जातश्रद्धो मत्कथासु निर्विण्ण: सर्वकर्मसु ।
वेद दु:खात्मकान्कामान्परित्यागेऽप्यनीश्वर: ॥
ततो भजेत मां प्रीत: श्रद्धालुर्दृढनिश्चय: ।
जुषमाणश्च तान्कामान्दु:खोदर्कांश्च गर्हयन् ॥
jāta-śraddho mat-kathāsu nirviṇṇaḥ sarva-karmasu |
veda duḥkhātmakān kāmān parityāge’py anīśvaraḥ ||
tato bhajeta māṁ prītaḥ śraddhālur dṛḍha-niścayaḥ |
juṣamāṇaś ca tān kāmān duḥkhodarkāṁś ca garhayan ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.20.27–28)
“One who has śraddhā in discussions of me, is disinterested in all karmas [i.e., in all activities that are unrelated to me], and knows that objects of desire are full of suffering [i.e., are invariable causes of suffering] yet is still unable to give them up, should thereafter worship me, being affectionate, full of śraddhā, and of firm resolve while both partaking of and condemning those objects of desire, the consequences of which are [only ultimately] suffering.”
Commentary
bhakty-adhikāriṇo bhakti-yogam āha—jāta-śraddha iti navabhiḥ | mat-kathāsu jāta-śraddho’ta evānyeṣu karmasu udvignaḥ, na tu tat-phaleṣu viraktaḥ, tad āha—vedeti | yady api veda, tathāpi tat-parityāge’nīśvaro’śaktaḥ | evaṁ-bhūto yaḥ śraddhālur bhaktyaiva sarvaṁ bhaviṣyatīti dṛḍha-niścayaḥ san, tatas tad-anantaraṁ maṁ prītyā bhajeta | viṣayāṁs tu sevamāno’pi teṣu prītiṁ na kuryād ity āha—garhayann iti |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā)
“He [i.e., Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa] describes bhakti-yoga for a bearer of eligiblity (adhikārī) for bhakti with nine [verses] beginning with this verse (jāta-śraddhaḥ …). One who has śraddhā in discussions of me is thus apprehensive about all other activities (karmas); one is not, however, indifferent to their results. Thus, he says, ‘One knows … [that objects of desire are full of suffering],’ that is, although one knows (veda) [that objects of desire are full of suffering], still one is unable (anīśvaraḥ) to give them up (parityāge). As such, one who is full of śraddhā (śraddhāluḥ) and of firm resolve (dṛḍha-niścayaḥ) that everything [i.e., everything auspicious and desirable] will come to be only through bhakti should thereafter (tataḥ) worship (bhajeta) me (māṁ) with affection (prītaḥ). Although [still thereafter one may continue] partaking of objects of the senses, however, one should not foster affection for them. Thus, he says, ‘condemning’ (garhayan) [i.e., one should condemn those object of desire even if one still partakes of them].”
atha bhakti-mārgaṁ vivṛṇoti … | etad eva kevalaṁ paramaṁ śreya iti jāta-śraddho jāta-viśvāsaḥ | ata evānyeṣu karmasu nirviṇṇa udvignaḥ, kintu vartamāneṣu prācīna-puṇya-karma-phala-bhāgeṣu evambhūta ity āha—vedeti | tatas tāṁ vedety-ādi vyākhyātāṁ, na nirviṇṇo nātisaktety evaṁ-lakṣaṇām avasthām ārabhyaivety arthaḥ | māṁ bhajeta madīyānanyatākhya-bhaktāv adhikārī syāt, na tu jñānavaj jāte samyag-vairāgya eva | tasyāḥ svataḥ sarva-śaktimattvenānya-nirapekṣatvād ity arthaḥ | … tad evam ananya-bhakty-adhikāre hetuṁ śraddhā-mātram uktvā sa yathā bhajet tathā śikṣayati—sa śraddhālur viśvāsavān | prīto jātāyāṁ rucāv āsaktaḥ | dṛḍha-niścayaḥ sādhanādhyavasāya-bhaṅga-rahitaś ca san | sahasā tyaktum asamarthatvāt kāmān juṣamāṇaś ca garhayaṁś ca | garhaṇe hetuḥ—duḥkhodarkān śokādi-kṛd-uttara-kālān iti | atra kāmā hy apāpa-karā eva jñeyāḥ | śāstre kathañcid apy anyānuvidhānāyogāt |
(Excerpt from the Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā and Bhakti Sandarbha: 172)
“Now, he [i.e., Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa] describes the path of bhakti. … One who has śraddhā (jāta-śraddhaḥ) is one who has the the conviction, ‘This itself [i.e., ananyā-bhakti] alone is the supreme good.’ Therefore [i.e., because of this śraddhā], one is disinterested (nirviṇṇa) in, that is, apprehensive about, other activities (karmas). In regard to one’s present allocation of the results of one’s past pious deeds (puṇya-karma), however, one is such that he [i.e., Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa] says, ‘One knows [that such objects of desire are full of suffering yet is still unable to give them up].’ ‘Thereafter‘ (tatas) means starting from this condition characterized [earlier in SB 11.20.8] as ‘neither disinterested nor excessively attached’ as explained [here in the present verse] by [the phrase] ‘one knows them [to be full of suffering yet is still unable to give them up].’ ‘One should worship (bhajeta) me (mām)’ implies that one can become a bearer of eligibility for the [form of] bhakti related to me that is known as being unalloyed (ananya) [starting from that state], and not, rather, [can one become so] only after the emergence of complete detachment (vairāgya) as in [the case of] jñāna, because of its [i.e., bhakti’s] being independent of others [i.e., of the other paths of karma and jñāna] on account of its being self-endowed with all potencies. … After stating in this way that śraddhā alone is the cause of eligibility (adhikāra) for unalloyed (ananya) bhakti, he [i.e., Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa] teaches how one should practice it: one should be full of śraddhā (śraddhāluḥ), that is, possessed of conviction, affectionate (prītaḥ), that is, attached [to Bhagavān] out of manifest liking (ruci), and of firm resolve (dṛḍha-niścayaḥ), that is, free from any break in one’s perseverance in sādhana, and, because of being unable to immediately give them up, one should partake (juṣamāṇaḥ) of objects of desire (kāmān) and condemn (garhayan) them [while doing so]. The cause of condemning [them] is that the consequences (udarkān) [thereof] are suffering (duḥkha), that is, they cause grief and so forth at a later time. In this regard, ‘objects of desire’ (kāmān) should be understood to refer only those that do not cause sin (pāpa) because of the inappropriateness [alt., impossibility] anywhere in śāstra of an injunction for the opposite [i.e., of any injunction for partaking of objects of desire that are sinful].”
atha bhakty-adhikāriṇaḥ prāthamikaṁ svabhāvaṁ darśayan bhaktim āha jāta-śraddha iti dvābhyām | sarva-karmasu laukika-vaidikeṣu karmasu tat-phaleṣu nirviṇṇaḥ duḥkha-buddhyā udvignaḥ | nātisakteti yad uktaṁ tad vivṛṇoti | kāmān strī-putrādi-saṅgotthān kāmān duḥkhātmakān veda | atha ca tat-parityāge’py asamarthaḥ | tatas tām avasthām ārabhyaiva dṛḍha-niścaya iti | gṛhādy-āsaktir me naśyatu vardhatāṁ vā | bhajane’pi me vighna-koṭir bhavatu naśyatu vā | aparādhe narakaṁ ced bhavatu, tat kāmam aṅgīkurve | tad api bhaktiṁ na jihāsāmi | jñāna-karmādikaṁ naiva jighṛkṣāmi yadi svayaṁ brahmāpy āgatya vaded ity evaṁ dṛḍho niścayo yasya saḥ | ārabdha-bhajanasya tasya bhaktau yathā niścaya-dārḍhyaṁ, na tathā tat-pratikūla-vastunīty āha—juṣamāṇaś ceti | duḥkhodarkān kalatra-putrādi-saṅgotthān kāmān garhayann eva juṣamāṇaḥ, aho amī viṣaya-bhogā eva mamānartha-kāriṇo bhagavat-pada-prāpti-pratikūlāḥ, yad ete bahuśo nāma-grāham api sa-śapatham api tyaktā api samaye bhoktavyā eva bhavantīti nindāmi ca pibāmi ceti nyāyena bhuñjānaḥ |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“Now with the two verses [beginning] jāta-śraddhā …, he [i.e., Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa] describes bhakti by showing the initial nature of a bearer of eligibility (adhikārī) for bhakti. ‘Disinterested in all karmas’ (nirviṇṇaḥ sarva-karmasu) means apprehensive about the results of all karmas, both worldly and Vedic, by virtue of understanding the suffering [they produce]. He [i.e., Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa] describes here [i.e., in this verse] the statement ‘not excessively attached’ (nātisakta) [that he made in SB 11.20.8]. One [i.e., a bhakti-adhikārī] knows (veda) that objects of desire (kāmān) arising from association with one’s wife, son, and so forth are full of suffering (duḥkātmakān), yet he is also unable (anīśvaraḥ) to give them up (parityāge). Thereafter (tatas), that is, starting right from that condition, one should be of firm resolve (dṛḍha-niścayaḥ) such that, ‘My attachment to home and so forth may be destroyed or may increase. A crore of obstacles even to my bhajana may arise or may be destroyed. If because of aparādha I go to hell, let it be. That I will readily accept. Nevertheless, I will not give up bhakti, and I do not wish to engage in jñāna, karma, or otherwise [i.e., in anything other than bhakti], even if Brahmā himself should come and tell [me to do so].’ As one who has taken up bhajana has [such] firmness of resolve in regard to bhakti, so he does not [at first have such firmness of resolve] in regard to objects that are unfavorable to it. Thus, he [i.e., Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa] says juṣamāṇaḥ … [i.e., he speaks the second half of the second verse]. One should condemn (garhayan) objects of desire (kāmān) arising from association with one’s wife, son, and so forth, the consequences (udarkān) of which are [only ultimately] suffering (duḥkha) while partaking (juṣamāṇaḥ) [of them as follows], ‘Aho! These objects of enjoyment are only causes of anarthas [i.e., obstacles, alt., vices] for me and are unfavorable to attainment of Bhagavān’s feet, since even though they have been rejected [by me] even with oaths [made] even while repeatedly taking the name [i.e., Bhagavān’s name], still in time they become bound to be enjoyed [by me, i.e., still, even though I repeated resolve to permanently reject them, I end partaking of them and thus because of them my fixity in bhakti to Bhagavān is perpetually obstructed].’ In this way they are [recurrently] experienced [by me] as per the maxim, ‘I condemn, and I drink (nindāmi ca pibāmi ca).’”