Devanagari
यो यो मयि परे धर्म: कल्प्यते निष्फलाय चेत् ।
तदायासो निरर्थ: स्याद् भयादेरिव सत्तम ॥ २१ ॥
Verse text
yo yo mayi pare dharmaḥ
kalpyate niṣphalāya cet
tad-āyāso nirarthaḥ syād
bhayāder iva sattama
Synonyms
yaḥ yaḥ
—
whatever
;
mayi
—
unto Me
;
pare
—
the Supreme
;
dharmaḥ
—
is religion
;
kalpyate
—
tends
;
niṣphalāya
—
toward becoming free from the result of material work
;
cet
—
if
;
tat
—
of that
;
āyāsaḥ
—
the endeavor
;
nirarthaḥ
—
futile
;
syāt
—
may be
;
bhaya
—
ādeḥ — of fear and so on
;
iva
—
as
;
sat
—
tama — O best of saintly persons .
Translation
O Uddhava, greatest of saints, in a dangerous situation an ordinary person cries, becomes fearful and laments, although such useless emotions do not change the situation. But activities offered to Me without personal motivation, even if they are externally useless, amount to the actual process of religion.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O Uddhava, greatest of saints! If bhakti is offered to me without personal motivation, endeavoring for results is useless, just as expressions of fear or lamentation are useless in dangerous situations.
If bhakti is practices without duplicity then without effort it gives effects at every moment. Whatever process of bhakti, such as hearing or chanting, is directed to me with no desire for material happiness now or later in Svarga or for liberation, is done without effort. The results appear on their own without effort. What is the use of effort?
bhojanācchādane cintāṁ vyarthāṁ kurvanti vaiṣṇavāḥ |
so’sau viśvambharo devaḥ kathaṁ bhaktān upekṣate ||
The devotees find it useless to worry about eating and shelter. How can the Lord who sustains the universe ignore the devotees?
It is as useless as efforts executed out of fear and lamentation. Just as, by attaining one’s object, the object naturally becomes visible, by attaining me as the object of bhakti, bhakti appears on its own. Still, the sincere devotee always endeavors for bhakti. That endeavor shows his great attraction to bhakti. Effort is thus a great quality.
Purport
Even the most insignificant activity, when offered to the Supreme Lord without personal desire, can elevate one to the perfection of spiritual life. Actually, Lord Kṛṣṇa always protects and maintains His devotee. But if a devotee cries to the Lord for protection or maintenance, desiring to continue his devotional service unimpeded, Lord Kṛṣṇa accepts such apparently unnecessary appeals to be the highest religious process.