26 QUALITIES OF A PURE DEVOTEE,
(Sri Caitanya Caritamrita (Madhya Lila 22. 78-80):
krpalu, akrta-droha, satya-sara sama
nidosa, vadanya, mrdu, suci, akincana
sarvopakaraka, santa, krsnaika-sarana
akama, aniha, sthira, vijita-sad-guna
mita-bhuk, apramatta, manada, amani
gambhira, karuna, maitra, kavi, daksa, mauni
1:
KIND TO EVERYONE
The devotee is merciful because he is the well-wishing friend of
all living entities. He is not only favourably inclined to the human society
but also to plants and animals. He treats all living entities in such a way
that they can ultimately become free from material bondage and go back
home, back to Godhead.
2: HUMBLE, DOES NOT QUARREL WITH ANYONE
To be humble means that one is not hankering to be worshiped
by others. Humility should not be artificial but honest, deep, and
natural. It will develop when the conditioned soul admits its wrong
attitude towards Krsna and prays to Him for forgiveness and to be
allowed to always engage in His devotional service.
3: TRUTHFUL, FIXED IN THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH
The primary truthfulness for a disciple to keep his vow of
following the regulative principles and chanting 16 rounds of japa
every day. Also, a devotee should not perform any illegal activities and
he should always act in Krsna's interest and not in his own in order to
remain fixed in the absolute truth.
4:
EQUAL TO EVERYONE
A devotee sees the soul and the Supersoul in everyone's heart
and treats every living entity according to its position and in a way that
is most beneficial for its spiritual progress.
5:
FAULTLESS
A devotee, who in words, deeds, and mind is always
surrendered to Krsna and who executes Krsna's desire to the best of his
ability is considered to be faultless.
6: CHARITABLE
A devotee is charitable because he knows that love for Krsna
is the best, and he distributes it without selfish motives. His charity has
no limits, just like the happiness someone experiences who got the gift
of Krsna consciousness.
7: MILD
A devotee avoids illusory, materialistic happiness, and thus is
spared from the suffering which is bound to it. He always remains
peaceful, because he is satisfied within Krsna consciousness.
8
CLEAN, PURE
The Krsna conscious movement is meant for purifying the world
in a revolutionary way-by hygienic external principles as well as by
chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra which purifies the heart.
9: SIMPLE, WITHOUT MATERIAL POSSESSION
The highest realization is to see everything as Krsna's property.
The sincere devotee is not only satisfied to see everything as Krsna's
property, but also to engage everything in a proper way in Krsna's
service.
10: BENEVOLENT
Since Krsna-consciousness effects the heart of every living
entity, the welfare work of a devotee is not restricted to a specific
race, species, etc., but for the benefit of all living entities.
11: PEACEFUL
To be peaceful does not mean to physically maintain idyllic
peace but to experience real peace in one's relationship with Krsna.
Only someone who has realized that there is nothing beyond Krsna can
achieve real peace and fearlessness.
12:
COMPLETELY ATTACHED TO KRISHNA
Devotion to Krsna is neither sentimental nor whimsical but
authorized and scientific. By practicing devotional service we can learn
to surrender properly. Complete surrender to Krsna is the goal of
every devotee because he wants to become free from material desires
in order to serve Krsna more and more. Complete surrender to Krsna is
the most important of all qualities to be developed.
13: DESIRELESS
When one is fully engaged in devotional service, one realizes
that all one's desires are satisfied. Thus one does not have any material
desire anymore. One only desires to serve guru and Krsna.
14: INDIFFERENCE TOWARDS MATERIAL POSSESSIONS
A devotee may use things in Krsna's service but he does not
become attached to or dependent on them. He may serve Krsna with
millions of dollars by opening temples, printing books, etc. However, he
is also satisfied when he does not have any material assets and then
simply chants Hare Krsna.
15: STEADY, FIXED
The realizations of a devotee should be so profound that his
dedication to his spiritual master and Krsna cannot be influenced
anymore by various temptations, suffering or opposing philosophies.
16: SELF-CONTROLLED
There are six bad qualities, namely lust, anger, greed, illusion,
madness and envy. A pure devotee controls these bad qualities by
engaging in Krsna's service. These qualities cannot be left behind in an
artificial way but it can be easily counteracted with transcendental
knowledge and transcendental taste arising from one's devotional
service.
17: DOES NOT EAT MORE THAN REQUIRED
Lord Krsna explains in the Bhagavad-gita that a yogi does not
eat too much nor too little. This means practically exactly as much as he
can easily digest. According to Ayurveda, one's stomach should be
filled with 1/2 food, 1/4 water, and 1/4 air.
18: SANE
A devotee is never intoxicated by material enjoyment. He
reduces his requirements to a minimum and offers his whole life to
Krsna. In this way he is completely balanced.
19: RESPECTFUL
A devotee offers respect to others without expecting
anything in return. He respects everyone as part of Krsna and
treats them accordingly.
20: HAS NO MATERIAL HANKERING
A devotee is not attracted by material possessions which help
us to gain a prestigious position. He sees everything attractive in this
world as a reflection of Krsna, the all-attractive cause of all causes.
21: GRAVE
Although we lead a happy life in Krsna consciousness, we are
always conscious that the material existence can be finished at any time
and that the way back home, back to Godhead is not cheap. To be
grave means that the devotee is constantly thinking of Krsna and the
ultimate goal of life.
22: COMPASSIONATE
The essence of compassion is the distribution of transcendental
knowledge. The basis of it are Srila Prabhupada's books and the force
behind it is our purity.
23: KIND TO EVERYONE
A devotee is friendly because he leads everyone
to Krsna, who is the best friend of all living entities.
24: POETIC
A devotee is even poetic if he is not literarily
active because he is able to connect everything with
Krsna's transcendental nature.
25: SILENT
Silence means that one only speaks about Krsna
and not about material topics.
26: EXPERT
The essence of the expertise of a devotee is that
he can do anything for Krsna. The best expertise is to
surrender to Krsna.