BG 7.16

7.16 चतुर्विधाः four kinds? भजन्ते worship? माम् Me? जनाः people? सुकृतिनः virtuous? अर्जुन O Arjuna? आर्तः the distressed? जिज्ञासुः the seeker of knowledge? अर्थार्थी the seeker of wealth? ज्ञानी the wise? च and? भरतर्षभ O lord of the Bharatas.Commentary The distressed is he who is suffering from a chronic and incurable disease? he whose life is in jeopardy on account of earthake? volcanic eruption? thunder? attack by a dacoit or enemy or tiger? etc. When Draupadi and Gajendra were in great distress they worshipped the Lord. These are the instances of Aarta Bhakti.Jijnasu is the enirer. He is dissatisfied with this world. There is a void in his life. He always feels that sensual pleasure is not the highest form of happiness and there is yet pure eternal bliss unmixed with grief and pain? which is to be found within. Janaka and Uddhava were devotees of this type.Seeker of wealth is he who craves for money? wife? children? position? name and fame. Sugriva? Vibhishana? Upamanyu and Dhruva were all devotees of this type.The wise are the men of knowledge who have attained to Selfillumination. Sukadeva was a JnaniBhakta.Kamsa? Sishupala and Ravana thought of the Lord constantly on account of fear and hatred (VairaBhakti). Hence they are also regarded as devotees.Be devoted to God? whatever be your motive. Devotion will purify the motive in due course.

— vedicscriptures · exposition · source ↗

Unlike the miscreants, these are adherents of the regulative principles of the scriptures, and they are called su-kṛtinaḥ, or those who obey the rules and regulations of scriptures, the moral and social laws, and are, more or less, devoted to the Supreme Lord. Out of these there are four classes of men – those who are sometimes distressed, those who are in need of money, those who are sometimes inquisitive, and those who are sometimes searching after knowledge of the Absolute Truth. These persons come to the Supreme Lord for devotional service under different conditions. These are not pure devotees, because they have some aspiration to fulfill in exchange for devotional service. Pure devotional service is without aspiration and without desire for material profit. The Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.1.11) defines pure devotion thus: anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu- śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā “One should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa favorably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive activities or philosophical speculation. That is called pure devotional service.” When these four kinds of persons come to the Supreme Lord for devotional service and are completely purified by the association of a pure devotee, they also become pure devotees. As far as the miscreants are concerned, for them devotional service is very difficult because their lives are selfish, irregular and without spiritual goals. But even some of them, by chance, when they come in contact with a pure devotee, also become pure devotees. Those who are always busy with fruitive activities come to the Lord in material distress and at that time associate with pure devotees and become, in their distress, devotees of the Lord. Those who are simply frustrated also come sometimes to associate with the pure devotees and become inquisitive to know about God. Similarly, when the dry philosophers are frustrated in every field of knowledge, they sometimes want to learn of God, and they come to the Supreme Lord to render devotional service and thus transcend knowledge of the impersonal Brahman and the localized Paramātmā and come to the personal conception of Godhead by the grace of the Supreme Lord or His pure devotee. On the whole, when the distressed, the inquisitive, the seekers of knowledge, and those who are in need of money are free from all material desires, and when they fully understand that material remuneration has nothing to do with spiritual improvement, they become pure devotees. As long as such a purified stage is not attained, devotees in transcendental service to the Lord are tainted with fruitive activities, the search for mundane knowledge, etc. So one has to transcend all this before one can come to the stage of pure devotional service.

— vedicscriptures · exposition · source ↗