Verse 2.10.249

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 2.10.249:

মুঞি সত্য করিযাছোঙাপনার মুহে মোর ভক্তি বিনা কোন কর্মে কিছু নহে ॥ ২৪৯ ॥

मुञि सत्य करियाछोङापनार मुहे मोर भक्ति विना कोन कर्मे किछु नहे ॥ २४९ ॥

muñi satya kariyāchoṅāpanāra muhe mora bhakti vinā kona karme kichu nahe || 249 ||

muni satya kariyachonapanara muhe mora bhakti vina kona karme kichu nahe (249)

English translation:

(249) “I have established the fact that no activity is fruitful without devotional service.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

“Without the service of the Lord a conditioned soul cannot achieve any benefit through the performance of conditional or constitutional duties—I have personally established this fact.” In other words, this principle is described in the Vedic literatures. The Kaivalya Upaniṣad states:

śraddhā-bhakti-dhyāna-yogād avaiti—“Faithful sādhakas attain Lord Kṛṣṇa by meditating on His form with devotion.” The Vedānta-sūtra (3.2.24) states: api saṃrādhane pratyakṣānumānābhyām—“According to the śrutis and smṛtis, the Lord becomes visible to those who worship Him with love.” In the Atharva Veda (Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad 1.79) it is stated: vijñāna-ghanānanda-ghana sac-cid-ānandaika-rase bhakti-yoge tiṣṭhati—“Śrī Govinda, who is sac-cid-ānanda, always exists in the mellows of devotional service, in other words, He is attained only through devotional service.” In the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (3.18) it is stated: jñāna-prasādena viśuddha-sattvas tu taṃ paśyate niṣkalaṃ dhyāyamānaḥ—“If a pure-hearted, self-realized sādhaka meditates through the knowledge of the scriptures on the unchangable Supreme Lord, then he can directly see Him.” In the Vedānta-sūtra (3.2.26) this is also described in the following words: prakāśaś ca karmaṇy abhyāsāt—“Devotional service is so potent that simply by engaging in the activities of devotional service one becomes enlightened without a doubt.” In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.14.4) it is stated:

śreyaḥ-sṛtiṃ 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.” In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (11.14.20) it is stated:

na sādhayati māṃ yogo na sāṅkhyaṃ dharma uddhava na svādhyāyas tapas tyāgo yathā bhaktir mamorjitā

“My dear Uddhava, the unalloyed devotional service rendered to Me by My devotees brings Me under their control. I cannot be thus controlled by those engaged in mystic yoga, Sāṅkhya philosophy, pious work, Vedic study, austerity or renunciation.” In the Māṭhara-śruti it is stated:

bhaktir evainaṃ nayati bhaktir evainaṃ darśayati bhakti-vaśaḥ puruṣo bhaktir eva bhūyasī

“Bhakti leads the jīva to the Lord, and enables the soul to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord is controlled by bhakti. Bhakti is best of all.” In the Bhagavad-gītā (8.22) it is stated:

puruṣaḥ sa paraḥ pārtha bhaktyā labhyas tv ananyayā

“O son of Pṛthā, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is greater than all, is attainable by unalloyed devotion.” In the Bhagavad-gītā (11.53-54) it is stated:

nāhaṃ vedair na tapasā na dānena na cejyayā śakya evaṃ-vidho draṣṭuṃ dṛṣṭavān asi māṃ yathā

bhaktyā tv ananyayā śakya aham evaṃ-vidho ‘rjuna jñātuṃ draṣṭuṃ ca tattvena praveṣṭuṃ ca parantapa

“The form you are seeing with your transcendental eyes cannot be understood simply by studying the Vedas, nor by undergoing serious penances, nor by charity, nor by worship. It is not by these means that one can see Me as I am. My dear Arjuna, only by undivided devotional service can I be understood as I am, standing before you, and can thus be seen directly. Only in this way can you enter into the mysteries of My understanding.” In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.9.21) it is stated:

nāyaṃ sukhāpo bhagavān dehināṃ gopikā-sutaḥ jñānināṃ cātma-bhūtānāṃ yathā bhaktimatām iha

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, the son of mother Yaśodā, is accessible to devotees engaged in spontaneous loving service, but He is not as easily accessible to mental speculators, to those striving for self- realization by severe austerities and penances, or to those who consider the body the same as the self.” In his commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra (3.3.54) Śrī Madhvācārya has quoted the following verse:

bhakti-sthaḥ paramo viṣṇus- tathaivaināṃ vaśe nayet tathaiva darśanaṃ yātaḥ pradadyān muktim etayā

snehānubandho yas tasmin bahu-māna-puraḥsaraḥ bhaktir ity ucyate saiva kāraṇaṃ param īśituḥ

“Lord Viṣṇu dwells in devotional service. The Supreme Lord Viṣṇu is controlled only by devotional service. Only through devotional service does He give His darśana to His devotees, and only by devotional service does He award liberation to the living entities. Intense affection for Lord Viṣṇu is called devotional service. This devotional service is the supreme

method for achieving the darśana of the Supreme Lord Viṣṇu.” In the

Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya, 20.136 and 139) it is stated:

`bhaktye’ kṛṣṇa vaśa haya, bhaktye tāṅre bhaji ataeva `bhakti’——kṛṣṇa-prāptyera upāya

“Kṛṣṇa can be fully satisfied only by devotional service, and He is worshiped only by devotional service. The conclusion is that devotional service is the only means for approaching the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” In the Padma Purāṇa (Uttara-khaṇḍa, Chapter Fifty) it is stated:

na dhanena samṛddhena na vai vipulayā dhiyāe kena bhakti-yogena samīpe dṛśyate kṣaṇāt

toyaṃ baddhvā tu vastrena kṛta-kāryaṃ kathaṃ bhavet prāpya deha vinā bhaktiṃ kriyate sa vṛthā-śramaḥ

bāhubhyāṃ sāgaraṃ tartuṃ yad van mūkho ‘bhi vāñchati saṃsāra sāgaraṃ tad vad viṣṇu-bhaktiṃ vinā naraḥ

“Lord Viṣṇu does not give His darśana to those who have vast wealth, He does not give His darśana to those who were born in aristocratic families, He does not give His darśana to those who have vast knowledge, but He gives His darśana in a moment to those who are engaged in devotional service. Just as a person is unable to bind water with cloth, if after attaining the human form of life the living entity does not engage in devotional service, he is unable to attain liberation and his labors go in vain. As a foolish person tries to cross the ocean by swimming, only a foolish person tries to cross the ocean of material existence without

engaging in devotional service to Viṣṇu.” In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam

(11.14.22) it is stated:

dharmaḥ satya-dayopeto vidyā vā tapasānvitā

mad-bhaktyāpetam ātmānaṃ na samyak prapunāti hi

“Neither religious activities endowed with honesty and mercy nor knowledge obtained with great penance can completely purify one’s consciousness if they are bereft of loving service to Me.”