A pure devotee is the supreme transcendentalist and one has to receive his mercy for one's dormant Krishna Consciousness to be awakened. One has to associate with pure devotees. If one has firm faith in the words of a great soul, pure devotional service will awaken.
Pure devotees are interested in achieving the transcendental service of the Lord, which is non different from Him.
If one comes in contact with the book Bhagavatam as well as with the devotee bhagavata, who knows what the Bhagavatam is, then such a fortunate man gets out of the material entanglement.
Only one who is fortunate can have the opportunity to hear Srimad Bhagavatam in the association of pure devotees of the Lord.
The path of liberation, as recommended by all authorities, is to serve the mahatmas/transcendentalists. Even if one has no assets of favorable austerity, if he nevertheless takes shelter of the mahatmas, who are engaged in chanting and hearing the glories of the Lord, he is sure to make progress on the path back home, Back to Godhead.
If one wants to acquire the mercy of the Lord, he has to associate with pure devotees. Such association alone can, by degrees, release one from the quivering elements.
Great unalloyed devotees of the Lord are compassionate towards the fallen and therefore they travel all over the world with the mission of bringing souls back to Godhead, back to home. Such pure devotees of the Lord carry the message of Godhead in order to deliver the fallen souls and therefore the common man who is bewildered by the influence of the external energy of the Lord should avail himself of their association.
Great philanthropic souls travel on the Earth on behalf of the Supreme Personality of Godhead to show compassion to the fallen souls who are averse to the sense of subordination to the Lord.
Love of God is awakened by the association of pure devotees of the Lord.
Only those who are pure devotees, those who follow the regulative principles of religious life as prescribed in the scriptures, are able to engage themselves in karma-yoga and then jnana-yoga and thereafter, by pure meditation, can understand pure consciousness. When God consciousness is developed, one can take advantage of the association of pure devotees. Syan mahat-sevaya viprahpunya-tirtha-nisevanat: one is able to associate with the Lord even during the existence of this life.