SB 3.25.20

प्रसङ्गमजरं पाशमात्मनः कवयो विदुः ।
स एव साधुषु कृतो मोक्षद्वारमपावृतम् ॥२०॥

prasaṅgam ajaraṁ pāśam
ātmanaḥ kavayo viduḥ
sa eva sādhuṣu kṛto
mokṣa-dvāram apāvṛtam

prasaṅgamplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigprasaṅgam

attachment; engagement in sexual matters.—attachment; ajaramplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigajaram

strong.—strong; pāśamplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigpāśam

entanglement.—entanglement; ātmanaḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigatmanah

and one's own self; children; consisting of; done by himself; expansions; expansions of His person; for herself; for himself; for His personal benefit; for my personal self; for personal sense gratification; for personal service; for self-preservation; for the benefit of the soul; for the body; for the living entities; for the real self; for the self; for the soul; for themselves; from my body; from the self; from the Supreme Soul; her own; himself; His; his own; his own self; His personal; his personal interest; in the self; mind; My; my own; of all living entities; of herself; of Him; of himself (Lord Śiva); of himself; of himself, personally (the head of the state); of his body; of His own; of his own real identity, the soul; of his own self; of his own welfare; of his personal self; of his self; of his soul; of myself; of one's own; of one's own self; of one's self; of oneself; of self-realization; of the Absolute; of the body; of the conditioned soul; of the living being; of the living beings; of the living entities; of the living entity; of the mind; of the most dear; of the person; of the same category as You (viṣṇu-tattva); of the self; of the soul; of the spirit soul; of the Supersoul; of the Supersoul of everyone; of the Supreme; of the Supreme Being; of the Supreme Lord; of the Supreme Lord and of oneself; of the Supreme Lord Viṣṇu; of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; of the Supreme Soul; of the supreme spirit soul or the Transcendence beyond the material conception of life; of the Supreme Spirit Soul, or the transcendence beyond the material conception of life; of the vital energy; of themselves; of us living beings; of you; of your own body; of your own body, mind and soul; of Yourself; of yourselves; on Transcendence; one's own; one's self; oneself; own; own selves; personal; self; self-caused; self-dependant; self-sufficiently; soul; than the Supreme Soul; the living entities; the mind; the senses; the soul; the soul or the Supersoul; the spiritual identity of the universe; the Supersoul of everyone; their minds; their own property; to himself (Kardama); unto His own (Brahmā); whose mind; whose minds; whose nature.—of the soul; kavayaḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigkavayaḥ

all transcendentalists; and Kavi; expert thinkers; great learned sages; great learned scholars; great personalities; great philosophers; great, great sages and saintly persons; learned devotees; learned men; learned persons; learned scholars; philosophers or learned scholars; the advancement of learned scholars or philosophers in spiritual life; the devotees; the great learned persons who have perfect intelligence; the greatly learned sages; the intelligent; the learned; the learned scholars; those well versed in rituals; those who are expert.—learned men; viduḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigviduḥ

advanced transcendentalists know; as it is known; being cognizant of; can know; can understand; could understand; do know; everyone should understand; is known; know; know it; know them; known as; knows; one should know; one should understand; one who knows; the learned understand; they know; they know as; they understood; understand; understood; were aware of; you may know it from me; you may understand; you should know; you should understand.—know; saḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigsaḥ

mahat-tattva; a person (Kaṁsa); a son; Aghāsura; all; anyone; Bharata Mahārāja; Brahmā; child Parīkṣit; Dakṣa; Dhruva; Dhruva Mahārāja; Dhṛtarāṣṭra; Durvāsā Muni; he (Agastya); he (Aghāsura); he (Ajāmila); he (Ambarīṣa Mahārāja); he (Aṅgirā Ṛṣi); He (Baladeva); he (Bali Mahārāja); he (Brahmā); he (Brahmājī); he (Budha); he (Citraketu); he (Dakṣa); he (Devāpi); he (Dhruva Mahārāja); he (Dhruva); he (Droṇa); he (Durvāsā); he (Emperor Manu); he (Gajendra); he (Garuḍa); he (Hiraṇyakaśipu); he (Hiraṇyakaśipu, the King of the Daityas); he (Indra); he (Jamadagni); he (Janamejaya); he (Jaḍa Bharata); he (Kardama); he (Kaṁsa); he (King Citraketu); he (King Hūhū); he (King Indra); he (King Kaṁsa); he (King Nīpa); he (King Pṛthu); he (King Rantideva); he (King Āgnīdhra); he (Kārtavīryārjuna); He (Kṛṣṇa); He (Lakṣmaṇa, the brother of Lord Rāmacandra); he (Lord Brahmā); He (Lord Kṛṣṇa); He (Lord Rāmacandra); He (Lord Viṣṇu); he (Lord Śiva); he (Mahārāja Ambarīṣa); he (Mahārāja Bharata); he (Mahārāja Priyavrata); he (Mahārāja Rahūgaṇa); he (Maitreya Muni); he (Manu); he (my father); he (Nahuṣa); he (Nābhāga); he (one who is not self-controlled); he (Prahlāda Mahārāja); he (Purūravā); he (Rantideva); he (Sarvatejā); He (Satyasena); he (Soma, the moon-god); he (Svāyambhuva Manu); he (that hunter); he (that uncivilized Kaṁsa); he (the muni); he (the conditioned soul); he (the devotee); he (the great man); he (the individual soul); he (the King); he (the leader of the elephants); He (the Lord); He (the Personality of Godhead); he (the serpent); he (the sun-god); He (the Supreme Lord); He (the Supreme Person); He (the Supreme Personality of Godhead); he (Vasudeva); he (Vasudeva, also known as Ānakadundubhi); he (Venus); he (Vidura); he (Viśvarūpa); He (Vāmanadeva); he (Vāsudeva); he (Vīrabhadra); he (Vṛtra); he (Vṛtrāsura); he (Śukadeva Gosvāmī); he (Śukrācārya); he (Śūra); he (Ṛcīka); he (Ṛṣyaśṛṅga); he; He alone; he is; he, Durvāsā Muni; he, Hariścandra; he, Jamadagni; he, King Purūravā; he, Kārtavīryārjuna; he, Lord Paraśurāma; He, Lord Rāmacandra; he, Mahārāja Ambarīṣa; he, Mahārāja Sagara; he, Prahlāda Mahārāja; he, Purañjaya; he, Purūravā; he, Rohita; he, Rāvaṇa; he, Saubhari Muni; he, Saubhari Ṛṣi; he, so celebrated; he, Soma; he, the brāhmaṇa; he, the King; He, the Lord; he, Varuṇa; he, Vasiṣṭha; he, Vidura; He, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu; Hiraṇyakaśipu; Hiraṇyākṣa; His Lordship; His Lordship the Supreme Personality of Godhead; his son Utkala; I am the same powerful person; is he; it; Jambhāsura; Kardama Muni; Kaśyapa; Kaśyapa Muni; King Dakṣa; King Indra; King Malayadhvaja; King Purañjana; King Pṛthu; King Vena; King Yayāti; Kṛṣṇa; Kṛṣṇa Himself; Lord Brahmā; Lord Kṛṣṇa; Lord Śiva; Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu; Mahārāja Bharata; Mahārāja Ikṣvāku; Mahārāja Yayāti; Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira; myself; one such as your good self; one who does so; Prahlāda Mahārāja; Prajāpati Dakṣa; Revata; so myself; someone; such; such a devotee; such a person; such a person as I am; such a personality; Sudyumna; Svāyambhuva Manu; that (great demon Maya Dānava); that (having the above symptoms); that (Supreme Personality of Godhead); that (Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa); that brāhmaṇa; that yoga system; that; that Ajāmila; that arrow; that banyan tree; that boy of the name Vena; whether that person; which; You; Your Lordship; yourself. evaplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigeva

alone; also; also the word eva; although; as; as it is; as it were; as much as; as they are; at all; at that time; certainly; certainly,; certainty; completely; definitely; even; ever; exactly; exactly like; factually; Himself; immediately; in fact; in this way; indeed; it is all like that; just; just so; like; like that; like this; of course; on the very; only; quite; simply; so; surely; the word eva; they are; thus; truly; undoubtedly; very; without doubt.—that same; sādhuṣuplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigsādhuṣu

such saintly persons; to the devotees; unto devotees; unto the pious; unto the saintly persons; with devotees; with saintly persons.—to the devotees; kṛtaḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigkrtah

accepted; applied; being done; bestowed; conducted; created; done; finished; fixed; has been done; has been done by You; have accepted; having been engaged; I did; if done; it was so done; Kṛta; made; made by you; male; of the creator; performed; performing; was done; was excavated; was made; while doing so.—applied; mokṣaplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigmokṣa

and of liberation; for salvation; liberation; liberation from material bondage.-dvāramplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigdvāram

door; gate; the gate; the gateway; the holes; the way.—the door of liberation; apāvṛtamplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigapāvṛtam

opened; transcendental to the three qualities; wide open.—opened. ¶

Every learned man knows very well that attachment for the material is the greatest entanglement of the spirit soul. But that same attachment, when applied to the self-realized devotees, opens the door of liberation. ¶

Here it is clearly stated that attachment for one thing is the cause of bondage in conditioned life, and the same attachment, when applied to something else, opens the door of liberation. Attachment cannot be killed; it has simply to be transferred. Attachment for material things is called material consciousness, and attachment for Kṛṣṇa or His devotee is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Consciousness, therefore, is the platform of attachment. It is clearly stated here that when we simply purify the consciousness from material consciousness to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we attain liberation. Despite the statement that one should give up attachment, desirelessness is not possible for a living entity. A living entity, by constitution, has the propensity to be attached to something. We see that if someone has no object of attachment, if he has no children, then he transfers his attachment to cats and dogs. This indicates that the propensity for attachment cannot be stopped; it must be utilized for the best purpose. Our attachment for material things perpetuates our conditional state, but the same attachment, when transferred to the Supreme Personality of Godhead or His devotee, is the source of liberation. ¶

Here it is recommended that attachment should be transferred to the self-realized devotees, the sādhus. And who is a sādhu? A sādhu is not just an ordinary man with a saffron robe or long beard. A sādhu is described in Bhagavad-gītā as one who unflinchingly engages in devotional service. Even though one is found not to be following the strict rules and regulations of devotional service, if one simply has unflinching faith in Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Person, he is understood to be a sādhu. Sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ [Bg. 9.30]plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 9.30

Even if one commits the most abominable actions, if he is engaged in devotional service, he is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated.. A sādhu is a strict follower of devotional service. It is recommended here that if one at all wants to realize Brahman, or spiritual perfection, his attachment should be transferred to the sādhu, or devotee. Lord Caitanya also confirmed this. Lava-mātra sādhu-saṅge sarva-siddhi haya: [Cc. Madhya 22.54]plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 22.54

"The verdict of all revealed scriptures is that by even a moment's association with a pure devotee, one can attain all success. simply by a moment’s association with a sādhu, one can attain perfection. ¶

Mahātmā is a synonym of sādhu. It is said that service to a mahātmā, or elevated devotee of the Lord, is dvāram āhur vimukteḥ, the royal road of liberation. Mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimuktes tamo-dvāraṁ yoṣitāṁ saṅgi-saṅgam (SB 5.5.2)plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.5.2

One can attain the path of liberation from material bondage only by rendering service to highly advanced spiritual personalities. These personalities are impersonalists and devotees. Whether one wants to merge into the Lord's existence or wants to associate with the Personality of Godhead, one should render service to the mahātmās. For those who are not interested in such activities, who associate with people fond of women and sex, the path to hell is wide open. The mahātmās are equipoised. They do not see any difference between one living entity and another. They are very peaceful and are fully engaged in devotional service. They are devoid of anger, and they work for the benefit of everyone. They do not behave in any abominable way. Such people are known as mahātmās.. Rendering service to the materialists has the opposite effect. If anyone offers service to a gross materialist, or a person engaged only in sense enjoyment, then by association with such a person the door to hell is opened. The same principle is confirmed here. Attachment to a devotee is attachment to the service of the Lord because if one associates with a sādhu, the result will be that the sādhu will teach him how to become a devotee, a worshiper and a sincere servitor of the Lord. These are the gifts of a sādhu. If we want to associate with a sādhu, we cannot expect him to give us instructions on how to improve our material condition, but he will give us instructions on how to cut the knot of the contamination of material attraction and how to elevate ourselves in devotional service. That is the result of associating with a sādhu. Kapila Muni first of all instructs that the path of liberation begins with such association. ¶