Answer
If you have a strong desire to hold on to Srila Prabhupada's dhoti, then you will go.
(Applause)
Nobody can substitute the desire of the jiva. You cannot be forcefully pushed into the spiritual world.
That sincere desire to hold on to Srila Prabhupada's lotus feet is itself the desire that automatically purifies the heart.
As the saying goes, "God helps those who help themselves."
Because of that higher desire, one can be cleansed in a moment. All the other anarthas are simply small, unwanted desires.
If your strongest desire is to hold on to Srila Prabhupada's dhoti, then that desire can burn away all your remaining karmic impressions and material desires. That is the real meaning behind the examples of 30% or 40% purity.
If you had asked Srila Prabhupada, "If I have 0% purity but I hold on to your dhoti, will I still go?" the answer would be no, because a person with 100% anarthas cannot genuinely hold on to Prabhupada's dhoti. Such a person would not even be a devotee.
The very fact that you are a devotee means some anarthas have already been removed. You have understood your conditioned nature, and therefore a transformation in consciousness has already begun.
That is very important to understand.
Krishna has created this vast material manifestation to give His parts and parcels freedom. Without freedom, there can be no love.
You must freely decide:
"I want to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead and return to the spiritual world."
That fundamental desire is essential.
When that desire becomes strong, all other contaminations gradually disappear. However, it is also a fact that before entering the spiritual world, those contaminations must be completely removed.
No one can enter the spiritual world with the tendency to disturb Krishna's pastimes or the atmosphere of Vaikuntha.
So how are those tendencies—such as the desire for independent enjoyment, separate existence, and false proprietorship—removed?
Here, in this material world, we have to prove ourselves. Maya is present to test us.
For devotees, Maya has a very special role.
Her attention is comparatively less on karmis. They are already within the prison of material existence. The prison system itself takes care of them.
But when a prisoner attempts to escape, the guards become especially alert.
Similarly, when a devotee sincerely tries to escape material existence and return to Krishna, Maya pays special attention and tries to pull him back.
The chains she uses are lust, greed, anger, envy, and other material desires.
Therefore, devotees must remain vigilant.
The more Krishna conscious one becomes, the more one understands that there is always an enemy waiting to test one's sincerity.
For a devotee, Maya functions like an examination board. She reveals where one's attachments still remain.
She seems to ask:
"Where is your devotion to Krishna? You had a choice between Krishna and Maya, and in this situation you chose Maya and forgot Krishna."
Krishna's gift is unlimited and oceanic.
Maya, on the other hand, offers only insignificant temporary pleasures.
It is like placing an earthworm on a fishing hook. The fish goes after the worm, only to become trapped.
Similarly, all the pleasure we experience in material life is actually taking place in the brain—not in the soul.
By the presence of the Supersoul within the heart, temporary sensations of pleasure, affection, intimacy, and enjoyment are experienced. Ultimately, even the experience of Maya is possible only because the Supersoul sanctions it from within the heart.
Therefore, a sadhaka must remain very cautious.
Maya constantly acts through the mind to divert us from Krishna consciousness, and this struggle continues throughout the life of a sincere practitioner.
Fortunately, the devotee has been given powerful weapons:
The holy name.
Sadhana.
Association of devotees.
Reading the scriptures.
If one does not properly take advantage of these gifts given by Guru, it is not possible to overcome Maya.
But there comes a stage when Maya finally gives up.
She says:
"This devotee will never leave Krishna. I have no more work with him."
At that point, her task is complete.
