Who will not develop attraction for topics of the Lord, remembrance of whom, like a sword, will cut the knots of karma?

COMMENTARY

Verse 1.2.8 has already stated that varṇāśrama duties (dharmaḥ svānuṣṭhitaḥ) are wasted endeavor. And even jñāna and yoga, devoid of bhakti, are wasted endeavor.

 

śreyaḥ-sṛtiṁ bhaktim udasya te vibho kliśyanti ye kevala-bodha-labdhaye

teṣām asau kleśala eva śiṣyate nānyad yathā sthūla-tuṣāvaghātinām

 

My dear Lord, devotional service unto You is the best path for self-realization. If someone gives up that path and engages in the cultivation of speculative knowledge, he will simply undergo a troublesome process and will not achieve his desired result. As a person who beats an empty husk of wheat cannot get grain, one who simply speculates cannot achieve self-realization. His only gain is trouble. SB 10.14.4

 

naiṣkarmyam apy acyuta-bhāva-varjitaṁ na śobhate jñānam alaṁ nirañjanam

kutaḥ punaḥ śaśvad abhadram īśvara na cārpitaṁ karma yad apy akāraṇam

 

Knowledge of self-realization, even though free from all material affinity, does not look well if devoid of a conception of the Infallible [God]. What, then, is the use of fruitive activities, which are naturally painful from the very beginning and transient by nature, if they are not utilized for the devotional service of the Lord? SB 1.5.12

 

pureha bhūman bahavo ’pi yoginas tvad-arpitehā nija-karma-labdhayā

vibudhya bhaktyaiva kathopanītayā prapedire ’ñjo ’cyuta te gatiṁ parām

 

O almighty Lord, in the past many yogīs in this world achieved the platform of devotional service by offering all their endeavors unto You and faithfully carrying out their prescribed duties. Through such devotional service, perfected by the processes of hearing and chanting about You, they came to understand You, O infallible one, and could easily surrender to You and achieve Your supreme abode. SB 10.14.5

 

From this chapter it has already been understood that only by pure bhakti, unmixed with karma, jñāna or yoga, the mind becomes satisfied.

 

A doubt arises. Is there not some worry in giving up jñāna and yoga? And in not doing nitya-karmas, is there not the calamity of great sin in omission of action, and ending up in hell? This verse answers. Though jñāna and yoga have some attraction, they depend on getting their results by performance of bhakti. But bhakti gives its results without the assistance of jñāna or yoga at all. Therefore if one pleases the Lord by bhakti only, that is the perfection of dharma. The person who does not get for the most part perfection even though performing all the rules and regulations of karma attains perfection directly through bhakti, even though he does not perform the karmas. This is understood from the Lord’s own words:

 

yat karmabhir yat tapasā jñāna-vairāgyataś ca yat |

yogena dāna-dharmeṇa śreyobhir itarair api ||

sarvaṁ mad-bhakti-yogena mad-bhakto labhate ’ñjasā |

svargāpavargaṁ mad-dhāma kathañcid yadi vāñchati ||

 

Everything that can be achieved by fruitive activities, penance, knowledge, detachment, mystic yoga, charity, religious duties and all other means of perfecting life is easily achieved by My devotee through loving service unto Me. If somehow or other My devotee desires promotion to heaven, liberation, or residence in My abode, he easily achieves such benedictions. SB 11.20.32.-33

 

Thus the idea that the devotee incurs sin by not performing karmas is discarded.

 

If dharma is perfected by bhakti, will the performer of dharma stilll obtain the results of dharma? Yes. If one performs dharma with material desires, one will attain those desires, but if one performs dharma without material desires, one will not attain material results. Gopāla-tāpanī śruti says:

 

bhaktir asya bhajanam | tad ihāmutropādhi-nairāsyenaivāmuṣmin manaḥ- kalpanam | etad eva ca naiṣkarmyam ||

 

Bhakti is worship of the Lord, concentrating the mind on Him, renouncing all material desires for enjoyment (upādhi) in this world and the next. It destroys all karmas.  Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad 1.15

 

According to the following verse, since all dharmas are perfected by bhakti, the necessity of the devotees performing dharma is rejected.

 

yathā taror mūla-niṣecanena tṛpyanti tat-skandha-bhujopaśākhāḥ

prāṇopahārāc ca yathendriyāṇāṁ tathaiva sarvārhaṇam acyutejyā

 

As pouring water on the root of a tree energizes the trunk, branches, twigs and everything else, and as supplying food to the stomach enlivens the senses and limbs of the body, simply worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead through devotional service automatically satisfies the demigods, who are parts of that Supreme Personality. SB 4.31.14

 

The Lord himself says:

 

tāvat karmāṇi kurvīta na nirvidyeta yāvatā |

mat-kathā-śravaṇādau vā śraddhā yāvan na jāyate ||

 

As long as one is not satiated by fruitive activity and has not awakened his taste for devotional service by śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ one has to act according to the regulative principles of the Vedic injunctions. SB 11.20.9

 

ājñāyaivaṁ guṇān doṣān mayādiṣṭān api svakān

dharmān santyajya yaḥ sarvān māṁ bhajeta sa tu sattamaḥ

 

Having taken complete shelter at My lotus feet, however, a saintly person ultimately renounces such ordinary religious duties and worships Me alone. He is thus considered to be the best among all living entities. SB 11.11.32

 

And in the Gītā the Lord says:

 

sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja

Give up all dharma and just surrender to me. BG 18.66

 

Based on these verses, the meaning of the verse yathā toror mūla-niśecanena is as follows. Just as worship of the Lord takes the place of worshiping all devatās, and satisfaction of the Lord is the perfection of performance of varṇāśrama duties, when the Lord is satisfied with his worship, the goal of performing one’s duties including worship of devatās is automatically achieved. In the example, by watering the root of the tree the watering of the branches and leaves takes place automatically. When the pure devotees of Bengal or other places perform a few karmas out of obligation because of pressure from family traditions, this is actually not performance of karmas, and does not give karmic results, because they do not have faith in the worship of devatās. The Lord says:

 

aśraddhayā hutaṁ dattaṁ tapas taptaṁ kṛtaṁ ca yat |

asad ity ucyate pārtha na ca tat pretya no iha ||

 

O son of Pṛthā, whatever is offered in the fire, whatever is given in charity, whatever is undertaken as austerity, but which is done without faith, is called asat since it bears no result now or in the next life. BG 17.28

 

|| 1.2.14 ||

tasmād ekena manasā bhagavān sātvatāṁ patiḥ |

śrotavyaḥ kīrtitavyaś ca dhyeyaḥ pūjyaś ca nityadā

 

TRANSLATION

Therefore, with mind dedicated only to bhakti, devoid of karma and jñāna, one should constantly hear about, glorify and meditate upon the Supreme Lord—the master of the devotees.

 

COMMENTARY

Because of this, one should worship the Supreme Lord with the mind devoid of the desire to perform karma and jñāna (ekena manasā).

 

|| 1.2.15 ||

yad-anudhyāsinā yuktāḥ karma-granthi-nibandhanam |

chindanti kovidās tasya ko na kuryāt kathā-ratim ||

TRANSLATION