A pure devotee desires only Krishna's satisfaction, not personal liberation or material gain.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.3.11–12 — May 29, 1972, Los Angeles 720529SB-LOS ANGELES [55:15 Minutes] SB-02.03.11–12_720529SB-LOS ANGELES Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [leads chanting of verse] [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat] etāvān eva yajatām iha niḥśreyasodayaḥ bhagavaty acalo bhāvo yad bhāgavata-saṅgataḥ [SB 2.3.11] Prabhupāda: So?
Any girls? [girl devotees chant] etāvān eva yajatām iha niḥśreyasodayaḥ bhagavaty acalo bhāvo yad bhāgavata-saṅgataḥ [SB 2.3.11] Then? Word meaning? Pradyumna: [leads chanting of synonyms] etāvān—all these different kinds of worshipers; eva—certainly; yajatām—while worshiping; iha—in this life; niḥśreyasa—highest benediction; udayaḥ—development; bhagavati—unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead; acalaḥ—unflinching; bhāvaḥ—spontaneous attraction; yat—which; bhāgavata—the pure devotee of the Lord; saṅgataḥ—association.
Purport: "The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is described in the Bhagavad-gītā as the puruṣottama, or the Supreme Personality. It is He only who can award liberation to the impersonalists by absorbing such aspirants in the brahma-jyotir, the bodily rays of the Lord. The brahma-jyotir is not separate from the Lord, as the glowing sun ray is not independent of the sun disc. Therefore one who desires to merge into the supreme impersonal brahma-jyotir must also worship the Lord by bhakti-yoga, as it is recommended here in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Bhakti-yoga is especially stressed here as the means of all perfection. "In the previous chapters it has been stated that bhakti-yoga is the ultimate goal of both karma-yoga and jñāna-yoga, and in the same way in this chapter it is emphatically declared that bhakti-yoga is the ultimate goal of the different varieties of worship of the different demigods.
Bhakti-yoga, thus being the supreme means of self-realization, is recommended here. Everyone must therefore seriously take up the methods of bhakti-yoga, even though one aspires for material enjoyment or liberation from material bondage. "Akāmaḥ is one who has no material desire. A living being, naturally being the part and parcel of the Supreme Whole puruṣaṁ pūrṇam, has as his natural function to serve the Supreme Being, just as the parts and parcels of the body, or the limbs of the body, are naturally meant to serve the complete body. Desireless means, therefore, not to be inert like the stone, but to be conscious of one's actual position and thus desire satisfaction only from the Supreme Lord. "Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has explained this desirelessness as bhajanīya parama-puruṣa-sukha-mātra-sva-sukhatvam in his Sandarbha.
This means that one should only feel happy by experiencing the happiness of the Supreme Lord. This intuition of the living being is sometimes manifested even during the conditioned stage of a living being in the material world, and such intuition is expressed in the manner of altruism, philanthropism, socialism, communism, etc., by the undeveloped minds of less intelligent persons. "In the mundane field, such an outlook of doing good to others in the form of society, community, family, country or humanity is a partial manifestation of the same original feeling in which a pure living entity feels happiness by the happiness of the Supreme Lord. Such superb feelings were exhibited by the damsels of Vrajabhūmi for the happiness of the Lord. The gopīs loved the Lord without any return, and this is the perfect exhibition of the akāma spirit.
Kāma spirit, or the desire for one's own satisfaction, is fully exhibited in the material world, whereas the spirit of akāma is fully exhibited in the spiritual world. "Thoughts of becoming one with the Lord, or being merged in the brahma-jyotir, can also be exhibitions of kāma spirit if they are desires for one's own satisfaction to be free from the material miseries. A pure devotee does not want liberation..." Prabhupāda: Prahlāda Mahārāja said that "I don't want my liberation alone. Unless I deliver all these fools who are rotting in this material world, I do not want my personal liberation." This is Vaiṣṇava philosophy. The Māyāvādī philosophers, they are going to Himalaya or some secluded place for personal benefit.
But a Vaiṣṇava, he has no desire for personal benefit. The personal benefit is already there in Vaiṣṇava, because he's in touch with the Supreme Lord by his service. Prahlāda Mahārāja said, naivodvije para deva duratyaya-vaitaraṇyās tvad-vīrya-gāyana-mahāmṛta-magna-cittaḥ śoce tad vimukha-cetasa... māyā-sukhāya bharam udvahato vimūḍhān [SB 7.9.43] "My dear Lord, I am not anxious for myself, because I have got the thing. I have no problem how to cross over the nescience or how to go to Vaikuṇṭha or to become liberated.