देवानां शुद्धसत्त्वानामृषीणां चामलात्मनाम् ।
भक्तिर्मुकुन्दचरणे न प्रायेणोपजायते ॥
devānāṁ śuddha-sattvānām ṛṣīṇāṁ cāmalātmanām |
bhaktir mukunda-caraṇe na prāyeṇopajāyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 6.14.2; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.545; Bhakti Sandarbha: 134)
“[Even] In devas of pure mind or ṛṣis of taintless mind, bhakti to Mukunda’s feet generally does not manifest.”
Commentary
śuddha-sattvamayānām api devānām amalātmanāṁ nirmala-cittānām api ṛṣīṇām | prāyeṇeti kadācit kasyacid eva jāyata ity arthaḥ |
(Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.545)
“[Bhakti to Mukunda’s feet generally does not manifest] Even in devas, who are possessed of pure minds, and even in ṛṣis, whose minds (ātmanām) are taintless (amala). The meaning in regard to ‘generally’ (prāyeṇa) is that it manifests only sometimes in someone [i.e., when one attains the association of a sādhu—a bhakta].”
bhagavat-kṛpāmṛta-parimala-pātra-bhūtasya śrīmato mahataḥ saṅga eva kāraṇam |
(Excerpt from the Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā)
“The association of a blessed mahat, who is like a vessel of the fragrance of the nectar of Bhagavān’s grace, is the only cause [of the manifestation of bhakti, i.e., having a purely sāttvika mind will not in and of itself directly cause anyone to attain bhakti].”
śuddha-sattvānāṁ śuddhāntaḥkaraṇānām | prāyeṇeti antaḥkaraṇa-śuddhau jñānaṁ yathā svataḥ syāt tathā na bhaktiḥ | tasyāḥ sādhu-saṅgād vinābhāvinābhāvitvāt |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“‘Of pure mind’ (śuddha-sattvānāṁ) means of pure psyche (antaḥkaraṇa). In regard to ‘generally’ (prāyeṇa), [the sense is that] as knowledge (jñānam) shall come about of its own account when the psyche (antaḥkaraṇa) is pure, so bhakti shall not because of its being non-destined to be on account [its] not being destined to be without the association of a sādhu [i.e., the intention in the statement in the verse that bhakti to Mukunda’s feet generally does not manifest even in the devas and ṛṣis who have purely sāttvika minds is that bhakti does not manifest in them or anyone else unless one attains the association of a sādhu, that is, a bhakta].”