8.44
prabhu kahe,--tumi maha-bhagavatottama
tomara darsane sabara drava haila mana
SYNONYMS
prabhu kahe—the Lord replied; tumi—you; maha-bhagavata-uttama—the best of the topmost devotees; tomara darsane—by seeing you; sabara—of everyone; drava—melted; haila—became; mana—the heart.
The Lord replied to Ramananda Raya, "Sir, you are the best of the topmost devotees; therefore simply the sight of you has melted everyone’s heart.
PURPORT
Unless one is a first-class devotee, he cannot be a preacher.
A preacher is generally a topmost devotee, but in order to meet the general populace, he has to come to distinguish between devotees and nondevotees.
Otherwise, an advanced devotee makes no such distinctions.
Indeed, he always sees that everyone is engaged in the service of the Lord.
When one engages in preaching work, he must distinguish between people and understand that some people are not engaged in the devotional service of the Lord.
The preacher then has to take compassion upon such innocent people who do not know how to worship the Lord.
In Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.2.45), the symptoms of a topmost devotee are described as follows:
sarva-bhutesu yah pasyed
bhagavad-bhavam atmanah
bhutani bhagavaty atmany
esa bhagavatottamah “The advanced devotee sees that all living entities are part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Everyone is in Krsna, and Krsna is also within everyone.