‘Core’ Devotees Evoke Sraddha in Hard Hearts?

Just by seeing shaven-headed, sari-clad, tilak bearing devotees can begin to convince people that there is a goal greater than sense gratification — beyond sex and money. HH Hridayananda Swami puts this beautifully in his purport to 11.2.30. He writes: “But if even only briefly or accidentally they hear hari-katha, topics of Krsna, in the association of pure devotees of the Lord, their propensity to suffer in material existence will slacken. When one sees liberated persons, hears about Krsna from them, remembers their saintly behavior and so on, one’s tendency to bind himself in the illusion of sense gratification is diminished, and he becomes eager to serve the Supreme Lord.”