If one’s nature doesn’t change even after purification then how is a pure devotee transcendental?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
And then take the decision accordingly.
Question. If one’s basic nature doesn’t change, then how does one become a pure devotee? And does a pure devotee still have one’s material nature? Actually, pure devotion is a state of the heart. It is a characteristic of the soul.
It doesn’t have necessarily anything to do with the nature of the body. That means we may have a particular conception of pure devotee. Maybe somebody is sanyasi and eating very simply and this and this.
That sort of conceptions we may have. But that is not necessarily the same it is. We see there is a difference between Bhakti Sahasrara Kuru and Sri Prabhupada himself.
It is said that Bhakti Sahasrara Kuru would mix all the food that he ate together so that his tongue would not want sense gratification. And Prabhupada would not even mix rice and dal. He says everything is individual.
I want to taste it individually. He was tasting Krishna when he was taking rice and dal also. So now there can be variety within pure devotees.
So the basic nature which is there, the body and the mind, they can be the source of bondage, they can be the source of liberation and then they can be the means of service also. So what is pure devotion means that the body and mind apparatus that is there that is used purely for the service of Krishna. But it is not necessary that the body-mind nature will itself change.
It is not necessary. That means it is not that if Bhima as a Kshatriya nature, even if Bhima is a pure devotee, he is not going to be like Prahlad Maharaj. You know, you beat me, I will take the beating.
I will simply pray to Krishna. He is a pure devotee, but his pure devotion will be expressed in a different way. So one’s nature does not necessarily have to change.
But whatever resources one has, one will use them fully for Krishna’s service. That is pure devotion. So let’s give a simple example that our body and mind produce certain things for us.
For example, Prabhupada was educated in 1920s and 1930s in Victorian English. And from the grammatical point of view, his grammar was not very sound. So initially at one time when Prabhupada was giving a lecture, and in a lot of his transcriptions, he had used some word which was not there in the dictionary only.
So then the devotees started discussing, what should we do? So if a pure devotee has used a word in Krishna’s service, then that is perfect. So rather than changing the word, we should change the dictionary only. And we should introduce that word in the dictionary.
So one of the editors said, better we ask Prabhupada. When they asked Prabhupada, Prabhupada said, no, we change the word. What is the right word, you put it there.
So the point is that the body and the mind may lead to certain things happening in a particular way, even in a pure devotee. But the intention is pure. So purity is not to be equated with a particular psychophysical nature.
The particular psychophysical nature will still be there. But purity means it will all be entirely used in Krishna’s service. So when we say we are given Brahman Diksha, that does not necessarily mean that every single person has developed a pure intention.
Every single person has developed all the qualities of a Brahman. But to a large extent, that person is living a Brahmanical life and is also trying to develop a Brahmanical conduct. So it’s not necessarily that the nature has to change.
But as I said, overall, one’s capacity to follow Shastra will increase more and more. And for a pure devotee, it will entirely, whatever resources one has, it will all be used in Krishna’s service.