धर्मः सत्यदयोपेतो विद्या वा तपसान्विता ।
मद्भक्त्यापेतमात्मानं न सम्यक् प्रपुनाति हि ॥
dharmaḥ satya-dayopeto vidyā vā tapasānvitā |
mad-bhaktyāpetam ātmānaṁ na samyak prapunāti hi ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.22; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.557; Bhakti Sandarbha: 79, 111, 147)
“Devoid of bhakti to me, dharma endowed with truthfulness and compassion, or knowledge accompanied by austerity, certainly do not fully purify the mind.”
Commentary
bhakty-abhāve’nyat sādhanaṁ vyartham ity āha dvābhyāṁ—dharma iti |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā)
“With two [verses, i.e., this and the following], he [i.e., Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa] says that in the absence of bhakti, other sādhanas are futile: dharmaḥ … [i.e., he speaks these two verses].”
dharmo niṣkāmaḥ | vidyā śāstrīyaṁ brahma-jñānam | tapasā tad-īkṣaṇa-rūpa-cittaikāgryeṇa | mad-bhaktyā mat-prīti-kāmanā-lakṣaṇayā, na samyak prapunāti | ukta-pārameṣṭhyādy-apunarbhava-paryanta-sarva-vāsanāto na śodhayati |
(Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā)
“Dharma [as referred to in this verse] is desireless [i.e., it refers to niṣkāma-karma]. ‘Knowledge’ (vidyā) refers to śāstric knowledge (jñāna) of Brahman. ‘With austerity’ (tapasā) means with one-pointedness of mind in the form of sight of that [i.e., of Brahman]. [Devoid of] Bhakti to me the characteristic of which is desire for prīti for me [i.e., the desire of which is my satisfaction], neither [dharma not jñāna] fully purify [the mind], that is, they do not purge [the mind] of all inclinations (vāsanās) beginning with [the inclination for] the [afore] mentioned post of Brahmā [mentioned in SB 11.14.14] and culminating in [the inclination for] non-rebirth [i.e., mokṣa].”
kiṁ ca, dharma-jñānādīnāṁ pāpa-nāśakatvam api bhakti-sāhityenaiva | bhakti-rāhityena tu kiñcin-mātram evety āha—dharma iti | vidyā jñānam |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“Furthermore, even dharma, jñāna, and so forth’s being destroyers of sin is only with the accompaniment of bhakti. In the absence of bhakti, however, that is only meager [i.e., dharma, jñāna, and so forth can only purify the mind of a small amount of sin]. Thus, he [i.e., Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa] says dharmaḥ … [i.e., he speaks this verse]. Knowledge (vidyā) refers to jñāna.”