नालं द्विजत्वं देवत्वमृषित्वं वासुरात्मजा: ।
प्रीणनाय मुकुन्दस्य न वृत्तं न बहुज्ञता ॥
न दानं न तपो नेज्या न शौचं न व्रतानि च ।
प्रीयतेऽमलया भक्त्या हरिरन्यद् विडम्बनम् ॥
nālaṁ dvijatvaṁ devatvam ṛṣitvaṁ vāsurātmajāḥ |
prīṇanāya mukundasya na vṛttaṁ na bahu-jñatā ||
na dānaṁ na tapo nejyā na śaucaṁ na vratāni ca |
prīyate’malayā bhaktyā harir anyad viḍambanam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.7.51–52; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.590–591, Bhakti Sandarbha: 168)
[Prahlāda:] “O sons of the asuras, neither being a twice-born, being a deva, or being a ṛṣi, nor conduct [i.e., sadācāra], nor being greatly knowledgeable, nor charity, nor austerity, nor worship, nor cleanliness, nor rites are able to please Mukunda. Hari is pleased [only] by taintless bhakti. All else is a sham.”
Commentary
amalayā niṣkāmayā | anyad viḍambanaṁ naṭana-mātram |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā)
“‘By taintless’ (amalayā) means by desireless [bhakti].” ‘All else’ (anyat) is a ‘sham’ (viḍambanam), that is, mere acting.”
he asurātmajāḥ! devatvādikaṁ mukundasya prīṇanāya nālaṁ na samartham | vṛttaṁ sadācāraḥ | amalayā niṣkāmayā viśuddhayā vā | viḍambanaṁ naṭana-mātram, na tu tāttvikam ity arthaḥ |
(Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Hari-bhakti-vilāsa)
“O sons of the asuras, [simply] being a deva and so forth is not able, that is, not capable, of pleasing Mukunda. ‘Conduct’ refers to sadācāra, and ‘by taintless’ (amalayā) means by desireless or completely pure [bhakti]. [All else is] A ‘sham’ (viḍambanam), that is, mere acting, and is not rather real [i.e., is not an instance of real bhakti]. This is the meaning.”
amalayā niṣkāmayā | viḍambanaṁ naṭana-mātram | ataḥ sakāma-bhaktasyāpi bhakter naṭana-mātratvaṁ svārtha-sādhana-mātra-tātparyeṇa bhakty-anukaraṇa-mātratvāt | yathā pareṣām api naṭānāṁ kvacit tad-anukaraṇaṁ tathaiveti | … tatra caihikaṁ niṣkāmatvaṁ bhaktyā jīvikā-pratiṣṭhādy-upārjanaṁ yat tad-abhāva-mayam api boddhavyam |
(Excerpt from Bhakti Sandarbha: 168)
“‘By taintless’ (amalayā) means by desireless [bhakti].” A ‘sham’ (viḍambanam) means a mere pantomime. Therefore, the bhakti of even a sakāma-bhakta being [said to be] mere acting is because of it being a mere imitation of bhakti on account of the intention within it of being a mere means to a personal object [i.e., a personal objective separate from bhakti]. As actors sometimes perform such imitation of others, so it is such [i.e., so persons with desires, whether they consider themselves, or are considered by others, to be bhaktas or not, are actually just imitators of actual bhaktas until they become free from such desires]. … Further in this regard [i.e., in regard to pure bhakti’s being performed without desires related to this world or the next], being free from desire related to this world is to be understood to also consist of [being free from] the absence of acquiring a livelihood, prestige (pratiṣṭhā), and so forth by means of bhakti.”
bhakta-viṣayaka-bhagavat-prīty-eka-hetutvam apy udāhṛtam, nālaṁ dvijatvaṁ devatvam ity-ādi |
(Excerpt from Bhakti Sandarbha: 141)
“[Bhakti] Being the sole cause of Bhagavān’s prīti for [his] bhaktas is also stated in this verse (nālaṁ dvijatvaṁ devatam …).”
viḍambanaṁ puṁsaḥ pratyuta tiraskāra-kāraṇam ity arthaḥ |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“[All else is] A ‘sham’ (viḍambanam), that is, on the contrary, a cause of contempt for a person. This is the meaning.”