Learning to know God as He really is, to love Him, to obey Him, and to serve Him with love and devotion, allows one to purify one's being, and by the grace of the Lord, to see the disappearance of ignorance of the data relating to absolute truth, suffering, death, and the appearance of eternal life.

Loving God, renewing the bond that unites us to Him, linking our desires and interests to His, surrendering ourselves totally to Him and serving Him with love and devotion, are the keys to entering the infinite, absolute and eternal kingdom of God.

Whatever we do, if we have to stop for various reasons, no effort is in vain. Any benefit obtained is acquired forever.

The Lord says to this effect: To one who walks the path of devotional service, no effort is in vain, no benefit gained is ever lost. The smallest step frees us from the most dreadful fear.

The action performed in the consciousness of God, with the sole aim of satisfying Lord Krishna, God, the Supreme Person, in His personal, primordial, original, infinite and absolute form, without desiring anything else, constitutes the summit of spiritual action.

On the other hand, even the smallest effort to please Krishna is never lost. This is in contrast to the material plane, where any action or undertaking that is not completed or finished is considered a failure. Whereas on the spiritual plane, in Krishna consciousness or God consciousness, even the smallest activity yields lasting benefits.

It is never in vain that one acts for the pleasure of Krishna, God, the Supreme Person, even if the undertaking remains unfinished. A step towards the Lord is a step for ever, even if one stops on the way, and when one starts again, it is always for a second step, which adds to the previous one.

What a difference from material acts, which only bear fruit when completed to the end, otherwise one has to start all over again.

In “Words of Wisdom, the Wisdom of God” we find these two admirable verses: “What can be lost by the one who for a moment has put an end to his quest for material pleasures in order to serve Krishna, even if he does not continue his effort and returns to his old life?”

“On the other hand, what will he gain who carries out his activities in matter to perfection?”

Do not Christians say, “What is the use of a man gaining the whole world, if he loses eternal life?”

Material activities and their fruits disappear with the body.

On the contrary, action performed for Krishna, God, the Supreme Person, even if interrupted, always ends up bringing the doer back to God consciousness, even in the next life. By acting for Lord Krishna, one is at least assured of being reborn in a human body, either in a family of learned sages, a true devotee of God, or in a rich and cultured family, with the possibility of making further progress on the path of spiritual realization. Such is the incomparable virtue of devotional service to the Lord.