गृहेष्वाविशतां चापि पुंसां कुशलकर्मणाम् ।
मद्वार्तायातयामानां न बन्धाय गृहा मता: ॥
नव्यवद्धृदये यज्ज्ञो ब्रह्मैतद्ब्रह्मवादिभि: ।
न मुह्यन्ति न शोचन्ति न हृष्यन्ति यतो गता: ॥
gṛheṣv āviśatāṁ cāpi puṁsāṁ kuśala-karmaṇām ||
mad-vārtā-yāta-yāmānāṁ na bandhāya gṛhā matāḥ ||
navyavad dhṛd aye yaj jño brahmaitad brahma-vādibhiḥ |
na muhyanti na śocanti na hṛṣyanti yato gatāḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.30.19–20; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 332)
[Translated according to the Bhāvārtha-dīpikā:] “[Śrī Bhagavān to the Pracetas:] The household lives of persons who are skillful in action and pass their time in discussion of me even though they have entered household lives is not considered to lead to bondage, since the I the Knower—this Brahman those who have attained which neither become deluded, nor lament, and nor become excited—appear ever-anew in the heart by means of expounders of Brahman.”
[Translated according to the Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā:] “[Śrī Bhagavān to the Pracetas:] The household life of persons who are skillful in action and pass their time in discussion of me even though they have entered household life is not considered to lead to bondage, since I the Knower—that is, this [nature of mine] which is [called] Brahman by exponents of Brahman, and into which those who have entered neither become deluded, nor lament, and nor become excited—appear ever-anew in the heart.”
Commentary
nanu gṛheṣu praviṣṭānām asmākaṁ tad-āsaktyā bandha eva syāt, kutas tvad-bhaktir nirvedo vā tatrāha—gṛheṣv iti | kuśalaṁ mayy arpitaṁ karma yeṣām | mad-vārtayā yāto yāmaḥ kālo yeṣām | tvad-vārtā-śrotṝṇāṁ gṛhair na bandha iti kutaḥ? tatrāha—navyavad iti | yad yasmāt kathā-śravaṇāt jñaḥ sarva-jño’ham īśvaro brahma-vādibhiḥ pravaktṛbhir nimitta-bhūtaiḥ śrotṝṇāṁ hṛt hṛdayaṁ navyavat pratipadaṁ nūtanavat aye prāpnomi | brahma-sākṣātkāro bhavatīty arthaḥ | nanu tvat-kathā-śravaṇe kathaṁ brahma-sākṣātkāraḥ? tatrāha | yo’ham etad eva brahma | tatra hetuḥ—yato gatāḥ, yaṁ māṁ prāptāḥ santo moha-śoka-harṣān na prāpnuvanti, ato mat-kathā-śravaṇena navyavan mama hṛdy āvirbhāvād asyeva brahma-sākṣātkāratvād gṛheṣu vasatām api na bandha ity arthaḥ |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā)
“[The Pracetas wonder:] ‘Well, only bondage shall occur for we who have entered household lives as a result of attachment to it. How shall bhakti to you or disinterest [in saṁsāra] come about?’ To this, he [i.e., Śrī Bhagavān] speaks this verse (gṛheṣu … ). [‘Skillful in action’ (kuśala-karmaṇām) refers to those] Whose actions are skillful, that is, offered to me. [Those who ‘pass their time in discussion of me’ (mad-vārtā-yāta-yāmānāṁ refers to those] Whose time (yāmaḥ) is passed in discussion of me. [The Pracetas wonder:] ‘How does bondage not occur on account of household life for listeners of discussion of you?’ To this, he [i.e., Śrī Bhagavān] speaks this verse (navyavat … ). ‘Because’ (yat), that is, because of hearing discussion [of me], the Knower (jñaḥ), that is, the all-knowing One, I, the Īśvara, ‘appear’ (aye) ‘ever-anew’ (navyavat), that is, as though new at every moment, in the heart of listeners ‘by means of expounders of Brahman’ (Brahma-vādibhiḥ), that is, by means of excellent speakers [of my nature] existing [i.e., acting] as means. The meaning is that direct perception (sākṣātkāra) of Brahman occurs [in the hearts of such listeners as a result of hearing discussion of Śrī Bhagavān from excellent speakers]. [The Pracetas then wonder:] ‘Well, how does direct perception (sākṣātkāra) of Brahman occur as a result of hearing discussion of you?’ To that, he says, ‘Who I am is verily this Brahman [i.e., because I myself am Brahman].’ The reason in this regard is ‘those who have attained which’ (yataḥ gatāḥ), that is, those who have attained me, do not undergo delusion, lamentation, or excitement. Therefore, as a result of my appearance ever-anew in the heart by means of hearing discussion of me, which is similar to someone’s direct perception of Brahman, bondage does not occur even though you all reside in households. This is the meaning.”
nanu tarhi bhaumān bhokṣyatha bhogān ity uktyā niraya-tulye viṣaya-bhoge tvad-bhakti-pratikūle katham asmān nikṣipasi? iti tatrāha—gṛheṣu āviśatāṁ prāptāveśānām api kuśalaṁ mat-paricaraṇam eva karma yeṣām | mat-kathayā yāto yāmo praharo’pi yeṣāṁ prahara-madhye mat-kathā yeṣām avaśyam eva bhavatīty arthaḥ | ayam arthaḥ—karma-janyānām eva bhogānāṁ bandhakatvaṁ niraya-tulyatvaṁ bhakti-prātikūlyaṁ ca, na tu mad-anugraha-janyānāṁ, ata eva mad-anugrahād bhaumān bhokṣyateti mayoktam ato’nyatrāpi yatra viṣaya-bhoge’pi mad-bhakter asaṅkocaḥ pratyuta vṛddhir eva dṛśyate cet tadā sa viṣaya-bhogo mad-anugraha-janya evānumeyo na bandhakaḥ, pṛthu-prahlāda-dhruva-manv-ādiṣu tathā darśanāt | avipakva-kaṣāyeṣu tu bhakteṣu mad-anugraho bhoga-cyāvaka eva draṣṭavyaḥ, yad uktaṁ—‘yasyāham anugṛhṇāmi hariṣye tad-dhanaṁ śanaiḥ’ ity-ādi | teṣāṁ bhaktānāṁ kuto bandha-duḥkhaṁ yatas teṣāṁ hṛdaye’ham api sukhaṁ prāptuṁ nityaṁ vasāmīty āha—navyeti | etan mat-svarūpaṁ brahma-vādibhir brahma ucyate iti śeṣaḥ | yato yatra brahmaṇi gatā līnā na muhyanti moha-śoka-harṣāya prāpnuvanti, so’haṁ jño vijño’pi yad yasmāt teṣāṁ kuśala-karmaṇāṁ hṛt hṛdaya-kamalaṁ nayvavat pratipadaṁ nūtanavat aye prāpnomi jānāmīti vā—‘teṣāṁ hṛdaye navyavad ahaṁ bhāmi’ iti sandarbhaḥ |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“[Pracetas may ask Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] ‘Well then, after [your] having said [in SB 4.30.17], “You all will enjoy the enjoyments of the earth,” [we wonder] why do you cast us into enjoyment of objects of the senses, which is equivalent to hell (niraya) and unfavorable to bhakti to you?’ In this regard, he [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa] describes [them as] ‘[persons] whose action, that is, service to me, is skillful (kuśala)’ and ‘whose time, that is, even a watch (prahāra) [i.e., an eighth of the day and night], passes in discussion of me,’ that is, for whom discussion of me most certainly occurs during a watch [i.e., throughout each phase of the day]. This is the meaning. The meaning [of the verse] is this: enjoyments produced specifically by karma [i.e., worldly action] have the nature of [being] a cause of bondage, equivalent to hell (niraya), and unfavorable to bhakti, whereas those [enjoyments] produced by my grace do not. Therefore, ‘You all will enjoy [the enjoyments] of the earth by my grace’ was stated by me. Thus, when non-diminution, and rather definitive increase, of bhakti to me is observable even elsewhere even in the midst of enjoyment of objects of the senses, then that enjoyment of the objects of the senses is to be inferred to be produced by my grace and not a cause of bondage on account of observance of such [i.e., of non-occurrence of bondage] in the case of Pṛthu, Prahlāda, Dhruva, Manu, and others [whom I graced with enjoyment of the objects of the senses], whereas in regard to bhaktas who are not fully purged of impurities, my grace is to be observed only as the expulsion of enjoyment [of the objects of the senses produced by karma], as it has been said [by me in SB 10.88.8], ‘I will gradually take away the wealth of one whom I favor. Then, [when he is] devoid of wealth and troubled by troubles [one after another], his relatives reject him.’
“[Śrī Bhagavān then intends to convey:] ‘Where is the suffering of bondage for these bhaktas [i.e., those described in this verse], since even I reside continuously in their hearts to attain happiness [i.e., because I reside in their hearts so that I can experience the happiness of personally observing and receiving their bhakti], there is no question that they do not have pure hearts and do not experience of the happiness of bhakti therein].’ Thus, he speaks this verse (navyavad …). In regard to ‘this’ (etat), that is, my nature, ‘Brahman,‘ and ‘by expounders of Brahman’ (Brahma-vādibhiḥ), ‘is called’ is the [implied] remainder [i.e., the sense of the passage with the implied remainder is, ‘This, that is, my nature, is called Brahman by expounders of Brahman’]. ‘Those who have entered’ (gatāḥ), that is, become immersed, ‘in which’ (yataḥ), that is, in [that] Brahman, ‘do not become deluded’ (na muhyanti), that is, do not experience delusion, lamentation, or excitement, since (yat) although I am he, the Knower (jñaḥ), that is, the fully knowing One, I ‘appear in’ (aye), that is, I reach, or, I know, ‘ever-anew’ (navyavat), that is, ever-newly at every moment, the hearts, that is, the lotuses of the hearts, of those whose actions are skillful, or, according to the [Krama] Sandarbha [on SB 11.29.19], ‘I shine ever-anew in their hearts.’”