तैस्तान्यघानि पूयन्ते तपोदानव्रतादिभिः ।
नाधर्मजं तद्धृदयं तदपीशाङ्घ्रिसेवया ॥
tais tāny aghāni pūyante tapo-dāna-vratādibhiḥ |
nādharmajaṁ tad-dhṛdayaṁ tad apīśāṅghri-sevayā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 6.2.17)
“Those sins [i.e., sins both mild and severe] are destroyed by those austerities, charities, rites, and so forth [i.e., conventional forms of austerities, etc.]. The heart thereof, produced by adharma, is not. That too [i.e., the heart of those sins, however,] is [destroyed] by service to the feet of Īśa.”
Commentary
Śrī Śrīdhara Svāmīpāda explains that the “heart” (hṛdayam) of sins refers to the subtle form thereof, which is known as the saṁskāra form they don within the subconscious (teṣām aghānāṁ hṛdayaṁ sūkṣmaṁ rūpaṁ saṁskārākhyaṁ). Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda adds that this saṁskāra for sin is the root cause of sin (adharmāj jātam aghānāṁ hṛdayaṁ mūlaṁ sūkṣmaṁ rūpaṁ). Śrī Svāmīpāda further explains that it is only as a result of the dissipation of this saṁskāra for sin, which is also known as a vāsanā, that purity of the heart comes about (tataś ca vāsanā-kṣayād dhṛdaya-śuddhiḥ). The point made in the verse is thus that only bhakti to Śrī Bhagavān can purify the heart not only of the effects of past sins but also of the saṁskāra left by them, meaning, of the residual proclivity (vāsanā) to sin in the future.