देवर्षिभूताप्तनृणां पितृणां
न किङ्करो नायमृणी च राजन् ।
सर्वात्मना य: शरणं शरण्यं
गतो मुकुन्दं परिहृत्य कर्तम् ॥
devarṣi-bhūtāpta-nṛṇāṁ pitṝṇāṁ
na kiṅkaro nāyam ṛṇī ca rājan |
sarvātmanā yaḥ śaraṇaṁ śaraṇyaṁ
gato mukundaṁ parihṛtya kartam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.5.41)
“O King, one who has relinquished one’s duties and taken shelter completely in the ultimate shelterer, Mukunda, is neither a servant of, nor a debtor to, the devas, the ṛṣis, [other] living beings, relatives, humanity, or ancestors.”
Commentary
bhaktasya vidhi-niṣedha-nivṛtteḥ kṛtakṛtyatām āha—devarṣīti | āptāḥ poṣyāḥ kuṭumbinaḥ, itare devādayaḥ pañca-yajña-devatāḥ | eteṣāṁ yathābhakta ṛṇī, ata eva teṣāṁ kiṅkaraḥ, tad-arthaṁ nityaṁ pañca-yajñādi-kartā, tathā ca smṛtiḥ—‘hīna-jātiṁ parikṣīṇam ṛṇārthaṁ karma kārayet’ iti, ayaṁ tu na tathā | ko’sau? yaḥ sarva-bhāvena śrī-mukundaṁ śaraṇaṁ gataḥ, kartaṁ kṛtyaṁ parityajya, yad va, kartaṁ bhedaṁ parihṛtya, ‘kṛtī chedane’ ity asmāt ‘vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti’ buddhyety arthaḥ |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā)
“He [i.e., Karabhājana Ṛṣi] describes the establishment of a bhakta’s resignation from [observance of] injunctions and prohibitions: devarṣi … [i.e., he speaks this verse]. ‘Relatives’ (āptāḥ) refers to dependents [lit., ‘those who are to be fed’] and family members. The others [i.e., the five other groups mentioned in the verse] beginning with the devas refers to the devatās of the five yajñas [i.e., the objects of worship in the five types of sacrifice customarily performed each day by all householders]. As a non-bhakta [of Śrī Bhagavān] is a debtor to them [i.e., to the six aforementioned groups], and thus a servant of them and daily performer of the five yajñas and so forth for the sake of that [debt], as also [stated] in the Smṛti [i.e., Yājñavalkya-smṛti: 2.43], ’One should cause a person of lower caste to perform karma for the sake of discharging [their] debt,’ so he [i.e., a bhakta], on the contrary, is not [i.e., a bhakta is not a debtor to these six groups and thus not a performer of any sacrifices for the sake of clearing any such debt to them]. Who is he [i.e., what then is the nature of a bhakta]? [He is one] Who has completely taken shelter in Śrī Mukunda, having relinquished [his] duties (kartam) [i.e., the acts otherwise required of him for the sake of discharging his debts to the devas and so forth], or, alternately, as per [usage of the word] kṛtī [from which the word kartam in the verse is derived] in the sense of division (chedana), [the meaning is] having relinquished [perception of] distinction (kartam) by means of the understanding [described in BG 7.19], ‘Vāsudeva is everything.’ This is the meaning.”
evaṁ vidhi-niṣedha-nivṛtteḥ kṛtakṛtyatāṁ likhati—devarṣīti | āptāḥ poṣyāḥ kuṭumbāni, devādayaḥ pañca-yajña-devatā, eteṣāṁ yathābhakta ṛṇī, ata eva teṣāṁ kiṅkaraḥ, tad-arthaṁ nityaṁ pañca-yajñādi-kartā, tathā ca smṛtiḥ—‘hīna-jātiṁ parikṣīṇam ṛṇārthaṁ karma kārayet’ iti, ayaṁ tu na tathā | ko’sau? yaḥ sarva-bhāvena mukundaṁ sarvato mokṣadaṁ paramānanda-pradaṁ ca bhagavantaṁ śaraṇaṁ gataḥ, kartaṁ kṛtyaṁ parihṛtya, yad va, kartaṁ bhedaṁ ‘kṛtī chedane’ ity asmāt ‘vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti’ iti buddhyety arthaḥ | yad vā, advaita-niṣṭho’pi bhūtvety arthaḥ |
(Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.670)
“In this way, he describes the establishment of [a bhakta’s] resignation from [observance of] injunctions and prohibitions: devarṣi … [i.e., he speaks this verse]. ‘Relatives’ (āptāḥ) refers to dependents [lit., ‘those who are to be fed’] and family members. The others [i.e., the five other groups mentioned in the verse] beginning with the devas refers to the devatās of the five yajñas [i.e., the objects of worship in the five types of sacrifice customarily performed each day by all householders]. As a non-bhakta [of Śrī Bhagavān] is a debtor to them [i.e., to the six aforementioned groups], and thus a servant of them and daily performer of the five yajñas and so forth for the sake of that [debt], as also [stated] in the Smṛti [i.e., Yājñavalkya-smṛti: 2.43], ’One should cause a person of lower caste to perform karma for the sake of discharging [their] debt,’ so he [i.e., a bhakta], on the contrary, is not [i.e., a bhakta is not a debtor to these six groups and thus not a performer of any sacrifices for the sake of clearing any such debt to them]. Who is he [i.e., what then is the nature of a bhakta]? [He is one] Who has completely taken shelter in Śrī Mukunda, that is, Bhagavān the giver in all respects of mokṣa and bestower of the highest bliss, having relinquished [his] duties (kartam) [i.e., the acts otherwise required of him for the sake of discharging his debts to the devas and so forth], or, alternately, as per [usage of the word] kṛtī [from which the word kartam in the verse is derived] in the sense of division (chedana), [the meaning is] having relinquished [perception of] distinction (kartam) by means of the understanding [described in BG 7.19], ‘Vāsudeva is everything.’ This is the meaning. Alternately, ‘being even of fixity in non-duality (advaita)’ is the meaning [i.e., alternately the meaning of relinquishing distinction (kartam) is that even one who takes shelter in Bhagavān and relinquishes all view of divisions, that is, duality, as in done by jñānīs holding a non-dualistic (advaita) viewpoint also is no longer a debtor to or servant of the devas and so forth].”
nivṛtty-adhikāritvaṁ coktaṁ śrī-karabhājanena—devarṣi-bhūtāpta-nṛṇāṁ … iti teṣāṁ na kiṅkaraḥ kintu śrī-bhagavata evety anadhikāritvam | kartaṁ kṛtyam | kartaṁ bhedam ity arthe tato devatādīnāṁ svātantryam iti yāvat | evam evoktaṁ gāruḍe, ayaṁ devo munir vandya eṣa brahmā bṛhaspatiḥ | ity ākhyā jāyate tāvad yāvan nārcayate harim || iti |
(Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā; excerpt from Bhakti Sandarbha: 173)
“The eligibility for resignation [from observance of injunctions and prohibitions related to karma] is also stated by Śrī Karabhājana: devarṣi …. [i.e., he speaks this verse]. [One who has taken shelter completely in Mukunda is] Not a servant of them [i.e., of the devas and so forth as listed in the verse], and rather is [a servant] of Śrī Bhagavān alone. Thus, the ineligibility [i.e., thus such a person no longer has eligibility for, or the obligation to observe, duties related to the devas and so forth, such as the performance of the five types of yajña typically performed daily by householders]. [The word] Kartam means duty (kṛtya). When [the word] Kartam is [interpreted] in the sense of distinction (bhedam), then it refers specifically to the [notion] of the independence of the devatās and so forth [i.e., when kartam is construed to mean distinction (bhedam), then the verse means, ‘One who has relinquished division, meaning, the notion of the devas and so forth being independent of Bhagavān, and taken shelter completely in Bhagavān is neither a servant of, nor a debtor to, the devas and so forth’]. In the very same way, it is stated in Garuḍa Purāṇa, ‘“That deva, [that] sage, is venerable, this Brahmā, [this] Bṛhaspati [is venerable]”—such talk [alt., such apparent independent worshipability of various devas and others] arises [in the mind] so long as Hari is not worshiped.’”
parityajya kartum iti, ayam indraḥ sevyaḥ, ayaṁ candraḥ sevya ity ādi-lakṣaṇaṁ bhedaṁ | śaraṇam anena prārabdha-nāśāt varṇāśramitva-nāśena na nitya-karmādhikāraḥ | kṛtyam iti pāṭhe’pi sa evārthaḥ |
(Durgama-saṅgamanī-ṭīkā and Bhakti-sāra-pradarśinī-ṭīkā on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.68)
“Regarding [the phrase], ‘Relinquishing division’ (parityajya kartum), the meaning is [relinquishing] distinction in the form of [the notion], ‘This Indra is to be worshiped, this Candra is to be worshiped,’ and so on [i.e., it refers to relinquishing worship of the devas and others as entities perceived to be worthy of and entitled to worship independent of Bhagavān]. [‘Taken] ‘Shelter’ [in the ultimate shelterer, Mukunda]—on account of this [statement], [for one who has in this way taken shelter in Bhagavān] there is no eligibility for compulsory [alt., regular] (nitya) karma because of the nullification of [that person’s] being a varṇāśramī [i.e., a member of any particular varṇa and āśrama] as a result of the destruction of [the person’s] prāradbha [-karma]. Even in the case of the reading of [the word kartum to mean] duty (kṛtya), that alone is the meaning [i.e., the meaning is the same].”
bhaktasya nitya-naimittika-śrāddha-tarpaṇādi-karma-yantraṇā-rāhityam āha—devarṣīti | devādayaḥ pañca-yajña-devatāḥ, āptā nara-poṣyā pitṛ-mātṛ-bhāryādayaḥ, eteṣāṁ karmī yathā ṛṇī ata eva teṣāṁ kiṅkaraś ca tad-arthaṁ nityaṁ pañca-yajña-kartā, tathā ca smṛtiḥ—‘hīna-jātiṁ parikṣīṇam ṛṇārthaṁ karma kārayet’ iti | ayaṁ tu na tathā | ko’sau yaḥ sarva-bhāvena śrī-mukundaṁ śaraṇaṁ gataḥ yathā pṛthvī-patinā sva-kiṅkaratvena gṛhītasya janasya maṇḍaleśvarādy-anuvartir na sambhavet | kṛtyaṁ varṇāśrama-vihitaṁ karma tyaktvā | yad vā, kartaṁ bhedaṁ tyaktveti, ‘yathā taror mūla-niṣecanena’ iti nyāyena viṣṇu-pūjane sampravṛtte devarṣy-ādayaḥ sādhu-pūjitā evety ata eva ‘mat-kathā-śravaṇādau vā śraddhā yāvan na jāyate’ iti vadatā bhagavatā sva-bhaktasya karmādhikāro dūrīkṛtaḥ |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“He describes a bhakta’s being free from the restraints of duties (karma), viz., compulsory [alt., regular] (nitya) [karma], incidental (naimittika) [karma], śrāddhā [i.e., duties related to departed family members], tarpaṇa [i.e., duties related to ancestors], and so forth: devarṣi … [i.e., he speaks this verse]. ‘The devas’ and so forth refers to the devatās of the five yajñas [i.e., the objects of worship in the five types of sacrifice customarily performed each day by all householders]. ‘Relatives’ (āptāḥ) refers to dependents upon a man [lit., ‘those who are to be fed’], such as his father, mother, and wife. As a karmī is a debtor to them [i.e., to the six aforementioned groups], and thus a servant of them and daily performer of the five yajñas and so forth for the sake of that [debt], as also [stated] in the Smṛti [i.e., Yājñavalkya-smṛti: 2.43], ’One should cause a person of lower caste to perform karma for the sake of discharging [their] debt,’ so he [i.e., a bhakta], on the contrary, is not [i.e., a bhakta is not a debtor to these six groups and thus not a performer of any sacrifices for the sake of clearing any such debt to them]. Who is he [i.e., what then is the nature of a bhakta]? [He is one] Who has completely taken shelter in Śrī Mukunda, just as a person who has been accepted by the emperor of the earth as his own servant cannot be [any longer] a follower of the king of a province or anyone else. [Having relinquished one’s duties (parihṛtya kartam) means] Having given up one’s activities, that is, the duties enjoined by one’s varṇa and āśrama. Alternately, [it means] Having given up division (kartam), that is, distinction (bhedam). Thus, as per the principle [stated in SB 4.31.14], ‘As the trunk, branches, and sub-branches of a tree are all satiated by watering the tree’s root, and [all] the senses [of the body] are satiated by offerings of food [to the stomach], so all beings are honored by worshipping Acyuta,’ when worship of Viṣṇu is commenced, the devas, ṛṣis, and so forth are all certainly properly worshiped [thereby, and thus do not need to be worshiped directly]. Thus, as per [the statement in SB 11.20.9], ‘[One should perform karma] As long as śraddhā in hearing and so forth of discussion about me has not manifested,’ spoken by Bhagavān, the eligibility (adhikāra) for karma of his own bhakta is removed.”