Text 39
śrutvā sthūlaṁ tathā sūkṣmaṁ
rūpaṁ bhagavato yatiḥ
sthūle nirjitam ātmānaṁ
śanaiḥ sūkṣmaṁ dhiyā nayed iti
śrutvā — after hearing of (from the disciplic succession); sthūlam — gross; tathā — as well as; sūkṣmam — subtle; rūpam — form; bhagavataḥ — of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; yatiḥ — a sannyāsī or devotee; sthūle — the gross form; nirjitam — conquered; ātmānam — the mind; śanaiḥ — gradually; sūkṣmam — the subtle, spiritual form of the Lord; dhiyā — by intelligence; nayet — one should lead it to; iti — thus.
One who is interested in liberation, who accepts the path of liberation and is not attracted to the path of conditional life, is called yati, or a devotee. Such a person should first control his mind by thinking of the virāṭ-rūpa, the gigantic universal form of the Lord, and then gradually think of the spiritual form of Kṛṣṇa [sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha] after hearing of both forms. Thus one’s mind is fixed in samādhi. By devotional service one can then realize the spiritual form of the Lord, which is the destination of devotees. Thus his life becomes successful.
It is said, mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ: if one wants to progress on the path of liberation, he should associate with mahātmās, or liberated devotees, because in such association there is a full chance for hearing, describing and chanting about the name, form, qualities and paraphernalia of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all of which are described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. On the path of bondage, one eternally undergoes the repetition of birth and death. One who desires liberation from such bondage should join the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and thus take advantage of the opportunity to hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from devotees and also explain it to propagate Kṛṣṇa consciousness.