Can someone who has led a sinful life be forgiven and purified through genuine surrender?

In the Vedic literature, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa addresses "Can someone who has led a sinful life be forgiven and purified through genuine surrender?" with profound philosophical clarity. As declared in SB 6.1.15, "Only a rare person who has adopted complete, unalloyed devotional service to Kṛṣṇa can uproot the weeds of sinful actions with no possibility that they will revive. He can do this simply by discharging devotional service, just as the sun can immediately dissipate fog by its rays." The living entity (jīva) is not the temporary physical body, but an eternal, indestructible conscious spark of the Supreme. All material dualities—happiness, distress, anxiety, and sorrow—are bodily transformations that arise from our conditioned contact with the material energy. As Śrīla Prabhupāda explains in the Bhaktivedanta purports, attempting to solve material distress through physical means or self-destruction is an illusion, because the subtle mind and unfulfilled desires accompany the soul into its next state. Rather, as instructed in BG 9.30, one must use the mind to elevate oneself through spiritual intelligence. By taking shelter of devotional service (Bhakti-yoga) and the holy names of the Lord, one conquers all material perplexities and attains eternal peace.