api cet su-duracaro
bhajate mam ananya-bhak
sadhur eva sa mantavyah
samyag vyavasito hi sah


"Even if one commits the most abominable action, if he is engaged in devotional service he is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated in his determination."

Let us assume Bhakti is in a very lowly person. Could the Lord accept the Bhakti of Vibheeshana - a rakshasa, of Prahlada - an Asura child, of Hanuman - a monkey, of Gajendra - an elephant? People might think so. This doubt is dispelled by the Lord. Duracharo api = even a bad cultured or evil disciplined person [acharam means daily disciplines or good character]. Cet = if, su = very [evil charactered person]sincerely, bhajate = worships, mam = Me [Sri Krishna], ananyabhak = without diverting the mind on anything else. This person does not need anybody else. Prahlada was like this. He requested the Lord to pacify His anger. Accepting, the Lord placed His blood stained hand on the head of Prahalada and asked Prahlada what he wanted from the Lord. When the Lord insisted Prahlada to demand anything, the child Bhakta requested that the Lord should grant him the boon of not demanding anything from Him! He did not want to expect anything from the Lord for the Bhakti. When the Lord further insisted, Prahlada requested that even if he were to have a rebirth as a lowly insect or worm, he should always have unwavering Bhakti in Him. He is ananya-bhakSa = such a person, sadhur eva = among devotees, mantavya = will be honoured. Samyak = firmly, vyavasita = determined, sa = he is. Such a person, who, though is uncultured, yet having an unshakable devotion to the Lord, is considered among great devotees and is honoured; such a person is having firm loyalty in the Lord. What loyalty? This person was uncultured and having no good discipline; the Lord along with Sri Thayar has blessed him and diverted him to this righteous path. He considers the Lord as his father, mother and all close relatives and has immense faith in Him. The Lord says He forgives all the shortcomings like any evil character or bad education or indiscipline or birth in bad surroundings, for the sake of this person's determination. Arjuna gets a doubt. Bhakti does not come easily and papa can not be that easily wiped off. Acharaprabhavo, dharmasya prabhrachyutaAcharam [ஆசாரம்] is Dharma. And Sri Krishna is the Lord of Dharma. Then how a badly disciplined person could be ranked among sadhus? Also, it is said that in so many births by practising Karma yoga and Gyana yoga continuously, our sins are eliminated and Bhakti springs up. But here Sri Krishna is telling that even a person with sins, is being admitted in the sadhu category. How is that possible? Sri Krishna allays these doubts. To remove our papa there are two methods. One is to do prayaschittam [repentence] or undergo punishment for the sins. Otherwise, with His blessings eliminate all papa. So this person with all evil character gets his papa eliminated by His blessings and he need not undergo many births to expend the papa. He gets the blessings of the Lord because of his Bhakti. By doing Bhakti, all his evil disciplines will stop. Bhakti has nothing to do with beauty or wealth or education. That person may be born as anything. The Lord says that once a person has become Bhakta, knowledge will grow and others might draw inspiration. We will now take leave of this Kshetram
                                                                                                    (continued)