Devanagari
तस्मात्त्वमुद्धवोत्सृज्य चोदनां प्रतिचोदनाम् ।
प्रवृत्तिं च निवृत्तिं च श्रोतव्यं श्रुतमेव च ॥ १४ ॥
मामेकमेव शरणमात्मानं सर्वदेहिनाम् ।
याहि सर्वात्मभावेन मया स्या ह्यकुतोभय: ॥ १५ ॥
Verse text
tasmāt tvam uddhavotsṛjya
codanāṁ praticodanām
pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca
śrotavyaṁ śrutam eva ca
mām ekam eva śaraṇam
ātmānaṁ sarva-dehinām
yāhi sarvātma-bhāvena
mayā syā hy akuto-bhayaḥ
Synonyms
tasmāt
—
therefore
;
tvam
—
you
;
uddhava
—
O Uddhava
;
utsṛjya
—
giving up
;
codanām
—
the regulations of the Vedas
;
praticodanām
—
the injunctions of supplementary Vedic literatures
;
pravṛttim
—
injunctions
;
ca
—
and
;
nivṛttim
—
prohibitions
;
ca
—
also
;
śrotavyam
—
that which is to be heard
;
śrutam
—
that which has been heard
;
eva
—
indeed
;
ca
—
also
;
mām
—
to Me
;
ekam
—
alone
;
eva
—
actually
;
śaraṇam
—
shelter
;
ātmānam
—
the Supersoul within the heart
;
sarva
—
dehinām — of all conditioned souls
;
yāhi
—
you must go
;
sarva
—
ātma — bhāvena — with exclusive devotion
;
mayā
—
by My mercy
;
syāḥ
—
you should be
;
hi
—
certainly
;
akutaḥ
—
bhayaḥ — free from fear in all circumstances .
Translation
Therefore, My dear Uddhava, abandon the Vedic mantras as well as the procedures of supplementary Vedic literatures and their positive and negative injunctions. Disregard that which has been heard and that which is to be heard. Simply take shelter of Me alone, for I am the Supreme Personality of Godhead, situated within the heart of all conditioned souls. Take shelter of Me wholeheartedly, and by My grace be free from fear in all circumstances.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O Uddhava! Give up duties and forbidden acts, the path of enjoyment and the path of renunciation, desire to hear more about dharma, and what you have already heard about dharma. Surrender to me alone, the soul of all beings, using all methods, with bhāva in your mind. You will be fearless by my mercy.
In reply to Uddhava’s question about the qualities of the devotee, Kṛṣṇa described three types of devotees. [Note: These are the karma-miśra-bhakta, the jṣāna-miśra-bhakta and the kevala-bhakta.] By their respective association, one attains mixed or pure bhakti. In order to show that he is controlled by bhakti, he stated that he is controlled by association of devotees. After describing the devotees who associate with the saintly devotees, Kṛṣṇa praised pure bhakti-yoga, situated in the gopīs and others, as being very rare. The burning tears of love for the gopis which were deeply suppressed in his heart suddenly burst forth with his statement in verse 10, in which he indicated that the gopīs had reached the highest level as devotees. To inspire Uddhava with that high level of pure bhakti, Kṛṣṇa speaks this verse.
Give up rules and prohibitions. Give up prescribed acts and forbidden acts. “Should I take sannyāsa?” No. Give up the dharma of the sannyāsīs, renunciation as well as the dharma of the householders, enjoyment. Do not hanker to hear about dharma in the future, and forget what you have heard already. By all methods, by all bhāvas in the mind, such as dāsya and sakhya, taking support of me, surrender. You will be fearless by my mercy. You are not qualified for karma or jṣāna. But if you identify with those processes and thus fear sin and continued saṁsāra because of neglect of duties and jṣāna, I am here, to deliver you from those two fears.
Purport
Śrī Uddhava inquired from Lord Kṛṣṇa about the symptoms of saintly persons and liberated souls, and the Lord has replied in terms of different levels of spiritual advancement, distinguishing between those who are able to understand Lord Kṛṣṇa to be the principal goal of life and those loving devotees who accept Lord Kṛṣṇa and devotional service to Him as the only goal of life. Lord Kṛṣṇa also mentioned that He is captured by His loving devotees and even by those who sincerely associate with His loving devotees. Among all the devotees, the
gopīs
of Vṛndāvana were described by the Lord as having achieved such a rare state of pure devotional service that Lord Kṛṣṇa personally feels constantly indebted to them. According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, Lord Kṛṣṇa previously kept the
gopīs’
love for Him concealed in His heart because of its confidential nature and the Lord’s own gravity. Finally, however, even Lord Kṛṣṇa could not remain silent about the intense love of the
gopīs,
and thus in these verses the Lord reveals to Uddhava how the
gopīs
loved Him in Vṛndāvana and brought Him fully under their control. The Lord would relax in secret places with the loving
gopīs,
and by conjugal spontaneous affection the greatest love was exchanged between them.
As explained by the Lord in
Bhagavad-gītā,
one cannot achieve the perfection of life merely by renouncing the material world or by executing ordinary, sectarian religious principles. One must actually understand the identity of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and by associating with His pure devotees one must learn to love the Lord in His personal, original form. This love may be expressed in either the conjugal, parental, fraternal or serving
rasa,
or relationship. The Lord has elaborately explained to Uddhava the system of philosophical analysis of the material world, and now He clearly concludes that it is useless for Uddhava to waste time in fruitive activities or mental speculation. Actually, Lord Kṛṣṇa is hinting that Uddhava should assimilate the example of the
gopīs
and try to advance further in Kṛṣṇa consciousness by following in the footsteps of the cowherd damsels of Vraja. Any conditioned soul who is unsatisfied with the cruel laws of nature, which impose disease, old age and death, should understand that Lord Kṛṣṇa can deliver all living beings from the problems of material existence. There is no need to entangle oneself in unauthorized, sectarian rituals, injunctions or prohibitions. One should simply surrender to Lord Kṛṣṇa, following the example of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself. By the authorized regulated process of
bhakti-yoga,
Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one easily achieves spiritual perfection.