Live Caitanya Caritamrta · CC Madhya 12.194
Devotional Service Is Not Material Activity
“One who participates in Your impersonal monistic philosophy does not accept anything but the one Brahman.”
What the purport teaches
- The impersonal monist accepts only the one Brahman, rather than accepting God as the only object of worship and living entities as His eternal servants.
- Monists hold that God and the devotee may be separate in the material state but have no difference when spiritually situated. This is called advaita-siddhānta.
- Monists consider devotional service material activity, the same as karma, or fruitive activity. The purport calls this mistake a great stumbling block on the road to devotional service.
Try this today
Before one devotional activity today, pause to remember God as the object of worship and yourself as His eternal servant.
Ask yourself
How does remembering that living entities are God’s eternal servants shape my understanding of devotional service?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport; the practice and question are plain words for trying the verse today.