न मय्येकान्तभक्तानां गुणदोषोद्भवा गुणाः ।
साधूनां समचित्तानां बुद्धेः परमुपेयुषाम् ॥
na mayy ekānta-bhaktānāṁ guṇa-doṣodbhavā guṇāḥ |
sādhūnāṁ sama-cittānāṁ buddheḥ param upeyuṣām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.20.36; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.210; Bhakti Sandarbha: 177, 312, 321; Durgama-saṅgamanī-ṭīkā on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.293
“[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] Bhaktas who are one-pointed upon me, are sādhu [i.e., free from attachment and aversion (rāga and dveṣa)], are equanimous, and have attained that which is beyond the intellect, have no qualities [i.e., merits, sins, or otherwise] produced by qualities and faults [i.e., produced by observance of injunctions and neglect of prohibitions].”
Commentary
anena prakāreṇa siddhānāṁ na guṇa-doṣā iti virodha-parihāram upasaṁharati—na mayīti | guṇa-doṣair vihita-pratiṣiddhair udbhavā yeṣāṁ te guṇāḥ puṇya-pāpādayaḥ | sādhūnāṁ nirasta-rāgādīnām ataḥ sama-cittānām, ata eva buddheḥ param īśvaraṁ prāptānām |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā)
“In this way, siddhas have no qualities or faults. Thus, he concludes by refuting an antithesis: na mayi … [i.e., he states this verse]. [Bhaktas have no] Qualities, that is, merits, sins, and so on, whose production occurs because of injunctions and prohibitions. [Bhaktas who are one-pointed upon me are] ‘Sādhu’ (sādhūnāṁ), that is, they who have cast away attachment (rāga) and so forth. Thus, they are equanimous (sama-cittānāṁ), and therefore they have attained that which is beyond the intellect, that is, Īśvara.”
bhakti-niṣṭhānāṁ tu na guṇa-doṣā ity āha—mayīti | mayi ye ekānta-bhaktāḥ, karma-jñānādy-aśeṣa-nairapekṣyeṇa bhakti-niṣṭhāṁ prāptāḥ, teṣāṁ guṇa-doṣair vihita-pratiṣiddhair udbhavo yeṣāṁ te guṇāḥ puṇya-pāpādayaḥ | sādhūnāṁ nirasta-rāgādīnām, ataḥ sama-cittānām, tata eva buddheḥ param īśvaraṁ prāptānām | yad vā, guṇāḥ sat-karmācaraṇādayaḥ, tad-udbhavā ye guṇāḥ sattva-śuddhy-ādayaḥ, doṣāḥ sat-karma-tyāgādayas tad-udbhavāś ca ye guṇā jñāna-niṣṭhādayaḥ | … yad vā, guṇā bahulopacāra-samarpaṇādayas tad-udbhavā ye guṇāḥ sādhana-viśeṣāḥ, doṣāś ca pūjā-vidhy-atikramādayas tad-udbhava-guṇā dvātriṁśadādayaḥ, te mayi na bhavanti, teṣām aparādha-viśeṣāś ca mayā nāpekṣyante, na cāparādhā gṛhyanta ity arthaḥ | anyat sarvatra samānam | alam ativistareṇa |
(Excerpt from the Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.210)
“Those possessed of fixity in bhakti, however, have no qualities or faults. Thus, he says [na] mayi … [i.e., he speaks this verse, viz., SB 11.20.36]. Bhaktas who are one-pointed upon me, that is, possessed of fixity in bhakti by means of complete indifference to everything [else], viz., karma, jñāna, and so forth, have no qualities, that is, [no] merits, sins, and so on, whose production occurs because of qualities and faults, that is, injunctions and prohibitions. [Bhaktas who are one-pointed upon me furthermore are] ‘Sādhu’ (sādhūnāṁ), that is, they who have cast away attachment (rāga) and so forth. Thus, they are equanimous (sama-cittānāṁ), and therefore they have attained that which is beyond the intellect, that is, Īśvara.
“Alternately, [the sense is as follows: bhaktas who are one-pointed upon me have no] qualities such as a purity of mind (sattva) produced by the qualities of observance of proper conduct (karma) and so forth, and [no] qualities such as fixity in jñāna produced by the faults of relinquishment of proper conduct and so forth. …
“Alternately, [the sense is as follows:] those qualities, that is, particular forms of sādhana, the cause of which are the qualities of offering numerous articles [of worship] and so forth, and the faults, that is, the thirty-two [offenses], the cause of which are the faults of transgressing the rules of worship (pūjā) and so forth, do not occur in regard to me [in the case of my one-pointed bhaktas], meaning, the particular forms of offense on their part [i.e., on the part of my one-pointed bhaktas] are not regarded by me, and I do not take [their] offenses. The rest is the same everywhere [i.e., in the context of this alternate interpretation, the rest of the words in the verse can be understood in the same manner as in the earlier interpretations]. Enough with excessive elaboration.”
yan mayoktaṁ ‘guṇa-doṣa dṛśir doṣo guṇas tūbhaya-varjitaḥ’ iti tad etādṛśeṣu bhakteṣv ity āha—neti | guṇa-doṣayor udbhavo yebhyaḥ sattva-rajas-tamobhyas te guṇā ekānta-bhaktānāṁ na santi, kintv aprākṛtā eva guṇāḥ | yato buddheḥ prakṛteḥ paraṁ sac-cid-ānandam eva vastu upeyūṣāṁ na tu guṇamayaṁ kiṁcid api mama indriyādikaṁ ‘nirguṇo mad-apāśrayaḥ’ ity agrimokteḥ | yad vā, guṇa-doṣodbhavā vidhi-pratiṣedha-nibandhanā guṇa na bhavantīti naiṣāṁ śiṣṭācāreṇa ko’pi guṇo bhavati, nāpi niṣiddhācāreṇa ko’pi doṣa ity arthaḥ | sama-cittānām iti bhaktānāṁ sama-cittatvam uktaṁ citraketūpākhyāne śambhunā, yathā—‘nārāyaṇa-parāḥ sarve na kutaścana bibhyati | svargāpavarga-narakeṣv api tulyārtha-darśinaḥ ||’ iti | buddheḥ prakṛteḥ paraṁ bhagavantam upeyuṣāṁ bhaktyā siddhesv eteṣu doṣa-dṛṣṭir na kartavyeti kiṁ vaktavyaṁ, sādhakeṣu durācāreṣv api na kāryeti bhagavatā gītaṁ, yathā—‘ananyāś cintayanto māṁ ye janāḥ paryupāsate | teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham ||’ iti |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] ‘That which was stated by me [in SB 11.19.45], “Seeing qualities and faults [in others] is a fault, whereas being free from [seeing] them both is a quality,” is present in such bhaktas [who were described in the preceding verses].’ Thus, he says na … [i.e., he speaks this verse, viz., SB 11.20.36]. One-pointed (ekānti) bhaktas have no [involvement with the] qualities (guṇas), that is, the sattva, rajas, and tamas, because of which production of qualities and faults occurs. Rather, they have only supramundane qualities, since they have attained that which is beyond the intellect (buddheḥ param), meaning, the Entity [constituted] solely of eternal being, consciousness, and bliss (sac-cid-ānanda) beyond prakṛti. And it is not, rather, that my senses and so forth are constituted of the [material] guṇas whatsoever, as per the forthcoming statement [of mine in SB 11.25.26], ‘Refuge in me is nirguṇa.’ Alternately, [the meaning is as follows:] They do not have qualities produced by qualities and faults (guṇa-doṣodbhavā), that is, based on injunctions and prohibitions, meaning, they have no particular qualities because of proper conduct, and no particular faults because of prohibited conduct. Regarding ‘equanimous’ (sama-cittānām), the equanimity of bhaktas was stated by Śambhu in the narration about Citraketu as follows [in SB 6.17.28], ‘All who are devoted to Nārāyaṇa do not become afraid under any circumstances. They are seers of the same object amid Svarga, liberation, and even Naraka.’ Seeing faults in these siddhas who have attained by virtue of bhakti that which is beyond the intellect, meaning, Bhagavān beyond prakṛti, is not to be done. What [more] is to be said? That is not to be done even in regard to sādhakas beset with misconduct, since it is sung as follows by Bhagavān [in BG 9.22], ‘I [personally] provide the acquisition and protection [of the bodily necessities] of those one-pointed, meditative, and ever-absorbed persons who worship me in full.’”