYNONYMS

bhavatu — let there be; niścaya — of certainty; dārḍhyāt — the firm fixing; ūrdhvam — after; śāstra — of scripture; rakṣaṇam — the observance.

TRANSLATION

One must continue to follow scriptural injunctions even after one is fixed up in determined certainty that devotional service is the only means for reaching the perfection of life.

PURPORT

When a person becomes firmly convinced about the importance of devotional service, he surrenders unto the Supreme Lord. There are six symptoms of surrender: (1) One should perform only those actions favorable for devotional service to Kṛṣṇa. (2) One should give up everything unfavorable for discharging devotional service. (3) One should firmly believe that Kṛṣṇa will protect one in all circumstances and that no one is a better protector than Kṛṣṇa. This conviction should be distinct from the monistic philosophy that one is as good as Kṛṣṇa. Rather, one should always think that Kṛṣṇa, or God, is great and that one is always protected by Him. (4) One should have the conviction that Kṛṣṇa is one's maintainer, and one should not take shelter of any demigod for maintenance. (5) One should always remember that one's activities and desires are not independent. In other words, the devotee should feel completely dependent on Kṛṣṇa, and thus he should act and think as Kṛṣṇa desires. One should always think himself the poorest of the poor and feel totally dependent on the mercy of Kṛṣṇa.

A devotee who follows these six principles of surrender always thinks, "O Lord, I am Yours in every respect; I am Your eternal servant." In this way a pure devotee becomes cleansed. There is a nice verse in this connection in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.29.34):

martyo yadā tyakta-samasta-karmā

niveditātmā vicikīrṣito me

tadāmṛtatvaḿ pratipadyamāno

mayātma-bhūyāya ca kalpate vai

"A person who gives up all fruitive activities and offers himself entirely unto Me, eagerly desiring to render service unto Me, achieves liberation from birth and death and is promoted to the status of sharing My own opulences." To be elevated to such a point of devotional life, one has to execute the directions of the scriptures. But even after becoming elevated in devotional life, one should not think, "Oh, I am already elevated to the highest stage; therefore I may violate the scriptural regulations for executing devotional service."

Devotional service is dormant in every living being, for by nature every living being is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord and it is the healthy condition of the part to serve the whole. It is just like the situation of the parts of the body. The hand and the leg serve the body; similarly, as part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, every living entity is bound to serve the Supreme Lord in his healthy condition. When he is not thus engaged, he is in a diseased condition, but as soon as he engages all his senses in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, he is in his normal, healthy condition.

The devotee should engage his senses in the Lord's service according to the directions of the authoritative scriptures and under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master. The beginning of one's devotional training is to engage the ear in aural reception of the teachings of the Bhagavad-gītā and the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. There are many authoritative books of spiritual knowledge, but all of them are more or less supplements to the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Even the Nārada-bhakti-sūtra is a summary of the Bhagavad-gītā and the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Therefore the beginning of devotional service is to hear these two important transcendental books of knowledge. Simply by aural reception of these two books from the bona fide spiritual master, one becomes enlightened about devotional service, which is dormant within the heart.

Devotional service executed under the guidance of the spiritual master and according to scriptural injunctions is called vaidhi-bhakti, a part of sādhana-bhakti, or devotional service in practice. The other division of sādhana-bhakti is rāgānuga-bhakti, spontaneous devotional service.

One who wishes to advance to the platform of rāgānuga-bhakti must follow the injunctions of the authoritative scriptures under the direction of the spiritual master. According to Sūtra 12, even a person on a highly elevated platform of devotional service must execute the rules and regulations of the scripture, what to speak of persons who are not elevated. In other words, neophytes in devotional service must strictly and scrupulously follow the rules and regulations of the scriptures to rise to the platform of unalloyed devotional service.

As mentioned above, a devotee who strictly practices regulative devotional service, or vaidhi-bhakti. The prime principle of vaidhi-bhakti is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.1.5):

tasmād bhārata sarvātmā bhagavān īśvaro hariḥ

śrotavyaḥ kīrtitavyaś ca smartavyaś cecchatābhayam

"A person serious about making progress in devotional service must always think of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, must always chant His glories, and must always hear about His activities." These are the preliminary principles of following the scriptural rules and regulations.

The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.5.2) states,

mukha-bāhūru-pādebhyaḥ puruṣasyāśramaiḥ saha

catvāro jajñire varṇā guṇair viprādayaḥ pṛthak

Every person, whatever he may be, emanates from some part of the universal form of the Supreme Lord, the virāṭ-puruṣa. The brāhmaṇas (intelligentsia) emanate from the face, the kṣatriyas (warriors and administrators) emanate from the arms, the vaiśyas (farmers and merchants) emanate from the thighs, and the śūdras (laborers) emanate from the feet. But wherever we may be situated, we have some particular function to execute in the service of the Supreme Whole, the Personality of Godhead. If we do not, therefore, engage our particular propensities in the service of the Lord, then we are fallen, just like a useless limb amputated from the body.

According to the Padma Purāṇa, the sum and substance of all the regulative principles of the scripture is that Lord Viṣṇu, or Kṛṣṇa, should always be remembered and should never be forgotten. We should therefore mold our lives in such a way that in every activity we shall be able to remember the Supreme Lord. Any activity that reminds one of the Supreme Lord is a regulative principle in devotional service, and any activity that makes one forget the Supreme Lord is a forbidden activity for a devotee.

In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 22.115-28), Lord Caitanya lists sixty-four regulative principles one must follow to be elevated to the highest platform of devotional service. And, as stressed here in Sūtra 12, even after being elevated to the highest platform of devotional service, one must continue following the scriptural injunctions for devotional life. The sixty-four regulative principles are as follows:

(1) To accept a bona fide spiritual master. (2) To become initiated by the spiritual master. (3) To engage oneself in the service of the spiritual master. (4) To receive instructions from the spiritual master and inquire about advancing on the path of devotional service. (5) To follow in the footsteps of previous ācāryas and follow the directions given by the spiritual master. To give up anything for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa, and to accept anything for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa. (7) To live in a place where Kṛṣṇa is present — a city like Vṛndāvana or Mathurā, or a Kṛṣṇa temple. To minimize one's means of living as much as one can, while living comfortably to execute devotional service. (9) To observe fasting days, such as Ekādaśī. (10) To worship cows, brāhmaṇas, Vaiṣṇavas, and sacred trees like the banyan.

These ten principles of devotional service are the beginning. Additional principles are as follows: (11) One should avoid committing offenses against the holy name, the Deity, etc. (12) One should avoid associating with nondevotees. (13) One should not aspire to have many disciples. (14) One should not unnecessarily divert his attention by partially studying many books so as to appear very learned. For devotional service, it is sufficient to scrutinizingly study books like the Bhagavad-gītā, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. (15) One should not be disturbed in either loss or gain. (16) One should not allow oneself to be overwhelmed by lamentation for any reason. (17) One should not blaspheme the demigods, although one should not worship them. Similarly, one should not criticize other scriptures, although one should not follow the principles therein. (18) One should not tolerate blasphemy of the Supreme Lord or His devotees. (19) One should not indulge in idle talks, such as those about relationships between men and women. (20) One should not unnecessarily disturb any living being, whatever he may be.

The above-mentioned twenty items are the doorway to devotional service. And among them, the first three — namely, acceptance of the spiritual master, initiation by the spiritual master, and service to the spiritual master — are the most important. Then come the following items: (21) To hear about the Lord. (22) To chant His glories. (23) To remember Him. (24) To serve and meditate upon the lotus feet of the Lord and His devotees. (25) To worship Him. (26) To pray to Him. (27) To think of oneself as the Lord's eternal servant. (28) To become the Lord's friend. (29) To offer everything to the Lord. (30) To dance before the Deity. (31) To sing before the Deity. (32) To inform the Lord of everything about one's life. (33) To bow down to the Lord. (34) To offer respect to the spiritual master and the Supreme Lord by standing up at the appropriate time. (35) To follow the spiritual master or the Supreme Lord in procession. (36) To visit places of pilgrimage and temples of the Supreme Lord. (37) To circumambulate the temple. (38) To recite prayers. (39) To chant the Lord's name softly to oneself. (40) To chant the Lord's name loudly in congregation. (41) To smell incense and flowers offered to the Deity. (42) To eat the remnants of food offered to the Deity. (43) To regularly attend the ārati offered to the Deity, as well as special festivals. (44) To regularly look upon the Deity. (45) To offer one's dearmost possessions to the Supreme Lord. (46) To meditate on the Lord's name, form, pastimes, etc. (47) To water the tulasī plant. (48) To serve the Lord's devotees. (49) To try to live in Vṛndāvana or Mathurā. (50) To relish the topics of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. (51) To take all kinds of risks for Kṛṣṇa. (52) To always expect the mercy of Kṛṣṇa. (53) To observe ceremonies like Janmāṣṭamī (the appearance day of Lord Kṛṣṇa) and Rāma-navamī (the appearance day of Lord Rāmacandra) with devotees. (54) To fully surrender to Kṛṣṇa. (55) To observe special regulations like those followed during the month of Kārtika (Oct.-Nov.). (56) To mark the body with Vaiṣṇava tilaka (clay markings). (57) To mark the body with the holy names of God. (58) To accept the remnants of garlands that have been offered to the Supreme Lord. (59) To drink caraṇāmṛta, the water that has washed the lotus feet of the Deity.

Among these fifty-nine items, five are considered so important that they are mentioned again separately, thus completing the sixty-four items of devotional service. These five are (60) associating with devotees, (61) chanting the holy name of the Lord, (62) hearing the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, (63) residing at a place of pilgrimage like Mathurā, and (64) worshiping the Deity with faith and veneration.

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[JhankiRani]

anyathā pātitya-śańkayā

SYNONYMS

anyathā — otherwise; pātitya — of falling down; śańkayā — because of anticipating the possibility.

TRANSLATION

Otherwise there is every possibility of falling down.

PURPORT

If a diseased person is being cured of the symptoms of his disease but does not care for the principles of healthy living, there is every possibility of a relapse. Similarly, the neophyte devotee serious about advancing in devotional service must carefully follow the principles of regulative devotional service; otherwise there is every possibility of his falling down. Strictly speaking, if a devotee ignores the regulative principles and acts according to his whims — if, for example, he does not eat kṛṣṇa-prasādam but eats anywhere and everywhere, such as in restaurants — there is every possibility of his falling down. If he accumulates money without spending it for devotional service, there is every possibility of his falling down. If he applies his energy not in the service of the Lord but in some material activity, there is every possibility of his falling down. If the devotee does not engage himself always in hearing and chanting the topics of Kṛṣṇa and His activities but instead indulges in idle talk, there is every chance of his falling down. If a neophyte devotee does not follow the orders of the spiritual master and simply officially sticks to the principles, or if he does not strictly follow the principles, there is every possibility of his falling down. To become greedy is another cause of falldown. And to associate with persons who are not in devotional service is the last word in māyā's allurements for causing a devotee to fall down.

In the Bhagavad-gītā (18.5), Kṛṣṇa clearly states that sacrifice, charity, and penance are never to be given up by a transcendentalist. If he is at all intelligent he must continue these three activities, even if he is highly elevated. A devotee is naturally very humble, and even if he is highly elevated he does not consider himself to be so. A practical example is found in the life of the author of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī. He was a vastly learned scholar and a first-class devotee, yet he still referred to himself as the lowest of mankind, lower than the bacteria in the stool. He wrote that he was so sinful that no one should even utter his name, lest that person fall down! Of course, when a great devotee speaks this way, we should not believe that he is actually in the lower status of life; we should rather take it as evidence that out of humility a pure devotee never thinks he is elevated. He always thinks he is in the lowest status of spiritual life.

As stated above, in the Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa states that no one should give up the sacrificial portion of spiritual life. And the scriptures recommend that the best sacrifice in this Age of Kali is to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. Therefore, a devotee's prime duty is to continue chanting this mahā-mantra, even if he is highly elevated. Otherwise, at any stage one can fall down.

[JhankiRani]

loke 'pi tāvad eva bhojanādi-vyāpāras tv ā-śarīra-dhāraṇāvadhi

SYNONYMS

loke — in social behavior; api — also; tāvat — for that long; eva — indeed; bhojana — eating; ādi — and so on; vyāpāraḥ — the activity; tu — and; ā-śarīra-dhāraṇā-avadhi — for as long as one still has this body.

TRANSLATION

For as long as the body lasts, one should engage minimally in social and political activities and in such matters as eating.

PURPORT

Spiritual life begins when a person understands that he is not the body. In the material world, all our connections — whether social or political or in the field of eating, sleeping, defending, and mating — are due only to the material body. Unless one is completely conversant with the fact that one is not the body, it is not possible to become self-realized.

In the Bhagavad-gītā (18.54), Lord Kṛṣṇa describes self-realization as follows:

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāńkṣati

samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu mad-bhaktiḿ labhate parām

"Self-realization [the brahma-bhūta stage] is symptomized by joyfulness. One never laments for any loss, nor is one very enthusiastic when there is some gain. One sees everyone on an equal level through spiritual understanding. These qualities are preliminary to entering into pure devotional service."

Pure devotional service is so powerful, however, that one may at once take to it without acquiring the previous qualification of brahma-bhūta life. A sincere devotee who engages in the service of the Lord automatically becomes situated in the brahma-bhūta stage. The devotee's duty is only to strictly follow the principles of regulated devotional service, as previously mentioned. Therefore a devotee should not be too concerned about social and political obligations, since all such activities belong to the body. He should similarly restrict his eating; this is essential to the execution of devotional service. A devotee cannot eat anything and everything he likes; he must eat only foods that have been offered to the Lord. The Lord clearly says (Bhagavad-gītā 9.26) that He will accept a flower, a fruit, a leaf, or a little water if they are offered to Him with devotional love. (One should note that the Supreme Lord accepts only foods from the vegetable kingdom, as well as milk products. "Water" includes milk and its products.) The Lord is not hungry or poor, in need of our offering. Actually, it is to our advantage to offer Him something to eat. If the Supreme Lord kindly accepts our offering, then we are benefited. The Lord is full, but to establish the universal principle that everyone can offer something to the Lord, He accepts even the most meager offering — when it is presented with love. Even the poorest of the poor can collect a flower, a leaf, and a little water and offer them to the Supreme Lord.

It is incumbent upon all devotees of Kṛṣṇa to avoid eating anything that has not been offered to the Supreme Lord. A devotee who does not strictly follow this principle is sure to fall down. Similarly, one who refuses to accept prasādam, the remnants of food offered to Kṛṣṇa, cannot become a devotee.

In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (5.5.3) Lord Ṛṣabhadeva states that one who is determined to become a pure devotee avoids associating with the general mass of people, who are simply engaged in the animal propensities of eating, sleeping, defending, and mating. The general mass of people mistake the body for the self, and therefore they are always busy trying to maintain the body very nicely. A devotee should not associate with such people. Nor should he be overly attached to his family members, knowing that he has been accidentally thrown together with his wife, children, and so on. Spiritually, no one is a wife, child, husband, or father of anyone else. Everyone comes into this world according to his past deeds and takes shelter of a father and a mother, but actually no one is anyone's father or mother. While a devotee must know this, that does not mean he should neglect his family. As a matter of duty he should maintain his family members without attachment and instruct them in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

So, whether in social life or political life, or in the matter of eating, sleeping, mating, and defending, a devotee should avoid performing any action tainted by material attachment. The word used here is bhojanādi, which indicates the four propensities of eating, sleeping, defending, and mating. As the devotee does not eat anything that has not been offered to Kṛṣṇa, so he does not sleep more than is absolutely necessary. In the lives of the great devotees Sanātana Gosvāmī and Rūpa Gosvāmī, we see that they did not sleep more than one and a half hours a day, and they were reluctant even to accept that. So sleeping is also restricted. Naturally one who is always engaged in devotional service of the Lord has very little time to sleep. Sleep is a necessity of the body, not the spirit soul, and therefore as one advances in devotional service one's propensity to sleep decreases.

Similarly, a devotee minimizes his defending propensity. A pure devotee knows he is under the shelter of the all-powerful Supreme Lord, and so he is not very anxious about defending himself. Although he should use his common sense in the matter of defending, he is sure that without being protected by Lord Kṛṣṇa no one can defend himself, however expert he may be in the art of defense.

In the same way, a devotee minimizes or eliminates sex. He does not indulge indiscriminately in sex, begetting offspring as the cats and dogs do. If he begets any children at all, he takes charge of them to elevate them to Kṛṣṇa consciousness so that they may not have to suffer in material life again, in future lives. That is the duty of a devotee.

In this material world, people in general engage in sense-gratificatory activities, which keep them bound up by the laws of the material modes of nature. Indeed, the more a person engages in such activities, the more he expands his life in material existence. A devotee acts differently: he knows he is not the body and that as long as he is in his body he will have to suffer the threefold material miseries. Therefore to decrease his material entanglement and help his advancement in spiritual life, he always minimizes his social and political activities and his eating, sleeping, defending, and mating.