विष्णुभक्तिं प्रवक्ष्यामि यया सर्वमवाप्यते ।
यथा भक्त्या हरिस्तुष्येत्तथा नान्येन केनचित् ॥
भज इत्येष वै धातुः सेवायां परिकीर्तितः ।
तस्मात्सेवा बुधैः प्रोक्ता भक्तिः साधनभूयसी ॥
viṣṇu-bhaktiṁ pravakṣyāmi yayā sarvam avāpyate |
yathā bhaktyā haris tuṣyet tathā nānyena kenacit ||
bhaja ity eṣa vai dhātuḥ sevāyāṁ parikīrtitaḥ |
tasmāt sevā budhaiḥ proktā bhaktiḥ sādhana-bhūyasī ||
(Garuḍa Purāṇa: 1.227.1, 3; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 216)
“I shall now describe Viṣṇu-bhakti, by which everything is attained. Hari is not as satisfied by anything else as he can be by bhakti. The dhātu √bhaj [i.e., the verbal root from which the word bhakti is derived] is widely said to mean service (sevā). Therefore, the great sādhana [known as] bhakti is said to be service (sevā) by the wise.”
Commentary
atha bhaktiḥ | tasyās taṭastha-lakṣaṇaṁ svarūpa-lakṣaṇaṁ ca yathā garuḍa-purāṇe—‘viṣṇu-bhaktiṁ pravakṣyāmi yayā sarvam avāpyate | yathā bhaktyā haris tuṣyet tathā nānyena kenacit ||’ ity uktvāha—‘bhaja ity eṣa vai dhātuḥ sevāyāṁ parikīrtitaḥ | tasmāt sevā budhaiḥ proktā bhaktiḥ sādhana-bhūyasī ||’ iti | yayā sarvam avāpyate iti taṭastha-laksaṇam | atra ca ‘akāmaḥ sarva-kāmo vā’ ity-ādi-siddhatvād avyāpty-abhāvaḥ | yathā bhaktyā ity-ādy-uktatvād ativyāpty-abhāvaḥ | budhaiḥ proktatvād asambhavābhāvaś ca | sevā-śabdena svarūpa-lakṣaṇam | sā ca sevā kāyika-vācika-mānasātmikā trividhaivānugatir ucyate | ata eva bhaya-dveṣādīnām ahaṅgrahopāsanāyāś ca vyāvṛttiḥ | sādhana-bhūyasī sādhaneṣu śreṣṭhety arthaḥ | tad eva lakṣaṇa-dvayaṁ prakārāntareṇāha—‘ye vai bhagavatā proktā upāyā hy ātma-labdhaye | añjaḥ puṁsām aviduṣāṁ viddhi bhāgavatān hi tān ||’ … atra ātma-labdhaye proktā iti taṭastha-laksaṇam | anyena tad-alābhād avyabhicāri | ātma-labdhaya upāyā iti svarūpa-lakṣaṇam | tal-lābhopāyo hi tad-anugatir eva |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 216)
“Now, bhakti [will be defined]. Its extrinsic characteristic (taṭastha-lakṣaṇa) and intrinsic characteristic (svarūpa-lakṣaṇa) are [stated] as follows in Garuḍa Purāṇa: ‘I shall now describe Viṣṇu-bhakti, by which everything is attained. Hari is not as satisfied by anything else as he can be by bhakti.’ Having stated this, the text [then] says, ‘The dhātu √bhaj [i.e., the verbal root from which the word bhakti is derived] is widely said to mean service (sevā). Therefore, the great sādhana [known as] bhakti is said to be service (sevā) by the wise.’ ‘By which everything is attained’ (yayā sarvam avāpyate) is the extrinsic characteristic (taṭastha-lakṣaṇa) [i.e., that bhakti can cause attainment of any desired object is its extrinsic characteristic]. There is an absence of insufficient pervasion (avyāpti) here [i.e., in the scope of this extrinsic characteristic] because of [the conclusion that everything can be attained by bhakti] being established in [SB 2.3.10], ‘Whether desireless, desirous of everything, or desirous of mokṣa, one of great intelligence should worship the Supreme Puruṣa with strong bhakti-yoga’ [i.e., the scope of this extrinsic characteristic is not too narrow because this verse affirms that one can attain anything one so desires by way of bhakti]. There is an absence of excessive pervasion (ativyāpti) [in the scope of this extrinsic characteristic] because of it being said [in the aforecited verse from Garuḍa Purāṇa], ‘Hari is not as satisfied by anything else as he can be by bhakti’ [i.e., there is no excessive breath in the scope of this characteristic because bhakti is distinguished from all other means by which Hari may become satisfied, such as karma and jñāna]. Furthermore, the absence of impossibility (asambhava) [in the scope of this extrinsic characteristic] is [affirmed] because of [the aforementioned characteristic’s description in the second aforecited verse from Garuḍa Purāṇa as] being ‘stated by the wise’ [i.e., testimony that conveys the experience of the learned, meaning, realized persons (vidvad-anubhava) is accepted as a valid means of acquiring accurate knowledge (pramāṇa), and because such testimony is made in the aforecited verse, there is no impossibility (asambhava) in regard to the scope of the aforementioned extrinsic characteristic of bhakti].
“The intrinsic characteristic (svarūpa-lakṣaṇa) [of bhakti] is [stated] by the word ‘service’ (sevā) [i.e., the intrinsic characteristic of bhakti is service]. That service (sevā), furthermore, is said to be threefold—bodily, verbal, and mental—attendance (anugati) [upon Bhagavān, i.e., bhakti means to attend to Bhagavān, that is, to endeavor to personally serve so as to satisfy him with actions of one’s body, speech, and mind]. Therefore, there is also exclusion [from bhakti’s scope] of fear, enmity, and so forth [in relation to Bhagavān] and of ahaṅgrahopāsanā [i.e., worship wherein one takes oneself to be the object worship]. [The description of bhakti as] ‘The great sādhana’ (sādhana-bhūyasī) means that it is the best among sādhanas [i.e., that it is superior to karma, jñāna, and all other types of sādhana].
“He states these two characteristics [of bhakti, viz., bhakti’s intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics] in another manner [in SB 11.2.34], ‘Know to be Bhāgavatas [i.e., Bhāgavata-dharmas—limbs of bhakti to Bhagavān] those well known means of realization which are stated by Bhagavān for unlearned persons for the sake of [their] easy attainment of the Self (Ātmā) [i.e., the Supreme Entity, which is possessed the appearances of Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavān].’
“Here, ‘stated for the sake of attainment of the Self’ (Ātma-labdhaye proktā) conveys the extrinsic characteristic (taṭastha-lakṣaṇa) [of bhakti because such attainment is an effect of bhakti]. This is unerring because of the non-attainment thereof by way of anything else [i.e., it is befitting to determine causation of attainment of the Self as an extrinsic characteristic of bhakti because the Self (Ātmā) is never attained by any means other than bhakti, and thus there is no excessive pervasion (ativyāpti) or insufficient pervasion (avyāpti) in the scope of the definition]. ‘The means of realization for the sake of attainment of the Self’ (Ātma-labdhaya upāyā) conveys the intrinsic characteristic (svarūpa-lakṣaṇa) since those means of attainment thereof [i.e., of the Self, viz., hearing about Bhagavān, praising Bhagavān, remembering Bhagavān, and so forth] are verily [forms of] attendance (anugati) upon him [i.e., service to him, and service was established earlier as the intrinsic characteristic (svarūpa-lakṣaṇa) of bhakti, which is to say that acts of service like hearing about Bhagavān, praising Bhagavān, remembering Bhagavān, and so forth constitute the essential nature (svarūpa) of bhakti].”