Prabhupāda:
- ato vai kavayo nityaṁ
- bhaktiṁ paramayā mudā
- vāsudeve bhagavati
- kurvanty ātma-prasādanīm
- (SB 1.2.22)
Bhaktim ātma-prasādanīm. Devotional service is ātmā, means self, or mind also, even body. Ātmā means the body, this mind and the self also. So ātma-prasādanīm means if you want to satisfy your mind, if you want to satisfy your self, or even you want to satisfy your body . . .
we are living in three stages: bodily concept of life, mental concept of life and spiritual concept of life. Those who are grossly in ignorance, they are thinking in terms of bodily concept of life. Those who are little more advanced, they are thinking in terms of mental or psychological concept of life.
And those who are still more advanced, they are thinking in terms of spiritual concept of life. The spiritual concept of life, as it is described before: vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam (SB 1.2.11). Tattvam means truth. The truth is spirit, not this matter. Matter is truth, subordinate to spirit. On the basis of spirit, the matter grows, just like our body has grown on the basis of our spiritual existence.