A person falling off a cliff can be saved by holding on to another person standing on the cliff.

We are like the falling person, being dragged down by our conditionings to immoral, anti-devotional activities. Krishna is like the rescuing person; he holds us and pulls us up by mercifully giving us higher intelligence and taste. But for him to successfully rescue us, we need to do our part: Hold on to him by diligently practicing bhakti-yoga.

Whereas a falling person is usually scared of falling, we sometimes become eager to fall – we get tempted by lower pleasures. So we let go of Krishna and fall into sensuality. Thankfully however, Krishna is no ordinary rescuer – he is omnipotent. By his inconceivable power, he extends his arm so that he can hold on to us even while we stoop to lower pleasures. That he holds on to us means that he repeatedly gives us opportunities to practice bhakti and reminders of bhakti’s sublime taste. Because we consciously or subconsciously recollect that taste, we can’t delight in lower pleasures, even if we had delighted in them earlier and even if we dive deep into them now – just as a person who remembers a sumptuous, delicious feast can’t be satisfied with meager, tasteless morsels.

Experiencing thus the emptiness of worldly pleasures and remembering the richness of devotional joys, we sooner or later turn again towards Krishna. As we hold on to him by practicing bhakti determinedly, he rapidly pulls us up to our previous level of spiritual growth. From there, he steadily pulls us up, purifying us by our diligent bhakti practice, and ultimately pulls us out of material existence. The Bhagavad-gita (09.31) underscores this hope-giving nature of Krishna’s unfailing love by declaring that his devotees will never perish.

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