नैष्कर्म्यमप्यच्युतभाववर्जितं
न शोभते ज्ञानमलं निरञ्जनम् ।
कुतः पुनः शश्वदभद्रमीश्वरे
न चार्पितं कर्म यदप्यकारणम् ॥
naiṣkarmyam apy acyuta-bhāva-varjitaṁ
na śobhate jñānam alaṁ nirañjanam |
kutaḥ punaḥ śaśvad abhadram īśvare
na cārpitaṁ karma yad apy akāraṇam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.5.12; cited in Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.554; Bhagavat Sandarbha: 70, Bhakti Sandarbha: 3, 5, 23, 115, 116, 217; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.19)
“[Śrī Nārada to Śrī Vyāsa:] Even untainting jñāna illuminative of Brahman (naiṣkarmya) [if it is] devoid of bhāva for Acyuta does not shine greatly [i.e., does not lead to direct experience of Brahman], so how much less so does ever-inauspicious karma not offered to Īśvara, even which [i.e., when it] is causeless?’”
Commentary
bhakti-hīnaṁ karma tāvat śūnyam eveti kaimutika-nyāyena darśayati—naiṣkarmyam iti | niṣkarma brahma, tad-ekākāratvān niṣkarmatā-rūpaṁ naiṣkarmyam, ajyate’nenety añjanam upādhiḥ, tan-nivartakaṁ nirañjanam | evambhūtam api jñānam acyute bhāvo bhaktiḥ, tad-varjitaṁ ced alam atyarthaṁ na śobhate samyag-aparokṣatvāya na kalpata ity arthaḥ | tadā śāśvat sādhana-kāle phala-kāle ca abhadraṁ duḥkha-rūpaṁ yat kāmyaṁ karma, yad apy akāraṇam akāmyaṁ, tac ceti ca-kārasyānvayaḥ | tad api karma īśvare nārpitaṁ cet kutaḥ punaḥ śobhate? bahirmukhatvena sattva-śodhakatvābhāvāt |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā; cited in Bhagavat Sandarbha: 70; Bhakti Sandarbha: 23)
“With a fortiori reasoning he shows that karma devoid of bhakti is actually just void: naiṣkarmyam … [i.e., he speaks this verse]. ‘Inaction’ (niṣkarma) refers to Brahman, and because of a oneness in appearance with that [i.e., with Brahman], the form of the state of [such] inaction, that is, ‘non-activity’ (naiṣkarmya) [also refers to Brahman]. ‘Coloring’ (añjana) means that by which [something] is colored, that is, an adjunct (upādhi), and a remover of this is called a ‘decoloring’ (nirañjanam) [i.e., something that is untainting because of its being both untainted and a remover of taints from other things]. Even jñāna which is of such nature [i.e., even such knowledge of Brahman that removes the taints of the upādhis of māyā], if devoid of bhāva, that is, bhakti, for Acyuta, does not shine (śobhate) greatly (alam), meaning, it does not lead to the state of complete unmeditated [i.e., direct] experience [of Tattva] (aparokṣatva). So, how much less so does desirous (kāmya) karma, which is inauspicious (abhadram), that is, a form of suffering, always, that is, at the time of sādhana and at the time of the result, and, as per the syntactical connection of the word ca, even that [karma] which is causeless (akaraṇa), meaning, undesirous (akāmya), shine, if not offered to Īśvara? [Both desirous (kāmya) and undesirous (akāmya) karma shine far less so] On account of the absence of [such karma’s] being a purifier of the psyche (sattva) as a result of being oblivious [of Acyuta].”
tad evaṁ jñānasya bhakti-saṁsargaṁ vinā karmaṇaś tad-upapādakatvaṁ vinā vyarthatvaṁ vyaktam |
(Excerpt from Bhakti Sandarbha: 23)
“Thus, in this way, the futility of jñāna without conjunction with bhakti and of karma without [its] being causative of that [i.e., of bhakti] is made evident.”
idānīṁ jñāna-karmādarād api bhagavat-kīrtanādiṣv evādaraḥ kartavya ity āha—naiṣkarmyaṁ brahma, tat-prakāśakaṁ yaj jñānaṁ, yato nirañjanam upādhi-nivartakaṁ, tad api acyuta-bhakti-varjitaṁ cen na śobhate nāparokṣa-paryantaṁ bhavatīty arthaḥ |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.12.52; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 87)
“Now, he [i.e., Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī] says that regard specifically for kīrtana and so forth of Bhagavān is to be shown even more so than regard for jñāna and karma [is]: ‘If devoid of bhakti to Acyuta, even that jñāna which is an illuminator of non-activity (naiṣkarmyam), that is, Brahman, since it untainting (nirañjanam), that is, a remover of adjuncts (upādhis) does not shine, meaning, it does not culminate in unmeditated [i.e., direct] experience [of Tattva] (aparokṣa).”
‘naiṣkarmyam apy acyuta-bhāva-varjitam’ ity-ādau sakāma-niṣkāmayor dvayor api karmaṇor nindā, bhagavad-vaimukhyāviśeṣāt |
(Excerpt from Bhakti Sandarbha: 217)
“In [the statement] naiṣkarmyam apy acyuta-bhāva-varjitam … [in SB 1.5.12], there is condemnation even of both desirous (sakāma) and non-desirous (niṣkāma) karma because of the non-distinction [between them, i.e., their shared characteristic] of obliviousness of Bhagavān.”