यदृच्छया मत्कथादौ जातश्रद्धस्तु यः पुमान् ।
न निर्विण्णो नातिसक्तो भक्तियोगोऽस्य सिद्धिदः ॥
yadṛcchayā mat-kathādau jāta-śraddhas tu yaḥ pumān |
na nirviṇṇo nātisakto bhakti-yogo’sya siddhidaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.20.8)
“The practice of bhakti of a person who independently becomes possessed of śraddhā in discussion and so forth of me yet is neither disinterested nor excessively attached is a granter of success.”
Commentary
atha ‘te vai vidanty atitaranti ca deva-māyām’ ity ādau tiryag-janā api ity anena bhakty-adhikāre karmādivaj-jāty-ādi-kṛta-niyamātikramāt śraddhā-mātraṁ hetur ity āha—yadṛcchayeti | yadṛcchayā kenāpi parama-svatantra-bhagavad-bhakta-saṅga-tat-kṛpā-jāta-maṅgalodayena | yad uktaṁ ‘śuśrūṣoḥ śraddadhānasya’ ity-ādi |
(Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā; excerpt from Bhakti Sandarbha: 171)
“Now, as per [the mention of] ‘even animals’ (tiryag-janā api) in [this statement from SB 2.7.46], ‘If they become educated about the character of those whose ultimate shelter is he of astonishing step [i.e., Bhagavān], [then] women, śūdras, Hūṇas, and Śabaras, as well as sinful living beings and even animals, can certainly know and cross beyond Deva’s māyā …,’ śraddhā alone is the cause in regard to eligibility (adhikāra) for bhakti because of supersedence of the restrictions established in regard to birth and so on in the case of [the path of] karma and so on [i.e., and the path of jñāna]. Thus, he [i.e., Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa] says yadṛcchayā … [i.e., he speaks SB 11.20.8]. ‘Independently’ (yadṛcchayā) means by the arising, somehow or other, of the good fortune born of the association of a supremely independent bhakta of Bhagavān and his [i.e., such a bhakta’s] grace, as is stated [in SB 1.2.16], ‘O learned ones, taste for discussion of Vāsudeva shall come about for one possessed of śraddhā and desirous to hear [such discussion] as a result of service to a mahat as an outcome of pilgrimage to a holy place.’”
yadṛcchayeti | tad etac ca vivṛtaṁ svayaṁ bhagavatā—‘jāta-śraddho mat-kathāsu nirviṇṇaḥ sarva-karmasu | veda duḥkhātmakaṁ kāmān parityāge’py anīśvaraḥ || tato bhajeta māṁ prītaḥ śraddhālur dṛḍha-niścayaḥ | juṣamāṇaś ca tān kāmān duḥkhodarkāṁś ca garhayan ||’ iti | atra tata iti tām avasthām ārabhyety arthaḥ, bhaktir hi svataḥ prabalatvād anya-nirapekṣā, na tu jñānādivat samyag vairāgyādi-sāpekṣā | karma-nirvedāpekṣā tv ananyatā-siddhy-arthaiveti, tasyām evāvasthāyāṁ pravṛttir yuktā, kintu ‘ātmārāmāś ca munaya’ ity āder na tu tatraiva tasyāḥ samāptir iti bhāvaḥ |
(Durgama-saṅgamanī-ṭīkā on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.15)
“Regarding yadṛcchayā … [i.e., SB 11.20.8], then, this [i.e., the eligibility for vaidhī-bhakti] is also described by Bhagavān himself [in SB 11.20.27–28], ‘One who has śraddhā in discussions of me, is disinterested in all karmas [i.e., in all activities that are unrelated to me], and knows that desires are full of suffering [i.e., are invariable causes of suffering] yet is still unable to fully relinquish them, should thereafter worship me, being affectionate, possessed of śraddhā, and of firm resolve while both acceding to and condemning those objects of desire, the consequences of which are [only ultimately] suffering.’ Here [i.e., in the aforecited verse, SB 11.20.28], ‘thereafter’ (tatas) means starting from that condition [i.e., the condition described in SB 11.20.27 of being unable to fully relinquish objects of desire even though one knows they are causes of suffering] since bhakti, because of [its] being powerful of its own accord, is independent of others [i.e., of other forms of sādhana, e.g., jñāna and karma], and is not, rather, dependent on complete non-attachment (vairāgya) and so forth as in the case of jñāna and so forth. The dependence on disinterest in karma [mentioned in SB 11.20.27], however, is only for the sake of establishing one-pointedness (ananyatā) [in regard to bhakti, i.e., it is stated to make known that being disinterested in karma is part of the eligibility for bhakti]. Thus, in that particular condition [i.e., in the condition described in SB 11.20.27], engagement (pravrṭti) [in bhakti] is proper, but, as per [the statement in SB 1.7.10], ‘Even those whose satisfaction is in the self (ātmārāmas) and sages who are free from entanglement engage in unconditional bhakti to [Hari,] he of tremendous power; Hari is [possessed] of such qualities,’ its [i.e., bhakti’s] completion is not, rather, there alone [i.e., it is not that bhakti is performed only by those in the condition described in SB 11.20.27 and not by those who have advanced beyond that condition, since even ātmārāmas are also said to engage in bhakti]. This is the purport.”
yadṛcchayā prathama-skandha-vyākhyāta-yuktyā yādṛcchika-mahat-saṅgena sat-saṅgena mat-kathādau jāta-śraddha iti | ata eva ‘śraddhāmṛta-kathāyāṁ me’ iti, ‘śraddhālur mat-kathāḥ śṛṇvann’ iti, tatra tatra bhakti-yoge kathā-śraddhālur evādhikārī darśitaḥ | atra tu bhinnopakrama ity asya jñānibhyaḥ karmibhyaś ca vaiśiṣṭyam eka-vacanena virala-pracāratvaṁ ca dhvanitam | nātisakto deha-geha-kalatrādiṣu atyāsakti-rahitaḥ | atra na nirviṇṇa iti teṣu nirviṇṇatve jñāne’dhikāraḥ, atyāsaktatve karmaṇy adhikāraḥ | atyāsakti-rāhitye bhaktāv adhikāra ity adhikāra-traya-vivekaḥ nirvedasya kāraṇaṁ niṣkāma-karma-hetukāntaḥkaraṇa-śuddhir eva | atyāsakteḥ kāraṇam anādy-avidyaiva | atyāsakti-rāhityasya kāraṇaṁ yādṛcchika-mahat-saṅga eveti tatra tatra kāraṇaṁ dṛśyam | kiṁ caitad utkṛṣṭādhikāriṇa eva lakṣaṇaṁ kintu ‘ko nu rājann indriyavān mukunda-caraṇāmbujam na bhajet sarvato-mṛtyuḥ’ ity-ukter yādṛcchika-bhakta-saṅge satīndriyavān eva bhaktāv adhikārī jñeyaḥ |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā; Bhakti-sāra-pradarśinī-ṭīkā on Bhakti-rasāmṭa-sindhu: 1.2.15)
“‘Independently’ (yadṛcchayā), as per the reasoning explained in the First Canto [i.e., on SB 1.2.6, 8], indicates that a person becomes possessed of śraddhā in discussion and so forth of me by means of independent (yādṛcchika) association with a mahat, that is, by means of association with a sādhu [acquired independently, that is, by means of the inscrutable unfolding of circumstances]. Thus, in the cases of [the statement in SB 11.19.20], ‘Śraddhā in nectarean narratives about me’ (śraddhāmṛta-kathāyāṁ me) and [the statement in SB 11.11.23] ‘One possessed of śraddhā, hearing narratives about me …’ (śraddhālur mat-kathāḥ śṛṇvann), specifically one possessed of śraddhā in discussion is shown to be bearer of eligibility (adhikārī) with respect to the practice (yoga) of bhakti. Here [i.e., in the case of the verse under discussion], however, the context is different. Thus, one’s [i.e., a bearer of eligibility for bhakti’s] distinction from jñānīs and karmīs and being of little prevalence [i.e., being rare] is indicated by the [use of] the singular number [i.e., by the mention of the adhikārī not in the plural but rather in the singular]. ‘Not excessively attached’ (nātisaktaḥ) means free from excessive attachment to one’s body, house, wife, and so on. In regard to [the mention of] ‘not disinterested’ (na nirviṇṇaḥ) here, in the case of one’s being disinterested in those [i.e., one’s body, house, wife, and so on], there is eligibility (adhikāra) for [the path of] jñāna, and in the case of one’s being excessively attached [to them], there is eligibility (adhikāra) for [the path of] karma. In the absence of excessive attachment, there is eligibility (adhikāra) for [the path of] bhakti. In this way, there is discernment of three eligibilities (adhikāras) [i.e., those for karma, jñāna, and bhakti respectively]. The cause of disinterest is only purity of the psyche (antaḥkaraṇa) caused by [performance of] desireless karma. The cause of excessive attachment is only beginningless ignorance. The cause of being free from excessive attachment is only independent (yādṛcchika) association with a mahat. In this way the causes in regard to each [path] are observable. Moreover, this [aforementioned characteristic of a bearer of eligibility (adhikārī) for the path of bhakti] is the characteristic only of an advanced bearer of eligibility, whereas, indeed anyone possessed of senses who has had independent (yādṛcchika) association with a bhakta is to be known as a bearer of eligibility for [the path of] bhakti as per the statement [in SB 11.2.2], ‘O King, indeed who possessed of senses and subject to death from every quarter would not worship the lotus feet of Mukunda, which are the object of worship of [even] the foremost of the immortals?’”