भक्ता भगवतो ये तु सकामाः स्वेच्छयाखिलान् ।
भुञ्जानाः सुखभोगांस्ते विशुद्धा यान्ति तत्पदम् ॥
वैकुण्ठं दुर्लभं मुक्तैः सान्द्रानन्दचिदात्मकम् ।
निष्कामा ये तु तद्भक्ता लभन्ते सद्य एव तत् ॥
bhaktā bhagavato ye tu sakāmāḥ svecchayākhilān |
bhuñjānāḥ sukha-bhogāṁs te viśuddhā yānti tat-padam ||
vaikuṇṭhaṁ durlabhaṁ muktaiḥ sāndrānanda-cid-ātmakam |
niṣkāmā ye tu tad-bhaktā labhante sadya eva tat ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.1.13–14)
“Those desirous (sakāma) bhaktas of Bhagavān, however, who remain pure [even] while partaking by their own wish of all pleasant objects of experience, [eventually] attain his abode. Bhaktas of his who are desireless (niṣkāma), however, quickly attain that [abode,] Vaikuṇtha, constituted of intense bliss and consciousness, [which is] difficult to attain [even] for muktas.”
Commentary
sakāmā bhaktā ye khalu bhogābhilāṣeṇa bhagavantam abhajan te ity arthaḥ | svecchayā ity anena karma-pāratantryādikaṁ nirastam | akhilān ity anena trailokye mahar-lokādāv arcirādiṣv api tathā prapañcāntargata-śvetadvīpa-ramāpriyādi-vaikuṇṭheṣv api vartamānā bhogā gṛhītāḥ | sukhamayān bhogān ity anena ca trailokyāntargata-bhoga-sthita-doṣa-duḥkhādikaṁ nirākṛtam | viśuddhāḥ saṁcchinna-bhoga-vāsanakāḥ santaḥ bhuñjānā iti vartamāna-nirdeśena bhoga-kāla eva bhagavad-bhakti-prabhāveṇa viśuddhir uddiṣṭā | tasya bhagavataḥ padaṁ sthānaṁ yānti labhante |
(Excerpt from the Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“Desirous (sakāma) bhaktas of Bhagavān are they who worship Bhagavān with desire for objects of experience (bhoga) [in the world]. This is the meaning. ‘By their own wish’ (svecchayā)—by this [statement, such bhaktas’] being dependent on karma and so forth is precluded [i.e., such bhaktas of Bhagavān do not experience the worldly objects they desire as a result of their karma but rather as a result of their bhakti to Bhagavān enacted with desire for particular objects of worldly experience]. ‘All’ (akhilān)—by this [word], [all] the objects of experience (bhogas) present in the three planes [i.e., Bhū, Bhuvaḥ, and Svarga], in Maharloka and so forth [i.e., the upper four planes within the material universe, viz., Janaloka, Tapaloka, and Satyaloka], in the abode of fire and so forth [i.e., in the coverings of the material universe constituted of each of the fundamental elements such as fire], and in the Vaikuṇṭhas of Śvetadvīpa, of Ramā’s [i.e., Lakṣmī’s] Beloved, and so forth within the phenomenal [i.e., material] domain, are understood. ‘Pleasant objects of experience’ (sukha-bhogān)—by this [compound], the faults, sufferings, and so forth present in objects of experience within the three planes are excluded [i.e., bhaktas experience the pleasures of these desired objects of experience without experiencing their otherwise concomitant negative properties that cause suffering]. Being ‘pure’ (viśuddhāḥ), that is, fully cut off from [even] minor inclinations (vāsanās) for objects of experience (bhogas) [i.e., the bhaktas spoke of here are said to desire objects of experience in the world are those who do so purely for the sake of serving Bhagavān and not because of any inclination (vāsanā) within their own psyche for self-centered experience of those objects], ‘while partaking’ (bhuñjānā)—by this usage of the present [tense], purity [on the part of such bhaktas] by the influence of bhakti to Bhagavān verily [even] at the time of experience [of the objects of experience they desire] is specified. They attain (yānti) his abode (tat-padam), that is, the domain of Bhagavān [i.e., they attain Bhagavān’s domain beyond saṁsāra and all the aforementioned planes within it, though they only do so later after experiencing the objects they desire in contrast to bhaktas who harbor no such desires and attain Bhagavān’s domain beyond saṁsāra far more quickly].”