There is an interim period in devotional service when we begin. This unfolds in the story, because we'll notice and other people have asked, and ācāryas have answered, how is it that Ajāmila chanted "Nārāyaṇa," but it seemed that he went on with a sinful life? He was chanting "Nārāyaṇa" a lot. "This is Nārāyaṇa. Come eat. Nārāyaṇa. Please come sleep. Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa." And in that case, Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, or in the commentary for this chapter, explains (as does Prabhupāda, obviously) that once he had chanted "Nārāyaṇa," then, although he went on with the momentum of his sinful life, it was like a snake with no teeth. Although the snake seems to be biting again and again like that, there's no effect. There's no poison that comes from it.

The interim period of devotional service, when one begins devotional service in earnest, of course, one has to cross over anartha-nivṛtti. And as Kṛṣṇa Himself explains to Uddhava in the 11th Canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (SB/11/20/27-28):

jāta-śraddho mat-kathāsu

nirviṇṇaḥ sarva-karmasu

veda duḥkhātmakān kāmān

parityāge ’py anīśvaraḥ

tato bhajeta māṁ prītaḥ

śraddhālur dṛḍha-niścayaḥ

juṣamāṇaś ca tān kāmān

duḥkhodarkāṁś ca garhayan

This interim period, He says, is when jāta-śraddho mat-kathāsu—your faith in the process is awakened of hearing that will kill all sinful reactions, and one will progress on devotional service. nirviṇṇaḥ sarva-karmasu—the person also becomes aware that he's disgusted with his tendency to engage in material activities. 'Veda duḥkhātmakān kāmān'—because he knows that engagement in sense gratification leads to misery. But 'parityāge ’py anīśvaraḥ'—parityāga means to give something up, and īśvara means supreme controller, obviously, but it also means the power to do something. He's in this position: he knows what it leads to, but still he doesn't have the power to give it up.

So then Kṛṣṇa says that one should go on with the process and know that anyone who's engaged in devotional service is very dear to Him. And gradually, by the strength of the process, when one comes to full strength in devotional service, duḥkhodarkāṁś ca garhayan—and He said, garhayan means you should have a little regret, but not too much. If you become obsessed with how unqualified you are, and then you say that "I'm permanently unqualified," that's illegal, because the power of devotional service is so great that anyone can become purified if you just stick to the process. And He said 'garhayan'—you can take just a little bit of that, like when you use asafoetida (hing). If you use any more, if you can use enough that you can see it, that's too much. It has to be microscopic; otherwise, you'll kill the preparation. So similarly, we should have a little bit of remorse for the fact that we're not at that level.

(excerpt from the discussion)

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/6/1/

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