Without Krishna consciousness purifying the heart, external atonement remains useless because the root cause of sin remains unaddressed.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.1.9 — June 22, 1975, Los Angeles 750622SB-LOS ANGELES [28:24 Minutes] SB-06.01.09_750622SB-LOS ANGELES Santoṣa: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [devotees repeat] [leads chanting of verse, etc.] śrī-rājovāca dṛṣṭa-śrutābhyaṁ yat pāpaṁ jānann apy ātmano 'hitaṁ karoti bhūyo vivaśaḥ prāyaścittam atho katham [SB 6.1.9] [break] [01:16] Translation: "I have actually seen that one who becomes a criminal by committing sinful acts is punished by the government's law, but although rebuked, he does the same thing again.
One also hears from the scriptures spoken by learned scholars that committing sin throws one into hell in the next life. Nevertheless, although he has received full experience through seeing and hearing, which are the sources of practical knowledge, he is forced repeatedly to commit sins and again perform acts of atonement. What then is the value of such atonement?" Prabhupāda: dṛṣṭa-śrutābhyaṁ yat pāpaṁ jānann apy ātmano 'hitaṁ karoti bhūyo vivaśaḥ prāyaścittam atho katham [SB 6.1.9] This is intelligence. Mahārāja Parīkṣit is Vaiṣṇava, and his inquiry was: "How these men who are rotting in this hellish condition can be relieved?" That was his question.
So... [music on loudspeakers] What is that? Jayatīrtha: The radio, some interference on the microphone. The radio is being picked up outside. Prabhupāda: I have already explained that there are three ways: karma-kāṇḍa, jñāna-kāṇḍa and upāsanā-kāṇḍa. Therefore Veda is called trayī, three kinds of activities.
So devotees, they are not in the karma-kāṇḍa, jñāna-kāṇḍa. He is not pure devotee. Bhakti means jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam [Cc. Madhya 19.167].
There is no touch of this fruitive activities or speculative knowledge. The devotees do not accept this. anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā [Brs. 1.1.11] That is first-class bhakti, ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu, just to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. Just like Arjuna. He was not willing to fight or to kill the other party.
That is very good. He is a Vaiṣṇava. Naturally he does not like to fight or pick up quarrel with others or do some harm to others. Vaiṣṇava is para-duḥkha-duḥkhī.
He knows very well that "If something harmful is done to me, I am unhappy, so why should I commit the same thing to others?" So... But in spite of his conviction that he should not fight, still, when Kṛṣṇa insisted up to the point that "Your this mercy upon them will not act because it is already My plan that they will have to die. So you have become very kind, but you cannot surpass My plan. That is not possible.