या निर्वृतिस्तनुभृतां तव पादपद्म-
ध्यानाद्भवज्जनकथाश्रवणेन वा स्यात् ।
सा ब्रह्मणि स्वमहिमन्यपि नाथ मा भूत्
किं त्वन्तकासिलुलितात्पततां विमानात् ॥
yā nirvṛtis tanu-bhṛtāṁ tava pāda-padma-
dhyānād bhavaj-jana-kathā-śravaṇena vā syāt |
sā brahmaṇi sva-mahimany api nātha mā bhūt
kiṁ tv antakāsi-lulitāt patatāṁ vimānāt ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.9.10; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.29)
“O Lord, that bliss which can arise for embodied beings from meditation upon your lotus feet or through hearing narratives of persons who are your own does not occur even in [realization of] Brahman, your own [all-pervading] greatness. How then could it occur for [the devas of Svarga,] those who [all eventually] fall from airplanes slashed by the sword of death [i.e., time]?”
Commentary
svargāpavargābhyām adhikasyānyasya kasyāpi phala-śravaṇāt tvad-bhakter vāstavaṁ phalaṁ tvad-bhaktir eveti bhakteḥ svataḥ phalatvaṁ bhaktānāṁ ca niṣkāmatvam upapāditam |
(Excerpt from the Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā and Bhakti-sāra-pradarśinī-ṭīkā)
“On account of hearing of a result of something else superior to Svarga and mokṣa [i.e., because bhakti is shown in the verse under discussion to be an attainment that is superior Svarga and mokṣa], the true result of bhakti to you is bhakti to you itself. Thus, bhakti’s being its own result and bhaktas’ being desireless are demonstrated.”