Why should we endeavour to purify the heart?

If we invite some great man, such as a saint or a learned person to our house, some preparations will have to be made at home, to make it presentable. We have to clean the house and the surroundings before the guest comes to our house. A house which is not clean lacks sacredness and great people would not go to such places. In the same way, if we invited a minister or governor to our village, we would clean the road and decorate the path and keep everything fit and proper for receiving the eminent visitor. If we take so much care and precaution when we invite a person who has only a temporary position, how much more clean should we keep our heart when we invite the very Creator and Protector of the world Himself to enter? It is only when we purify our heart that God will be able to enter it. Krishna said: “Arjuna, you are taking Me as the charioteer of your chariot. Take Me as the charioteer of your life. The seat on which I am seated in this chariot is very neat and well decorated. Think how clean and how grand your heart should be to make it a seat for Me if I become the charioteer of your heart.”

-Divine Discourse, Sep 12, 1984.