What happens when we become eager to hear that clears material desires from the heart is next explained. By regularly attending classes on Bhāgavatam and by rendering service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost destroyed, and loving service to the Lord, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established. Śrīla Prabhupāda says that when 75 percent of the dirty things are cleansed from our heart, our faith in God becomes fixed up. There are two types of Bhāgavatas, namely the book Bhāgavata and the devotee Bhāgavata.
What happens when we become eager to hear that clears material desires from the heart is next explained. By regularly attending classes on Bhāgavatam and by rendering service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost destroyed, and loving service to the Lord, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established. Śrīla Prabhupāda says that when 75 percent of the dirty things are cleansed from our heart, our faith in God becomes fixed up. There are two types of Bhāgavatas, namely the book Bhāgavata and the devotee Bhāgavata. A devotee Bhāgavata is as good as the book Bhāgavata because the devotee leads his life in terms of the book Bhāgavata, which is full of information about the Personality of Godhead and His devotees.
The devotee Bhāgavata is a direct representative of Bhagavān, and so by pleasing him, one can receive the benefit of the book Bhāgavata. This is seen in the life of Nārada, whose mother was a maidservant. The maidservant was engaged in the service of the sages, and thus he also came into contact with them. And simply by associating with them and accepting the remnants of foodstuff left by the sages, the son of the maidservant got the chance to become the great devotee and personality Śrīla Nāradadeva. The messages of the book Bhāgavata have to be received from the devotee Bhāgavata, and the combination of these two Bhāgavatas will help one to make progress. By serving the devotees and Bhāgavatam, the major portion of anarthas become weak. The anarthas arise from sin, from piety, from aparādha and from performance of bhakti. The effects of aparādha take longer to destroy and continue till the stage of bhāva. The weakening of anarthas continue till the stage of rati. When the anarthas are almost destroyed, one attains the stage of niṣṭhā.
The next stages in bhakti are indicated in verse 18. (6) bhakti – devotional service, is indicated in the phrase bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī. (7) anarthāpagamam – disappearance of obstacles (anartha-nivṛtti). The phrase naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu means that inauspicious things, including nāmāparādhas, are almost completely destroyed. (8) niṣṭhā – steadiness. This is indicated in the phrase bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī – naiṣṭhikī means niṣṭhā.