न ह्यतोऽन्य: शिव: पन्था विशत: संसृताविह ।
वासुदेवे भगवति भक्तियोगो यतो भवेत् ॥
na hy ato’nyaḥ śivaḥ panthā viśataḥ saṁsṛtāv iha |
vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogo yato bhavet ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.2.33; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.566; Bhagavat Sandarbha: 85; Bhakti Sandarbha 28, 86, 115)
“For someone immersed here in saṁsāra, there is certainly no other auspicious path than that by which bhakti-yoga to Bhagavān Vāsudeva can come into being.”
Commentary
santi saṁsarataḥ puṁso bahavo mokṣa-mārgās tapo-yogādayaḥ, samīcīnas tv ayam evety āha—na hīti | yato’nuṣṭhitād bhakti-yogo bhaved ato’nyaḥ śivaḥ sukha-rūpo nirvighnaś ca nāsty eva |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā; cited in the Dig-darśinī-tīkā on Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.566 and Bhakti Sandarbha: 28)
“For a person in saṁsāra, there are many paths to mokṣa, such as austerity (tapas) and yoga. Only this [path], however, is proper. Thus, he speaks this verse (na hi …). There is no other auspicious (śivaḥ), that is, joyful and unobstructed, [path] than this by following which bhakti-yoga can come into being.”
adhunā sarva-mārga-phalatvena bhakteḥ sarva-mārgādhikatvaṁ draḍhayati … |
(Excerpt from the Dig-darśinī-tīkā on Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.566)
“Now he affirms bhakti’s being superior to all [other] paths by virtue of its being the result of all [other] paths.”
kintu sarva-sādhya-parama-sāra-prāpakas tv ayam eva panthāḥ ity āha—na hīti | yato bhakti-yogaḥ premā bhaved ato’nyaḥ śivaḥ sukha-rūpo nirvighnaś ca panthā nāsty eva |
(Excerpt from the Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“This path alone, however, is the cause of attaining the very best of all attainments (sādhyas). Thus he speaks this verse (na hi …). There is no other auspicious (śivaḥ), that is, joyful and unobstructed, path than this by following which bhakti-yoga, that is, prema, can come into being.”