तं त्वाखिलात्मदयितेश्वरमाश्रितानां
सर्वार्थदं स्वकृतविद् विसृजेत को नु ।
को वा भजेत् किमपि विस्मृतयेऽनु भूत्यै
किं वा भवेन्न तव पादरजोजुषां न: ॥
taṁ tvākhilātma-dayiteśvaram āśritānāṁ
sarvārtha-daṁ sva-kṛta-vid visṛjeta ko nu |
ko vā bhajet kim api vismṛtaye’nu bhūtyai
kiṁ vā bhaven na tava pāda-rajo-juṣāṁ naḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.29.5; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 328)
“[Uddhava to Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] Indeed, who cognizant of what has been done for oneself [by you] would reject you, he who is the Self, Beloved, and Īśvara of all and the bestower of all ends upon those who have taken shelter? Who would adore anyone else for the sake of [worldly] well-being or even forgetfulness [of the world, i.e., mokṣa]? And what shall we who delight in the dust of your feet not have [if we simply continue to engage solely in bhakti to you with disinterest in all else]?”
Commentary
atas tvāṁ parityajya ko nāmānyat saṁśrayet? ity āha—taṁ tveti | tam evaṁbhūtaṁ tvāṁ ko nu visṛjen, na bhajet? kathaṁbhūtaḥ? sva-kṛta-vit, bali-prahrādādiṣu tvayā kṛtam anugrahaṁ jānan | yad vā, svasminn evāntaryāmitayā kṛtam upakāraṁ vidvān | tad evāha—akhilātma-dayiteśvaram | akhilasya jagata ātmānaṁ cetayitāram, ātmatvād eva dayitaṁ preṣṭhaṁ susevyam, īśvaratvād avaśyaṁ bhajanīyam | kiṁ ca, āśritānāṁ sarvārthadam | tarhi kiṁ phaloddeśenāhaṁ sevyaḥ? nahi nahi | kim apy aniruktaṁ tvad-vyatiriktaṁ svargādi tvayā dattam api ko vā bhajet seveta? kathambhūtaṁ tat? yat kevalaṁ bhūtyai indriya-bhogāya | anu anantaram eva tvad-vismṛtaye bhavati | yad vā, tvad-vyatiriktaṁ kim api devatāntaraṁ dharma-jñānādi-sādhanaṁ vā bhūtyai aiśvaryāya, saṁsārasya vismṛtaye mokṣāya ko vā bhajet? na ko’pi | nanu tat-sādhanaṁ vinā bhoga-mokṣādi-phalaṁ kathaṁ syāt? tatrāha—kiṁ veti? tad uktaṁ—yā vai sādhana-sampattiḥ puruṣārtha-catuṣṭaye | tayā vinā tad āpnoti naro nārāyaṇāśrayaḥ || iti |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā)
“‘Therefore, who could reject you and take shelter in someone else?’ Thus [i.e., with this intention], he [i.e., Uddhava] speaks this verse (taṁ tvā … ). Indeed who would reject, that is, not worship, you, he who is such? Of what nature [is the person who would not reject you]? ‘One who is cognizant of what you yourself have done’ (sva-kṛta-vit), that is, one who knows the favor that has been show by you to Bali, Prahlāda, and others. Alternately, [it means] one who is aware of the support you have given to oneself by virtue of [your] being the Inner Regulator (Antaryāmī) [i.e., Paramātmā]. Therefore, he says, ‘he who is the Self, Beloved, and Īśvara of all,’ (akhilātma-dayiteśvaram), that is, he who is the Perceiver (Ātmā) of all (akhila), the Beloved (dayita), that is, the dear one and easy object of service [for all] by virtue of being the Self [alt., Perceiver] (Ātmā) [of all], and the compulsory object of worship [for all] because of being the Īśvara [i.e., controller, of all]. Furthermore, he is the bestower of all ends upon those who have taken shelter [in him]. ‘Then [in response to this statement], [Bhagavān may ask,] am I to be served with intent upon a result?’ [To that, Uddhava says,] ‘No, no [i.e., you are not to be served by a worshipper for the sake of the worshipper attaining any extraneous object]. [Thus, Uddhava says:] Who would partake (bhajet) of any unstated thing other than you, even Svarga or otherwise, even [if these were] granted by you? And what is the nature of that [i.e., of any such object other than you]? [The nature of any such alternate object is] That which is only for the sake of well-being (bhūtyai), that is, for enjoyment of the senses. Alternately, [the meaning is] who would honor any devatā other than you or the sādhanas of dharma, jñāna, and so on, for the sake of well-being (bhūtyai), that is, prosperity (aiśvarya), or for the sake of forgetfulness of saṁsāra, that is, mokṣa? No one. [Another question may arise here:] ‘Well, without those sādhanas [of dharma, jñāna, and so forth], how can the results of enjoyment (bhoga), mokṣa, and so forth come about?’ To that, he says, ‘And what … [i.e., what shall we who delight in the dust of your feet not have]? Thus, it is said [in Mahābhārata], ‘A human being whose shelter is in Nārāyaṇa attains the four puruṣārthas [i.e., dharma, artha, kāma, and mokṣa] even without performance of the sādhanas [otherwise necessary] for [attaining] them.’”
tam evaṁ-bhūtaṁ tvāṁ sva-kṛta-vit ‘prasanna-vadanāmbhojaṁ padma-garbhāruṇekṣaṇam’ ity-ādi-śrī-kapila-devopadeśataḥ sva-saundaryādi-sphūrti-lakṣaṇaṁ svasmin kṛtaṁ tvadīyopakāraṁ yo vetti, sa ko nu visṛjet? ‘tac cāpi citta-baḍiśaṁ śanakair viyuṅkte’ iti tad-upadiṣṭādhikāri-viśeṣavat parityajyate? na ko’pīty arthaḥ | tasmād yas tyajati sa kṛtaghna eveti bhāvaḥ | kathambhūtaṁ tvām? svarūpata evākhilānām ātmanāṁ dayitaṁ prāṇa-koṭi-preṣṭham īśvaraṁ cety-ādi | tathā, nu vitarke, tvad-vyatiriktaṁ kim api devatāntaraṁ dharma-jñānādi-sādhanaṁ bhūtyai aiśvaryāya saṁsārasya vismṛtaye mokṣāya vā ko bhajet? na ko’pīty arthaḥ | asmākaṁ tu tat-tat-phalam api tvad-bhakter evāntarbhūtam ity āha—kiṁ veti | vā-śabdena tatrāpy anādaraḥ sūcitaḥ | tad uktaṁ, ‘yat karmabhir yat tapasā’ ity-ādi ||
(Excerpt from Bhakti Sandarbha: 328)
“Indeed, who cognizant of what has been done for oneself [by you] (sva-kṛta-vit), that is, who that knows the favor that you have shown to those who are your own in the form of manifestations (sphūrtis) of your own beauty and so forth as per the teaching of Śrī Kapiladeva [in SB 3.28.13], ‘[Meditate on] He of delighted lotus face and reddish, lotus-whorl eyes,’ would reject you (tvā), he (tam) who is such? [A doubt may arise here:] ‘According to [Śrī Kapiladeva’s later statement in SB 3.28.34], “Despite this [i.e., despite a yogī having attained bhāva for Bhagavān], the hook of the [yogī’s] mind is gradually withdrawn [from Bhagavān],” is Bhagavān not to be given up by those of the particular eligibility (adhikāra) instructed by him [i.e., by Kapiladeva, in this verse]?’ [To this, he says,] No one [who is cognizant of what has been done for oneself by Bhagavān would do so]. This is the meaning. Therefore, one who rejects [Bhagavān] is verily ungrateful (kṛtaghna) [i.e., since if one were grateful to Bhagavān, one would never reject him]. This is the purport. ‘You’ (tvā) [i.e., Bhagavān] are of what nature? By nature, you are the Self (ātmā), the Beloved (dayita), that is, he who is more dear than a crores of lives (prānās), and the Īśvara of all. Also, ‘indeed’ (nu) is in the sense of conjecture: who would honor any devatā other than you or the sādhanas of dharma, jñāna, and so on, for the sake of well-being (bhūtyai), that is, prosperity (aiśvarya), or for the sake of forgetfulness of saṁsāra, that is, mokṣa? No one. This is the meaning. For us [i.e., for Uddhava and other pure bhaktas], however, even those results [i.e., enjoyment (bhukti) and mukti] are included in bhakti to you [i.e., they come about automatically as a secondary, unsought result of bhakti to you]. Thus, he says, ‘And what (kiṁ vā) … [shall we who delight in the dust of your feet not have]?’ Therein as well, disregard [for those secondary results] is indicated by the word vā. Thus, it was said [by Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa himself in SB 11.20.32–33], ‘My bhakta easily attains all of whatever is [attained] by duties (karmas), austerity, and so forth if somehow one so desires [to attain such things].’”
tvā tvām akhilānām ātmānaṁ jīvānāṁ nāradādi-rūpeṇa bhakty-upadeṣṭṛtvād dayitaṁ, prati-sva-karma-phala-pradatvād īśvaraṁ, svāśritānāṁ tu sarva-puruṣārtha-pradaṁ, sva-kṛta-vit sveṣu bali-prahlādādiṣu tvayā kṛtam anugrahaṁ jānan ko vā nu visṛjet? na ko’pi, kevalam arasajño nikṛṣṭa-yogi-jana eva kṛtaghno visṛjed ity arthaḥ | kiṁ ca, bhajann api ko vā tvāṁ bhukti-mukti-kāmo bhajet? ity āha—ko veti | vismṛtaye tvad-vismṛti-rūpāya rājyādy-arthaṁ tathā anubhūtyai kevalānubhavāya mokṣārthaṁ vā ko bhajet ? na ko’pi | kim apīti kriyā-viśeṣaṇam | kiṁ ca, nāpi bhajanaṁ kaḥ kuryād ity arthaḥ | nanu tarhi niṣkāmānām api prahlādādīnāṁ bhukti-muktī kathaṁ dṛśyete? tatrāha—kiṁ veti | tathā coktaṁ mokṣa-dharme nārāyaṇīye—yā vai sādhana-sampattiḥ puruṣārtha-catuṣṭaye | tayā vinā tad āpnoti naro nārāyaṇāśrayaḥ || iti | bhoga-mokṣādikam ānuṣaṅgikaṁ phalaṁ bhaktānabhīpsitam api tvayā dīyata eveti bhāvaḥ |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“Who would reject you—you who are the Beloved of all jīvas (akhilātma-dayita) by virtue of being a teacher of bhakti in the form of Nārada and others, the Īśvara [of all jīvas] by virtue of being the dispenser of the results of all actions, and the bestower of all puruṣārthas upon those who have taken shelter [in you]— knowing the favor done by you to those who are your own, such as Bali and Prahlāda (sva-kṛta-vid)? No one. Only one who has no awareness of rasa, a lower grade yogī who is ungrateful [lit., who renders vain things previous done for oneself] would reject [you]. This is the meaning. Furthermore, although worshipping [you], who would worship you as a desirer of enjoyment (bhukti) or mukti? [No one.] Thus, he says, ‘Who would worship [you] for forgetfulness (vismṛtaye), that is, for the form of forgetfulness of you that is wealth [of the world] such as a kingdom, or for the sake of awareness (bhūtyai—anubhūtyai), that is, for pure awareness, that is, mokṣa? No one. Kim api is a qualifier of the verb. ‘Furthermore, who would not even perform worship [of you]?’ is the meaning.
“[A question may be raised here:] ‘Well, then why are the enjoyment (bhukti) and mukti of Prahlāda and others evident even though they are desireless [of attaining those things]?’ To this, he says, ‘And what [shall we who delight in the dust of your feet not have]?’ Similarly, it is also stated in the Mokṣa-dharma of the Nārāyaṇīya [section of Mahābhārata]: ‘A human being whose shelter is in Nārāyaṇa attains the four puruṣārthas [i.e., dharma, artha, kāma, and mokṣa] even without performance of the sādhanas [otherwise necessary] for [attaining] them.’ The secondary results of enjoyment, mokṣa, and so forth, although undesired by bhaktas, are given [to them] by you. This is the purport.”