Staunch devotee

Expressions researched:
"staunch devotee" |"staunch devotees" |"staunch, liberal devotee" |"staunch, pure devotee"

SB Canto 1

SB 1.12.25, Translation and Purport:

This child will be like Bali Mahārāja in patience, a staunch devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa like Prahlāda Mahārāja, a performer of many Aśvamedha (horse) sacrifices and a follower of the old and experienced men.

Bali Mahārāja: One of the twelve authorities in the devotional service of the Lord. Bali Mahārāja is a great authority in devotional service because he sacrificed everything to please the Lord and relinquished the connection of his so-called spiritual master who obstructed him on the path of risking everything for the service of the Lord. The highest perfection of religious life is to attain to the stage of unqualified devotional service of the Lord without any cause or without being obstructed by any kind of worldly obligation. Bali Mahārāja was determined to give up everything for the satisfaction of the Lord, and he did not care for any obstruction whatsoever. He is the grandson of Prahlāda Mahārāja, another authority in the devotional service of the Lord. Bali Mahārāja and the history of his dealings with Viṣṇu Vāmanadeva are described in the Eighth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (Chapter 11-24).

SB Canto 2

SB 2.3.15, Purport:

Our spiritual master, who also took his birth in a Vaiṣṇava family, got all inspirations from his great Vaiṣṇava father, Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda. That is the way of all lucky Vaiṣṇava families. The celebrated Mīrā Bāī was a staunch devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa as the great lifter of Govardhana Hill.

The life history of many such devotees is almost the same because there is always symmetry between the early lives of all great devotees of the Lord. According to Jīva Gosvāmī, Mahārāja Parīkṣit must have heard about the childhood pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa at Vṛndāvana, for he used to imitate the pastimes with his young playmates. According to Śrīdhara Svāmī, Mahārāja Parīkṣit used to imitate the worship of the family Deity by elderly members. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī also confirms the viewpoint of Jīva Gosvāmī. So accepting either of them, Mahārāja Parīkṣit was naturally inclined to Lord Kṛṣṇa from his very childhood.

SB Canto 7

SB 7.4.30, Purport:

"In one who has unflinching devotional faith in Kṛṣṇa, all the good qualities of Kṛṣṇa and the demigods are consistently manifest." (SB 5.18.12) Prahlāda Mahārāja is praised herein for having all good qualities because of worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, a pure devotee, who has no motives, has all good qualities, material and spiritual. If one is spiritually advanced, being a staunch, liberal devotee of the Lord, all good qualities are manifest in his body. On the other hand, harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇāḥ: if one is not a devotee, even if he has some materially good qualities, they have no value. That is the verdict of the Vedas.

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 10.11, Purport:

Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura has said, anya-devāśraya nāi, tomāre kahinu bhāi, ei bhakti parama-kāraṇa: if one wants to become a pure, staunch devotee, one should not take shelter of any of the demigods or -goddesses. Foolish Māyāvādīs say that worshiping demigods is as good as worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but that is not a fact. This philosophy misleads people to atheism. One who has no idea what God actually is thinks that any form he imagines or any rascal he accepts can be God. This acceptance of cheap gods or incarnations of God is actually atheism. It is to be concluded, therefore, that those who worship demigods or self-proclaimed incarnations of God are all atheists. They have lost their knowledge, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.20): kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ prapadyante ’nya-devatāḥ.

CC Adi 14.50, Purport:

"To become a staunch, pure devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead without deviation (ananya-bhāk), one should not divert his attention to the worship of the demigods. Such control is a symptom of pure devotional service."

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 3.17, Purport:

As a simple and staunch devotee of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Dāmodara Paṇḍita could not tolerate criticism of the Lord, but unfortunately he himself was criticizing Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in his own way. The Lord could understand that it was because of Dāmodara Paṇḍita's simplicity that he impudently dared criticize Him. Nevertheless, such behavior by a devotee is not very good.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 26:

At this, Lord Caitanya laughed very loudly and embraced the Bhaṭṭācārya with great love.

Thus the Bhaṭṭācārya, who had taken pleasure in explaining Māyāvāda philosophy, became such a staunch devotee that he hated even to utter the word mukti. This is possible only by the causeless mercy of Lord Śrī Caitanya. The Lord is like a touchstone, for by His grace He can turn iron into gold. After the Bhaṭṭācārya's conversion, everyone marked a great change inhim, and they concluded that this change was made possible only by the inconceivable power of Lord Caitanya. Thus they took it for granted that Lord Caitanya was none other than Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 90:

Just as Kṛṣṇa had many sons, grandsons and great-grandsons, each one of the kings named herewith also had similar family extensions. Not only did all of them have many children, but all were extraordinarily rich and opulent. None of them were weak or short-lived, and above all, all the members of the Yadu dynasty were staunch devotees of the brahminical culture. It is the duty of the kṣatriya kings to maintain the brahminical culture and protect the qualified brāhmaṇas, and all these kings discharged their duties rightly. The members of the Yadu dynasty were so numerous that it would be very difficult to describe them all, even if one had a duration of life of many thousands of years. Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī informed Mahārāja Parīkṣit that he had heard from reliable sources that simply to teach the children of the Yadu dynasty there were as many as 38,800,000 tutors, or ācāryas.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 6.47 -- Ahmedabad, December 12, 1972:

A sādhu, the first qualification is he must be a staunch devotee of Kṛṣṇa or God. Whatever you say. That is sādhu. That is the basic definition... Religion means to abide by the orders of God. And sādhu means who is staunchly a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. These are the description of sādhu. Therefore sādhu-saṅga (CC Madhya 22.83) means to associate with devotees, those who are devotees of Kṛṣṇa. That is sādhu-saṅga. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, in another place, says: sādhu-saṅga sādhu-saṅga sarva-śāstre kaya, lava-mātra sādhu-saṅga... Sādhu-saṅga sādhu-saṅga sarva... lava-mātra sādhu-saṅge sarva-siddhi haya (CC Madhya 22.54). Sādhu-saṅga is very important. If we can associate with real sādhu, means real devotee, unadulterated devotee, anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11), then the recommendation is that simply by associating with sādhu all perfection will come.

Lecture on BG 9.4-7 -- New York, November 24, 1966:

Now, before all gentlemen this was done. Then the young man said, "All right, let us now come to agreement that I shall call Kṛṣṇa from Vṛndāvana to give witness in this matter, and when He comes, you'll have to." All the other gentlemen, they also persisted. So there was some agreement. So this boy went again to Vṛndāvana to his Gopāla, and he prayed that "Sir, You have to go with me." He was so staunch devotee, just like talking with friend. He did not think that He's a statue; it is image. He knew God. That was his conviction. So God said, "How do you think that a statue can go with you? I am a statue. I cannot go." Then this boy replied, "Well, if a statue can speak, He can go also." (laughter) Then Kṛṣṇa said, "All right, I shall go with you." Then there was some arrangement that "You will not see Me, but I will go with you. I'll go with you, and you hear, you'll hear the sound of My nūpura."

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.2.16 -- Vrndavana, October 27, 1972:

Siddhānta, to become a pure devotee, a staunch devotee of Kṛṣṇa, one has to learn about Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is, therefore, coming personally to teach us what He is. That is required. Vāsudeva-kathā-ruci (SB 1.2.16). Our life is meant for becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious. Ruci. This ruci is very important thing. Ruci means... Just like we like to eat some favorable food. That is called ruci. Somebody is interested in eating some salty food, somebody's interested some sweet food, spicy food... Just like we have got taste for different types of food, similarly, when we shall increase our taste, propensity for Kṛṣṇa, that is the beginning of our perfection. Before that, we are in the material consciousness. When we increase the taste for Kṛṣṇa, for understanding Kṛṣṇa... This ruci comes when one is actually liberated. This ruci. Tato 'nartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt. First of all, śraddadhānasya. As it is stated here, śraddhā, faith.

Lecture on SB 1.7.40 -- Vrndavana, October 1, 1976:

And the devotee wants to see that "I'll not accept anything from Kṛṣṇa. I shall sacrifice everything for Kṛṣṇa." That is duye lagye hura huri. That is devotee, and that is Kṛṣṇa.

So here is Arjuna. He's being examined by Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa wants to examine His devotees, how staunch devotee he is. Just like the Pāṇḍavas. They were put into so many troubles. They lost their kingdom, they lost their wife-insulted. The wife was endeavored to become naked. Never..., the Pāṇḍavas never said that "Kṛṣṇa, You are our friend. Why we are suffering so many troubles?" Never. Never. This is pure devotee. Kṛṣṇa is always with him. Kṛṣṇa could do anything, but still they never requested. Neither Kuntī nor Pāṇḍavas. This is pure devotion. A pure devotee will never try to take anything from Kṛṣṇa. He will try to give everything to Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 2.3.15 -- Los Angeles, June 1, 1972:

Our spiritual master, who also took his birth in a Vaiṣṇava family, got all inspirations from his great Vaiṣṇava father Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda. That is the way of all lucky Vaiṣṇava families. The celebrated Mira Bhai was a staunch devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa as the great lifter of Govardhana Hill. The life history of many such devotees is almost the same because there is always symmetry between the early lives of all great devotees of the Lord. According to Jīva Gosvāmī, Mahārāja Parīkṣit must have heard about the childhood pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana, for he used to imitate the pastimes with his young playmates.

Lecture on SB 3.25.25 -- Bombay, November 25, 1974:

Ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgaḥ (Cc. Madhya 23.14-15).

And sādhu we have described already in three, four verses. The summary—a sādhu means a devotee. Api cet su-durācāro bhajate mām ananya-bhāk. Ananya-bhāvena, without any deviation, unflinching, staunch devotee, they are called sādhu. So we have to associate with sādhu. Satāṁ prasaṅgāt. When you discuss about Kṛṣṇa with sādhu or devotees, it becomes very pleasing. Satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ (SB 3.25.25). Rasāyanāḥ means there is some taste. Just like you eat something; there is some taste. That is called rasa, or mellow. Then... Just like in the Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa says, raso 'ham apsu kaunteya (BG 7.8). Rasa. Rasa means when you are thirsty, when you drink water, you taste something very nice to quench your thirst. So Kṛṣṇa has instructed that "To begin with, you can think of Me, aham, while you drink water." It is not difficult. Everyone can practice it, so easy thing.

Lecture on SB 6.1.16 -- Denver, June 29, 1975:

To become a staunch devotee of Kṛṣṇa, perfect devotee of Kṛṣṇa, means one has become freed from all reaction of sinful life. Yeṣām anta-gataṁ pāpam. No more committing any sinful activities. And whatever sinful activities he had done in his previous life, that is also negated. That is also made negation. There is no more reaction. Yeṣām tu anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām. So people are engaged either in sinful activities or in pious activities. So those who have not only finished the resultant action of their past sinful activities but at the present moment, they are simply engaged in pious activities, such person, yeṣāṁ tu anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām, te, such person, dvandva-moha-nirmuktā, without any hesitation, without any doubt, bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ. That is the So anyone who is engaged in Kṛṣṇa's service with firm conviction and devotion, it is to be understood that he is now free from all reaction of sinful activities.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 5, 1973:

Everyone has got love for Kṛṣṇa. It is not artificial thing. Everyone has got. Otherwise how these Europeans and American boys and girls (are) taking to this principle? Why they are mad after Kṛṣṇa? Because it was there. It is not... Artificially, you cannot make such thing. It is not possible. Artificially you cannot make a staunch devotee of Kṛṣṇa. That is not possible. Artificially, one day, two days, three days—then goes away. Just like it has become in our country. Our love is now for material happiness. Poverty for the last two thousand years or one, little above, one thousand years, India was foreign-subjugated. So they are now thinking that some way or other, if we can become like Americans, skyscraper buildings, our life will be successful. So they have... Artificially, now... They're killing their own culture and trying to imitate. This is artificial. But this artificial way, one cannot be happy. They'll be frustrated. Just (like) the Americans have become frustrated. They have got enough.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.15 -- Mayapur, April 8, 1975:

Kṛṣṇa is the most expert in this conjugal love. Kṛṣṇa... Therefore we have to submit, surrender to Kṛṣṇa. Suratau paṅgoḥ. We are very much feeble and very slow. And so far our sex impulse is concerned, here is especially mentioned, Madana-mohana. Sex impulse is called Cupid, Madana. But if we become staunch devotee of Kṛṣṇa, this material sex impulse will vanish. Because Cupid becomes, I mean to say, attracted. Even Cupid becomes attracted by Kṛṣṇa. We are attracted by Cupid, but Cupid is attracted by Kṛṣṇa. Therefore His name is Madana-mohana. That is the only remedy.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- October 17, 1975, Johannesburg:

Prabhupāda: So unless one agrees you cannot turn him. It is not possible. Five-years'-old boy, staunch devotee, and the powerful Hiraṇyakaśipu, father, who is threatening with his life and so many ways he tried that "You become atheist, godless. Otherwise I shall kill you." He did not agree. And similarly, the son also solicited the father that "You have got so much power by the grace of God. Why you are becoming atheist?" Both of them could not turn to their side. Prahlāda remained Prahlāda, and Hiraṇyakaśipu remained Hiraṇyakaśipu. (break) ...can expect that without agreeing, conceding, one can be reformed. No, that is not possible. Impossible.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- January 8, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: That's all. So we are trying to do that. Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). It will be accepted by the devotees, not the karmī, jñānī, yogis, no. Only bhaktas. Therefore mad-bhakteṣv abhidhāsyati. So we have got two functions: first of all we are trying to make them bhakta, and then convincing him about this philosophy. Man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ. Without being bhakta, nobody will understand what is yoga. The beginning is bhakto 'si priyo 'si me rahasyam ekam uttamam: (BG 4.3) "Because, Arjuna, you are My bhakta, I'll explain to you. Otherwise it is lost." So without being a bhakta, nobody can understand Bhagavad-gītā. However he may say that "I am very staunch devotee. I am reader of...," he will misunderstand. So here Kṛṣṇa clearly says that "This is the most confidential knowledge. And without being bhakta, nobody will be able to understand."

1976 Correspondence

Letter to Ramesvara -- Vrindaban 7 November, 1976:

The example of Prahlada Maharaja is there. Despite all efforts on the part of his atheistic father to change him, he remained a staunch devotee of the Lord. It is undoubtedly unfortunate circumstances, but why should we jeopardize the reputation of our Movement? You have been handling the affair. Please now rectify the situation. Do everything legally. Do not cause unnecessary troublesome situations. Our main business is to distribute my books and people will come gradually. Everything should be done for that purpose. People will criticize and oppose us, there is no doubt, so why should we create more trouble unnecessarily.