By Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur

I happen to be an entity dominated by  the knowledge of the five mundane  elements. I am entrapped in the functions  of littleness by abstaining from thoughts  of the great one. Because I have preferred  to remain confined to the functions of my  littleness, the egotistic sentiment that I am  the master of myself and of all entities has  appeared in me. It has become necessary  to get rid of this desire for domination.  Nothing is easier than to assert that the  little should aim at being identified with  the great. If one allows oneself to be  mastered by such senseless ambition and  tries to realize his oneness with the divinity,  such egotistic vanity effectively blocks the  course of all real well-being.

  When we are cast into the state of evil by  harboring the hallucination that we are  equals of the divinity, there simultaneously  appears, (1) a condition which is  experienced as full of grief, (2) the state of  infatuation due to forgetfulness of our real  nature, and (3) fear.

In other words, we  lament on account of supposing ourselves  to be identical with our gross and subtle  bodies, being enchanted by the limiting  energy of Godhead known as māyā. The  mischief makes its appearance when I  dishonestly begin to think that Godhead,  His devotees the vaiavas, the spiritual  guide, and I myself, are on a footing of  equality; or even that I am superior to them.

 From the wicked thought that I am the  equal of the spiritual guide and the true  devotees, or that they are less than I am,  the dreadful offense in the shape of  contempt for one’s superiors gathers  strength. This is real culpable arrogance as  is clear from the text of the Bhāgavatam  [11.2.47], which says: 
“One who, while worshipping Govinda,  abstains on principle from worshipping His  devotees is called arrogant.” When the  conviction that all bhāgavatas, devotees, are  objects of my worship as much as Godhead  Himself, dawns upon our souls, we are freed  from the clutches of grief, infatuation and  fear. The only method by which this goal is  realizable is by the service of Godhead.

Excerpt from Srimad Bhagavatam, by
His Divine Grace Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

praviṣṭaḥ karṇa-randhreṇa svānāṁ bhāva-saroruham
dhunoti śamalaṁ kṛṣṇaḥ salilasya yathā śarat  (2.8.5)

The sound incarnation of Lord Krishna, the  Supreme Soul [i.e. Çrémad Bhägavatam], enters  into the heart of a self-realized devotee, sits  on the lotus flower of his loving relationship,  and thus cleanses the dust of material association,  such as lust, anger and hankering.  Thus it acts like autumnal rains upon pools  of muddy water.  

PURPORT  It is said that a single pure devotee of the Lord can deliver all the fallen souls of the world. Thus one who is actually in the confidence of a pure devotee like Nārada or Śukadeva Gosvāmī and thus is empowered by one’s spiritual master, as Nārada was by Brahmājī, can not only deliver himself from the clutches of māyā, or illusion, but can deliver the whole world by his pure and empowered devotional strength. The comparison to the autumnal rain that falls on muddy reservoirs of water is very appropriate. During the rainy season, all the waters of the rivers become muddy, but in the month of July-August, the autumn season, when there is a slight rainfall, the muddy waters of the rivers all over the world become at once clear. By addition of some chemical, a small reservoir of water like that of a metropolitan waterworks tank can be cleared, but by such a tiny effort it is not possible to clear up all the reservoirs of water like the rivers. A powerful pure devotee of the Lord, however, can deliver not only his personal self but also many others in his association.
In other words, the cleansing of the polluted heart by other methods (like the culture of empiric knowledge or mystic gymnastics) can simply cleanse one’s own heart, but devotional service to the Lord is so powerful that it can cleanse the hearts of the people in general, by the devotional service of the pure, empowered devotee. A true representative of the Lord like Nārada, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, Lord Caitanya, the Six Gosvāmīs and later Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura and Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, etc., can deliver all people by their empowered devotional service.
By sincere efforts to hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam one realizes his constitutional relationship with the Lord in the transcendental humor of servitude, friendship, parental affection or conjugal love, and by such self-realization one becomes situated at once in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Not only were all the pure devotees like Nārada self-realized souls, but they were engaged in preaching work automatically by spiritual impetus, and thus they delivered many poor souls entangled in the material modes. They became so powerful because they sincerely followed the Bhāgavatam principles by regular hearing and worshiping. By such actions the accumulated material lusts, etc., become cleansed by the personal endeavor of the Lord within the heart. The Lord is always within the heart of the living being, but He becomes manifested by one’s devotional service.
Purification of the heart by culture of knowledge or mystic yoga may be all right for the time being for an individual person, but it is like the cleansing of a small quantity of stagnant water by chemical processes. Such clarification of water may stand for the time being and the sediments settle down, but by a slight agitation everything becomes muddy. The idea is that devotional service to the Lord is the only method of cleansing the heart for good. Whereas other methods may be superficially good for the time being, there is a risk of becoming muddy again due to agitation of the mind. Devotional service to the Lord, with specific attention for hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam regularly and always, is the best recommended method for liberation from the clutches of illusion.