kecit kevalaya bhaktya
vasudeva-parayanah
agham dhunvanti kartsnyena
niharam iva bhaskarah
SYNONYMS
kecit -- some people; kevalaya bhaktya -- by executing unalloyed devotional service; vasudeva -- to Lord Krishna, the all-pervading Supreme Personality of Godhead; parayanah -- completely attached (only to such service, without dependence on austerity, penance, cultivation of knowledge or pious activities); agham -- all kinds of sinful reactions; dhunvanti -- destroy; kartsnyena -- completely (with no possibility that sinful desires will revive); niharam -- fog; iva -- like; bhaskarah -- the sun.
TRANSLATION
Only a rare person who has adopted complete, unalloyed devotional service to Krishna 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.
PURPORT
In the previous verse Sukadeva Gosvami gave the example that the dried leaves of creepers beneath a bamboo tree may be completely burnt to ashes by a fire, although the creepers may sprout again because the root is still in the ground. Similarly, because the root of sinful desire is not destroyed in the heart of a person who is cultivating knowledge but who has no taste for devotional service, there is a possibility that his sinful desires will reappear. As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.14.4):
sreyah-sritim bhaktim udasya te vibho
klisyanti ye kevala-bodha-labdhaye
Speculators who undergo great labor to gain a meticulous understanding of the material world by distinguishing between sinful and pious activities, but who are not situated in devotional service, are prone to material activities. They may fall down and become implicated in fruitive activities. If one becomes attached to devotional service, however, his desires for material enjoyment are automatically vanquished without separate endeavor. Bhaktih paresanubhavo viraktir anyatra ca: [SB 11.2.42] if one is advanced in Krishna consciousness, material activities, both sinful and pious, automatically become distasteful to him. That is the test of Krishna consciousness. Both pious and impious activities are actually due to ignorance because a living entity, as an eternal servant of Krishna, has no need to act for his personal sense gratification. Therefore as soon as one is reclaimed to the platform of devotional service, he relinquishes his attachment for pious and impious activities and is interested only in what will satisfy Krishna. This process of bhakti, devotional service to Krishna (vasudeva-parayana), relieves one from the reactions of all activities.
Since Maharaja Parikshit was a great devotee. the answers of his guru, Sukadeva Gosvami, concerning karma-kanda and jnana-kanda could not satisfy him. Therefore Sukadeva Gosvami, knowing very well the heart of his disciple, explained the transcendental bliss of devotional service. The word kecit, which is used in this verse, means. "a few people but not all." Not everyone can become Krishna conscious. As Krishna explains in Bhagavad-gita (7.3):
manushyanam sahasreshu
kascid yatati siddhaye
yatatam api siddhanam
kascin mam vetti tattvatah
"Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth." Practically no one understands Krishna as He is, for Krishna cannot be understood through pious activities or attainment of the most elevated speculative knowledge. Actually the highest knowledge consists of understanding Krishna. Unintelligent men who do not understand Krishna are grossly puffed up, thinking that they are liberated or have themselves become Krishna or Narayana. This is ignorance.
jnana-karmady-anavritam
anukulyena krishnanu-
silanam bhaktir uttama
[Madhya 19.167]
"One should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Krishna favorably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive activities or philosophical speculation. That is called pure devotional service." Srila Rupa Gosvami further explains that bhakti is klesaghni subhada, which means if one takes to devotional service, all kinds of unnecessary labor and material distress cease entirely and one achieves all good fortune. Bhakti is so powerful that it is also said to be moksha-laghutakrit; in other words, it minimizes the importance of liberation.
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