SB 11.6.9 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

शुद्धिर्नृणां न तु तथेड्य दुराशयानां विद्याश्रुताध्ययनदानतप:क्रियाभि: । सत्त्वात्मनामृषभ ते यशसि प्रवृद्ध- सच्छ्रद्धया श्रवणसम्भृतया यथा स्यात् ॥ ९ ॥

Verse text

śuddhir nṛṇāṁ na tu tatheḍya durāśayānāṁ vidyā-śrutādhyayana-dāna-tapaḥ-kriyābhiḥ sattvātmanām ṛṣabha te yaśasi pravṛddha- sac-chraddhayā śravaṇa-sambhṛtayā yathā syāt

Synonyms

śuddhiḥ — purification ; nṛṇām — of persons ; na — is not ; tu — but ; tathā — in such a way ; īḍya — O worshipable one ; durāśayānām — of those whose consciousness is contaminated ; vidyā — by ordinary worship ; śruta — hearing and obeying the injunctions of the Vedas ; adhyayana — study of various śāstras ; dāna — charity ; tapaḥ — austere penances ; kriyābhiḥ — and ritual activities ; sattva — ātmanām — of those who are situated in pure goodness ; ṛṣabha — O greatest of all ; te — Your ; yaśasi — in the glories ; pravṛddha — fully matured ; sat — transcendental ; śraddhayā — by faith ; śravaṇa — sambhṛtayā — which is reinforced by the process of hearing ; yathā — as ; syāt — there is .

Translation

O greatest of all, those whose consciousness is polluted by illusion cannot purify themselves merely by ordinary worship, study of the Vedas, charity, austerity and ritual activities. Our Lord, those pure souls who have developed a powerful transcendental faith in Your glories achieve a purified state of existence that can never be attained by those lacking such faith.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

O worshipable Lord! Those whose consciousness is polluted by pride cannot purify themselves by knowledge, study of the Vedas, charity, austerity or ritual activities. O best among the avatāra with pure bodies! Pure souls who have developed a deep, excellent faith in your glories, nourished by hearing scripture, become completely purified. Just as everyone should worship your lotus feet, they should also hear and remember your glories. O worshipable Lord! Purification does not take place by knowledge and other processes because their hearts are generally contaminated by pride in those processes. O best among the avatāras with śuddha-sattva bodies! Purification will take place by abundant, superior faith in hearing remembering and glorifying your fame. That faith is nourished by hearing scripture.

Purport

Even if a pure devotee is lacking the above qualifications, such as Vedic study and austerity, if he has unflinching faith in Lord Kṛṣṇa the Lord will save him because of his devotion. On the other hand, if one becomes falsely proud of one’s material qualifications, including ordinary piety, but does not devote himself to hearing and chanting the glories of Kṛṣṇa, the result will ultimately be nil. The transcendental spirit soul cannot be purified by any amount of material piety, charity or scholarship. Only the transcendental Supreme Lord can purify the transcendental living entity by bestowing His mercy within the heart. The demigods were astonished at their good fortune. Even by hearing about Kṛṣṇa, one achieves all perfection, but they had entered the Lord’s own city and were seeing Him standing before them.