Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.7.51-52
29.01.03, St. Petersburg

nalam dvijatvam devatvam
risitvam vasuratmjah
prinayana mukundasya
na vrittam na bahu-jnata

na danam na tapo nejya
na saucam na vratani ca
priyate 'malaya bhaktya
harir anyad vidambanam

My dear friends, O sons of the demons, you cannot please the Supreme Personality of Godhead by becoming perfect brahmanas, demigods or great saints or by becoming perfectly good in etiquette or vast learning. None of these qualifications can awaken the pleasure of the Lord. Nor by charity, austerity, sacrifice, cleanliness or vows can one satisfy the Lord. The Lord is pleased only if one has unflinching, unalloyed devotion to Him. Without sincere devotional service, everything is simply a show.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Prahlada Maharaja concludes that one can become perfect by serving the Supreme Lord sincerely by all means. Material elevation to life as a brдamaлa, demigod, risi and so on are not causes for developing love of Godhead, but if one sincerely engages in the service of the Lord, his Krishna consciousness is complete. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (9.30):

api cet su-duracaro
bhajate mam ananya-bhak
sadhur eva sa mantavyah
samyag vyavasito hi sah

"Even if one commits the most abominable actions, if he is engaged in devotional service he is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated." To develop unalloyed love for Krishna is the perfection of life. Other processes may be helpful, but if one does not develop his love for Krishna, these other processes are simply a waste of time.

dharmah svanusthitah pumsam
visvaksena-kathasu yah
notpadayed yadi ratim
srama eva hi kevalam

"Duties [dharma] executed by men, regardless of occupation, are only so much useless labor if they do not provoke attraction for the message of the Supreme Lord." (Bhag. 1.2.8) The test of perfection is one's unalloyed devotion to the Lord.

LECTURE

As we explained yesterday Prahlada Maharaj had a great fortune to receive spiritual knowledge when he was in the womb of his mother. It is amazing that Prahlada retained everything he heard in the womb even after he took birth. There are twelve Mahajans or spiritual authorities. These are twelve personalities that are authorized to describe the principles of religion and one of the twelve is Prahlada.

svayambhur naradah sambhuh
kumarah kapilo manuh
prahlado janako bhismo
balir vaiyasakir vayam

We find in the Sixth Canto the twelve Maharanis described by Yamaraj. So Prahlada's words are to be taken seriously. Therefore we should have Prahlada as one of our heroes. In material world everyone has some hero or the other. I imagine it is true in your country also. Come into every youngster's living room. Sometimes we have opportunity to visit homes of our devotees in America or India. Their rooms are full of posters of sports-stars or pop-stars. I imagine that's true in your country too. In material world everyone is trying to have a hero, have someone to worship. Just like in your country at one time Lenin was everyone's hero. You had Lenin's picture everywhere, his murtis everywhere. You are living in a society where everyone has some hero or the other. We also have heroes and heroines. We have plenty of heroines in our history too. We have Draupadi, we have Gandhari, Queen Kunti. We have heroes and heroines but they are all explained in the Srimad Bhagavatam. Prahlada is one of our heroes and Prahlad's instructions are very valuable for entire humanity.
In this verse Prahlada is telling us how one can please the Supreme Lord. What is important is that we please the Lord. Prahlada makes it clear that the Lord can be pleased only by unflinching devotional service. When we hear about pure devotional service, unalloyed devotional service, unflinching devotional service sometimes even devotees get scared. Devotees say, "Oh, I am never going to attain that stage. I am so contaminated, how is that possible in this age?" If you go on the right path gradually you will come to that stage of perfection. But if from the very beginning you go on a wrong path you will never reach your destination.
Let's say you go from here to Vladivostok. It is another end of the country. At least if you get on a right train you will eventually reach your destination. It may take you seven days but you will reach your destination. But if you get on a wrong train then It may take you seven days but you will reach your destination. But if you get on a wrong train then you will never reach your destination. So at least we are getting on the right path. That is we know the standard we have to come up to. And if we stay on this path the impossible becomes possible.
When I first came to St. Petersburg in 1976 there was not even one devotee. For the fist time I came to St. Petersburg in 1976 to present Prabhupada's books to different libraries. And the only ones who were interested were all these scholars. There weren't any devotees around at that time. But gradually due to the preaching of devotees the devotee population then expanded everywhere. Just like at the recent Divnomorsk festival there were at least about 3,000 devotees from the all of CIS. The point is people are taking to the path if they realize, yes, pure devotional service is the only means to satisfy the Lord.
Now, in the material world if you satisfy somebody else you will not necessarily get satisfied. For example when you work in a company or somewhere you try to please your boss. Everyone has a boss some way or another. Even if you are in an independent business you still have a boss. You boss is the customer. You have to please customer or you will loose your transaction. Sometimes a person works very hard to please his superior at work. The superior will always say, you are not working hard enough, and the junior will always say, I am trying my best. This is universal truth all over the world. You work very hard to please your boss and so on but that does not mean that you get pleased. This is a one-way traffic. But when you endeavor to please the Lord then by this endeavor of pleasing the Lord you also get pleased. That is the difference between devotional endeavor and material endeavor. Materially does not matter how hard you try you can never please everyone. You may please one person but displease another person. But spiritually, when you endeavor to please the Lord you also please yourself. And if we don't endeavor to please the Lord, does not matter how much material success you have you can never be happy.
Once different parts of the body had a meeting and said, "Why should the stomach be the enjoyer of all the pizzas and cakes?" So they decided to go on strike. The eyes said, "The moment we see these pizzas and cakes we are going to close ourselves". And the legs decided, "We are not going to walk towards the kitchen". They all decided to starved the stomach. And what happened? They all discovered gradually that they were all getting week. They said, "Why are we getting week all of a sudden?" And they discovered that they stopped feeding the stomach. Then they resumed feeding the stomach and when they did that then different parts of the body all got energetic. Similarly when we engage in unflinching devotional service by pleasing the Lord the soul gets the same benefit or pleasure. Otherwise why would people take to Krishna consciousness. Generally people take to something for the following reasons: they are getting paid. Why do people do jobs? Because they are getting paid. So they don't mind working even if the boss is hellish. Or they believe in an ideology. Or they are being forced by somebody to it. Like people do in labor camps. But the reason people take to Krishna consciousness is that they find the process satisfying. So it is not that this philosophy has no response, it has the response amongst the sincere seekers of self-realization.
Prahlada Maharaj is saying that if you want to please the Lord unflinching devotional service is the best path. He says that even if the brahmanas, even if you are a brahman it does not mean that you automatically please the Lord. Brahmanas are very proud of their so-called intellectual understanding. But they may not have devotion. And to have devotion you don't need any material requisites. Then there are people who perform a lot of austerity. Just like there are some yogis who in Summer surround themselves with hot fires and in Winter go to extremely cold Ganga and sit there for hours and hours. But that alone is not enough. Then people like giving charity. There are different types of charity. There is mundane charity, spiritual charity. The highest charity is to give people knowledge by which they can be liberated from samsara of birth and death.
What is being stated by Prahlada Maharaj is what we really need to cultivate is the process of pure devotional service in order to please the Lord and without devotional service everything is completely a waste of time. Just like in the First Canto it is stated

dharmah svanusthitah pumsam
visvaksena-kathasu yah
notpadayed yadi ratim
srama eva hi kevalam

that the occupational duty that does not help you to develop love for the Lord is simply a waste of time. This is the standard or yardstick by which we perceive if this particular activity is going to help me in my spiritual advancement or not. If something is going to help we accept it, if something is detrimental we reject it.
In Caitanya-caritamrita Lord Caitanya explains to Sanatana Goswami the process of saranagati. Saranagati means to surrender, surrender to whom? Everyone is surrendered in some way or the other. Most people are surrendered to the senses. Those who are surrendered to the senses are called godasas. And those who are surrendered to the master of the senses are called goswamis. We have to graduate from the stage of godasa to goswami. Some of you may say, "Oh, I thought goswami is only for the sannyasis, not for grihasthas or us". No, we want you to get to the stage where you become goswamis and stop remaining godasas.
Prahlada Maharaj has explained that the purpose of life is to engage in devotional service. Prahlada Maharaj gives a nice example of fruits and flowers. Fruits and flowers in the tree undergo six different types of transformation. They first take birth, then they grow then they maintain themselves, then there is transformation, then there is dwindling and finally vanishing. So fruits and flowers in the tree, does not matter which part of the world they are growing in undergo these six types of transformations. Similarly the spirit soul when receives the body also undergoes these six different kinds of transformation. But there is no change for the spirit soul. This is confirmed in the second chapter of the Gita and many other places. Just like fruits and flowers go through these different types of transformation, so the living entity's body go through these six different stages.
It is amazing how true the scriptural teachings are. Does not matter whether you are in Russia, or America or India, everyone's body goes through these six stages of transformation. Similarly one who is intelligent can see that my body is eventually going to dwindle and disappear but the spiritual spark is going to stay on. Therefore one who is intelligent will use his life correctly.
Is any one of you a geologist? A geologist can understand where is gold. He digs a little bit and can understand whether there is gold. Just like geologists can identify where is oil where are other mineral resources. Similarly, one who has spiritual understanding can understand that within the human body there is a spirit soul and then by cultivating spiritual knowledge one can perfect ones' spiritual life. But one who is not a geologist he cannot identify where the gold is. He can go on digging everywhere hoping, I will find gold, I will find gold but he is not going to find gold whereas a geologist knows where to dig and he will find gold. Similarly, by cultivating spiritual knowledge in the association of devotees we can understand how to execute spiritual life.
In the Caitanya Caritamrita we hear of the following story. There was once a poor man who was very morose. One astrologer once came to his house. "Hey, why are you so sad?" "I am a poor man, I have no money". "Oh, you don't know? Your father died in a foreign land and left behind a great fortune for you! Your father died in a foreign land and he could not tell you where this fortune is". The anxious poor man told the astrologer, "Please, tell me where is my father's wealth". The astrologer said, "Dig on the Eastern side of your house. Don't dig on the Southern side or the Northern side or the Western side. Dig on the Eastern side". What rises on the East? The Sun is rising from the East. Sun rises and what does it destroy? Darkness. Nobody likes when it is really dark for long. We have materialists and spiritualists, nobody likes darkness. Spiritualists love the rising Sun because it is time to get up, do mangala-arati and chant japa. As the Sun rises the darkness gets destroyed. So the astrologer told the poor man, "Dig for your fortune on the Eastern side of your house". So by taking to the process of Krishna consciousness which is compared to the Sun that destroys darkness one can find real satisfaction.
One who has not cultivated spiritual knowledge cannot understand how the soul can live in the body. For him it's a mystery. When you talk to you friend or relative and tell him how there is a soul in the body they don't believe it because they have not cultivated spiritual knowledge. If you don't cultivate spiritual knowledge how are you going to get the right understanding? If you have never been to a medical school how are you going to become a doctor? If you have never been to an engineering college how are you going to become an engineer? Similarly if you have never cultivated spiritual knowledge how are you going to realize that there is a spiritual spark in the body, and this spark is eternal whereas that body is perishable. Just like the expert geologist has education and thus can identify where is gold, similarly if you have cultivated spiritual knowledge through the hearing process you can identify that there is a soul in the body.
Cultivation of spiritual knowledge from authentic sources is a must for spiritual advancement. There are so many people who claim to give spiritual knowledge. But our business is to make sure what is genuine and consistent with the teachings of the Lord. Spiritual knowledge comes from the perfect personality namely God. In our case He incarnated as Vyasadeva to give us these vast Vedic literatures and had spiritual knowledge to come through a chain of disciplic succession. It should be given by perfect, realized personality. We have to get out from our position of deep sleep and come to the position of wakefulness.
There is a very nice prayer by a great sage called Thakur Bhaktivinode. Thakur Bhaktivinode was a very learned personality. He was also materially very very qualified. He has taken his birth in a very aristocratic family and he was qualified as a lawyer. He became a great, high quality judge. Thakur Bhaktivinode wrote a prayer called jiv jago. Some of you may have read it. He said,
jiv jago, jiv jago, gauracandra bole
kota nidra jao maya pisacira kole
"Oh, living entity, please get up! Get up and understand your spiritual responsibility. You have been sleeping on the lap of the which known as maya for so long! So you should get up". And he says, that your only real friend is a devotee of the Lord who is trying to remind you of your constitutional position. Just like we like to think we have so many friends. Everyone loves to know, "Oh, I have so many friends!" But who is your real friend. Your real friend is not who lives by the principle "I scratch your back, you scratch my back". Do you know the principle "I scratch your back, you scratch my back? Sometimes what happens, someone who is falling in maya, he associates with others who are also in the same boat and they help each other sink.
Your real friend is one who stops you from slipping down from the spiritual path. Just like if you are walking in a group of friends and suppose somebody is slipping on the ice, there will be somebody who will hold him. ami bina bandhu are ke acche tomara. I am your only real friend because the only real friend is one who is helping you on the bath back to Godhead. So from a deep sleep you have to come to the position of wakefulness. Deep sleep refers to the position where we are in complete ignorance. Then by spiritual association one gets woken up to one's spiritual responsibilities. Our intelligence is polluted, mind is polluted, senses are polluted therefore one has to come to the wakeful stage. By spiritual association, by hearing about spiritual knowledge one comes to the wakefulness condition. Prahlada Maharaj is very straightforward in his preaching. Of course, one may preach according to time and circumstances but Prahlada Maharaj was very blunt. He said, "My dear friends, your real business is to become Krishna conscious because unless you become Krishna conscious you cannot burn the seeds of fruitive activities and enjoying mentality". We all have this enjoying mentality. We all want the fruits of our work. We are born in ignorance, we live in ignorance and most people die in ignorance. And in case of devotees, no doubt, they are born in ignorance but hopefully they live in enlightenment. And if we live in enlightenment then what is the next step? We die in enlightenment also.
Just like the Vedas say, ante narayana smriti. Ante means 'the end', smriti means 'to remember', narayana means 'the Lord'. The Vedas say that the perfection of life is when at the end of life we can think of Krishna. How to achieve that stage? Do you think it is easy? It is not so difficult. Can we expect to pass an exam if you haven't studied throughout? Unless you cheat. Do people cheat in Russia? Is that common in that country? I heard sometimes you can get your examination papers for a donation. Anyway, in the material world people can cheat. As Bhaktisiddhantaji used to say, it is a world of cheaters and cheated. Everyone is trying to cheat everyone. But you cannot cheat spiritually.
So Prahlada Maharaj told his classmates, that you can only burn the fruitive tendencies by taking to Krishna consciousness. And unless one takes to devotional service his ignorance will not be dissipated. It is very simple, you are in ignorance or in enlightenment. Either there is darkness or there is light there is no intermediate path.
krsna - surya-sama; maya haya andhakara
yahan krsna, tahan nahi mayara adhikara
Wherever there is Krishna there is no room for maya just like wherever there is sunshine there is no room for darkness. And as you take to devotional service your ignorance begins to get eradicated, weekend, reduced. It is said that by taking by taking to the process of devotional service one can destroy one's ignorance.
The Bhagavatam recommends the process of devotional service. It recommends that we get out of our position of deep sleep and come to wakefulness. Our goal is ante narayana smriti. By this process of devotional service and these practices we can also ensure that we will be able to remember Krishna at the end of the life. Therefore the scriptures say, always remember the Lord. What will be the gain from taking to the process of devotional service? We can curb down the influence of our enimies. You may say, I have no enemies. Is there anyone here who have no enemies? Our problem is we don't know who is our friend and who is our enemy. If only we could identify enemies our life would be a lot easier.
Our first enemy is lust. Arjuna asked Krishna, how is one compelled into sinful act even unwillingly? What did Krishna say?

kama esa krodha esa
rajo-guna-samudbhavah
mahasano maha-papma
viddhy enam iha vairinam

Krishna says, it is lust, the all-devouring enemy of the living entity which is always burning like fire and is never being satiated. Dou you know what they do when an elephant gets lusty? They take him to a cold water. When an elephant gets into cold water his lust goes away. But this will probably not going to work in case of a human being. So our first enemy is lust. Then there is another enemy, Mr. Anger. Mr. Anger is our enemy number two. Then there is another enemy. That's not all. If we had only two enemies to worry about it would not be so bad. There is another powerful enemy, greed. Have you heard of greed? Are people greedy in Russia or all greedy people live in India and America? Narada Muni instructed Yudhisthira Maharaja as follows. A hungry man can be satisfied when he gets food to eat. An angry man is satisfied after he has shouted. If you are angry at someone, if you shout at him and he listens to you and offers you a dandavat then your anger is gone. And if you are intelligent you will say, "Oh, why was I angry at this man, he is such nice gentleman". Narada Muni said, a hungry man is satisfied when he gets food to eat, an angry man is satisfied after he has shouted, a thirsty man is satisfied after he gets water to drink but a greedy man can never be satisfied. There are so many greedy people all over the world whose all interest is their own wealth. To get their own wealth they can do everything. They will get wars started all over the world. Why? Because the biggest business in the world is armament, and people won't buy armament if everything is peaceful. You will only buy arms for self-defense. So they want to make sure there is enough tension in the world so that people keep buying armament. A greedy man will do anything to get what he wants.
Greed is our enemy number three but that is not all. There is also an enemy number four. It is a very powerful enemy - illusion. Illusion means you accept false to be real and real to be false. Spiritual life is a reality. But in illusion you think, "No, it is too early for me. I have plenty of time. Just like Pariksit Maharaj had seven days notice, I am going to have seven years notice. I will have enough time to prepare for my future". But that's illusion. What's real becomes false and what's false becomes real. Material happiness is like a bubble. It is false. A bubble can burst any time. Material happiness is sweet in the beginning but it is bitter in the end. Just like chewing gum. Hopefully you don't eat chewing gum any more. Chewing gum is sweet in the beginning but at the end it becomes bitter and you have to trrow it out. That's what material happiness is. Due to the influence of enemy number four namely illusion spiritual life which is real appears false and what is false appears real. When you hear the words of the spiritual master for your spiritual advancement you are thinking, 'Oh, it's too early for me".
Then there is another enemy that you have. It is madness. People really become mad, obsessed with material desires, goals. Dou know, in reality more and more people today are becoming mad than ever in history? All mental asylums are full because more and more people are becoming mad. United Nations has a body called World Health Organization. They have predicted last year that mental diseases are going to be the fastest growing diseases in the world for the next few decades. People are becoming really mad. It is not a joke. They are getting more and more mental diseases. And one of the main reasons of these diseases, we have discussed this with many doctors also, is they have such powerful needs and ambitions. Under the capitalist economy advertisement industry creates such a strong appetite for different things. And when you have this strong appetite, I want this new car, nice stereo, latest clothes, latest make-up and you don't have the recourses you become mad. This how one begins to get mentally disturbed.
Then there a sixth enemy, jealousy. We all have six enemies for granted. Besides these six we may have a bigger list. This bhakta is my enemy or that bhakta is my enemy. But these six are guaranteed. Prahlada Maharaj says, we all have these six enemies which can only be brought under control through the power of devotional service. It is only the power of devotional service that will help us to minimize the influence of these enemies. If you try any other process these enemies will not be controlled. Yoga is the process by which these enemies can be brought under control. Therefore by the practice of devotional service which begins with attentive chanting the holy name we can see ourselves how these enemies can be brought under control. This is not some utopian concept, this is a practical concept which can be practiced in any corner of the world.
When we engage in devotional service through the medium of your mind, intelligence and the words then the senses also get satisfied. For example we hear the holy names of the Lord. We hear the philosophy of the Lord. We hear Krishna-katha. All this helps us in counteracting the influence of these enemies. This is a proven method of self-realization. It is not something that has been concocted. Someone may say, 'Perhaps it was proven in the old days, not in the modern days'. No, even in the modern Russia it is being proven. There are so many very nice devotees in your country everywhere you travel. There are of course some week once but there are also many very good devotees. In every situation you will have some who are fixed up devotees, very serious, some who are struggling and some who don't have the strength and determination to practice. If one is serious about looking for good association he will definitely find good association in every situation. And if you are looking for week association you will also find that in every situation. The choice or freedom is ours.
Just like in the second chapter of the Gita Arjuna told Krishna, 'Now I am confused about my duty. Please instruct me as to what is best for me'. Krishna began to speak the Bhagavad-gita and in concluding chapter He said, 'Arjuna, is your illusion now gone?' What did Arjuna say? 'Yes, my illusion is now gone'. And then what did Krishna say? 'Now do as you see best'. In other words Krishna does not force us on the devotional path. Sometimes people say, devotees say, 'If Krishna is the supreme controller why did He create maya. If there were no maya, if there were no six enemies Maharaj has just spoke to us devotional service would be so easy'. Yes? It would be so easier if there never had bee six enemies there to bother you at every step. Maya is there but Krishna is giving us the choice. He does not want to force us in devotional service, rather he lets us examine and make a wise decision.
The cycle of birth and death is like the wheel that is moving up and down. This wheel will stop moving or the samsara of birth and death will stop only when you get connected to the Lord through the medium of devotional service. We should not forget our position, relationships, ambitions are temporary. We can see in front of us so many powerful personalities have come and gone. You can se with your own eyes there was a big movie star, big actor, big scientist, big politician and then they are gone. Therefore what benefit can you get from these things that will not give you the ultimate sense of satisfaction? One who understands that he is eternal, one who understands that the spirit soul is eternal can see that everything is perishable and I should only hanker for those activities that bring eternal benefit. Caitanya Caritamrita teaches us that that there are two categories of activities: sreyas and preyas - those which are ultimately beneficial and those which are immediately beneficial. If you are buying something what do you normally look for? Something which will last for one day or for a longer period? One who is intelligent will be engaging in activities which are beneficial in a long run.
Prahlada Maharaj said, puhah punas carvita carvananam - the material society consists of people who are simply chewing the chewed. Do you know what it means, simply chewing the chewed? I tried so many things, like in India you have shops where they make sugar cane juice. You may have seen this, those who have been in India. They take the sugar cane and after extracting juice they throw it. Then some poor man comes, picks it up and tries to extract juice. What does he get? Maybe a drop. Similarly, material society is simply chewing the chewed. For example, regularly you see new cigarette brands come up in the market. In 99% of the cases it the same cigarette but with a different brand and new packaging. Everything is the same. Just the brand and the packaging changes and what do people think? 'Oh, that brand did not satisfy me but this brand will'. You watch movies, whatever you do in material life, we have tried so many things, they did not satisfy us but we think, the next thing will satisfy us. One who is intelligent understands that unless you take to spiritual life nothing is really going to satisfy you.
So, Prahlada Maharaj says, the Lord is most pleased when one engages in unalloyed, unflinching devotional service. All the paraphernalia related to the body become when the body is gone. Because of the ignorance we think they are valuable. But compared to the ocean of eternal happiness the so-called material happiness is insignificant because we are eternal and happiness we need is eternal, spiritual happiness. Let say in the material life you get happiness for ten, twenty, fifty, sixty years. What is that compared to thousands of years of eternal happiness? But the problem is, the materialists think there is nothing beyond this body, so they don't have the vision of eternity. A devotee has the vision of eternity. He believes in eternity, he knows there is eternal life, he knows there is eternal happiness and hence when he engages in devotional service this concept becomes solidified. Initially we may not be in a very elevated position but by hearing spiritual knowledge from authorized sources one can get the determination to engage in pure devotional service.
Prahlada Maharaja's instructions are very clear that only by unalloyed, unflinching devotional service will the Lord be pleased and as we said earlier God helps those who help themselves. Do you believe in that? If you have faith in that that Krishna is there to help me. Like Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita, 'To those who worship Me with devotion, I preserve what they have and make up what they lack'. If you have faith in what Krishna says, if you take to the process, even if you have unlimited shortcomings then Krishna will help to overcome them. Krishna is anxious to help you. Sometimes devotees say, 'Oh, does Krishna has the time for me?' Yes, He has plenty of time for you. Krishna is anxiously waiting for each one of us. He is anxious to guide each one of us on the path back to Godhead.
Just like in the purport on the verse you read Prabhupada quotes the verse from the ninth chapter of the Bhagavad-gita. Even if one commits the most abominable action if he engage on the path of devotional service he is to be considered saintly. One who is on devotional path but accidentally he gets distracted, Krishna says, such a person should be considered saintly because he is engaged on the right path. But this should not mean that we intentionally keep on falling down taking advantage of this verse. That's why you have the story of Ajamila, how because he studied spiritual knowledge seriously at one time and then got distracted, how he got saved at the moment of death by the Visnudutas.
Somebody may say, 'How if I will act like Ajamila. I have done devotional service for six-seven years now. I have a great record. Now I will have to get distracted, I will go to the forest an on the way back I will follow in Ajamila's footsteps. And then at the moment of death I will say, "Narayana!" and the Visnududas will come to save me'. Why is it that you cannot do this? Because you don't have a son named Narayan? If you don't have a son named Narayana then adopt one! You can all have an adopted son and call him Narayana. But that's not going to work. If you do this it will be a seventh offense, committing sins on the strength of our chanting. No doubt Ajamila fell down but at the same time he was chanting the names of Narayana because we would always call his youngest son. But Ajamila was not chanting the name of Narayan with intention of offsetting his sins. Therefore his chanting was not committing sins on the strength of chanting. This is explained by the great sage Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur. Whereas if we wanted to duplicate this it would be committing sins on the strength of chanting. The power of devotional service is so strong that on this path even if you make a little mistake the power of devotion protects you.
To summarize the verse, Prahlada Maharaj is revealing the following. He is saying, the Lord is most pleased when we engage in unflinching devotional service. Without sincere devotional service everything is just a waste of time, and austerities, charity, brahmanas are not able to satisfy the Lord if they are not connected with pure devotional service. And to do pure devotional service there are no requisites. Just like if you want to become a member of any club around the world, before they want to know how rich you are. If you are not rich enough you cannot become a member. But Krishna has no requisites. You don't have to be a millionaire to become a devotee. You can be a man of the street also. You don't have to have a big educational degree. If you have it's okay but it is not absolutely necessary. You don't need to have a certain beauty standard before becoming a devotee. Krishna says, patram puspam phalam toyam, yo me bhaktya prayacchati - offer Me just a leaf with devotion. Patram means leaf, offer a tulasi leaf. Does it cost too lot? Costs almost nothing. Puspam, flower. Doesn't much? Phalam, fruit. Offer any fruit. You don't have to worry about offering expensive mangos, you can offer the cheapest fruits. Toyam, water. You don't have to worry about mineral water, you can offer ordinary tap water. Krishna says, offer Me a leaf or water with love and I will accept that.
So the devotional service is the easiest path of self-realization. It works because it gives you an opportunity to engage the mind, the body and the senses. There are six enemies that we identified are working on us through the mind, through the intelligence and through the senses. And they can be controlled through the medium of devotional service because in this process the mind, body and senses are engaged in the service to the Lord. And unless you engage in the service to the Lord these enemies will always be a disturbing factor.
Prahlada Maharaja's instructions are for the entire humanity and we have to take advantage of them. Hare Krishna.

Q: What is spiritual charity and what is material charity?
A: Good question. Spiritual charity is giving transcendental knowledge. Just like an advanced devotee gives knowledge to those who are less advanced. He tells people, 'You are not this body. Please take to devotional service'. Material charity takes on different forms. You meet a drunk man on the street, he says, 'I want vodka, come on'. You give him some money to buy a bottle of vodka. This is an example of mundane charity. Then there are other types, you open a hospital, open a school.