Devanagari
तथापरे चात्मसमाधियोग-
बलेन जित्वा प्रकृतिं बलिष्ठाम् ।
त्वामेव धीरा: पुरुषं विशन्ति
तेषां श्रम: स्यान्न तु सेवया ते ॥ ४७ ॥
Verse text
tathāpare cātma-samādhi-yoga-
balena jitvā prakṛtiṁ baliṣṭhām
tvām eva dhīrāḥ puruṣaṁ viśanti
teṣāṁ śramaḥ syān na tu sevayā te
Synonyms
tathā
—
as far as
;
apare
—
others
;
ca
—
also
;
ātma
—
samādhi — transcendental self-realization
;
yoga
—
means
;
balena
—
by the strength of
;
jitvā
—
conquering
;
prakṛtim
—
acquired nature or modes of nature
;
baliṣṭhām
—
very powerful
;
tvām
—
You
;
eva
—
only
;
dhīrāḥ
—
pacified
;
puruṣam
—
person
;
viśanti
—
enters into
;
teṣām
—
for them
;
śramaḥ
—
much labor
;
syāt
—
has to be taken
;
na
—
never
;
tu
—
but
;
sevayā
—
by serving
;
te
—
of You .
Translation
Others, who are pacified by means of transcendental self-realization and have conquered over the modes of nature by dint of strong power and knowledge, also enter into You, but for them there is much pain, whereas the devotee simply discharges devotional service and thus feels no such pain.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Others, desiring only liberation, conquer strong material energy by mental concentration and merge with the Lord. They become distressed in order to do this, whereas by bhakti there is no pain.
By the practice of jṣāna, the process making the mind steady (ātmā-samādhi), or by aṣṭāṅga-yoga, they enter into you, the Supreme Lord. They attain sāyujya. But to do this they become exhausted by great effort. If they perform bhakti, they do not become fatigued.
śreyaḥ-sṛtiṁ bhaktim udasya te vibho
kliśyanti ye kevala-bodha-labdhaye
teṣām asau kleśala eva śiṣyate
nānyad yathā sthūla-tuṣāvaghātinām
My dear Lord, devotional service unto you is the best path for self-realization. If someone gives up that path and engages in the cultivation of speculative knowledge, he will simply undergo a troublesome process and will not achieve his desired result. As a person who beats an empty husk of wheat cannot get grain, one who simply speculates cannot achieve self-realization. His only gain is trouble. SB 10.14.4
pureha bhūman bahavo ’pi yoginas
tvad-arpitehā nija-karma-labdhayā
vibudhya bhaktyaiva kathopanītayā
prapedire ’ṣjo ’cyuta te gatiṁ parām
O almighty Lord, in the past many yogīs in this world achieved the platform of devotional service by offering all their endeavors unto you and faithfully carrying out their prescribed duties. Through such devotional service, perfected by the processes of hearing and chanting about you, they came to understand you, O infallible one, and could easily surrender to you and achieve your supreme abode. SB 10.14.6
From this it is understood that without bhakti it is impossible to achieve jṣāna, what to speak of liberation. Thus they suffer extremely. For them, only suffering and nothing else remains (kleśalaḥ). This is like beating on empty husk. By means of bhakti which is an aṅga of jṣāna, they attain sāyujya, but in the stage of practice it is clear that there is great effort in searching out the method of concentrating the mind. In the state of perfection they accept merging into the Lord which is rejected by the devotees who attain prema-- which is the cause of controlling you. That choice also is only suffering! According to the devotees, the jṣānīs in liberation suffer. “But it should be inferred that the devotees also become tired in serving the Lord.” The verse says, “They do not become tired by serving.” The proof is the experiencers of bhakti. There are no difficulties for men or women or for persons of any āśrama. But even in not having difficulties. there is some sort of pain, for by not attaining service the devotees suffer greatly. One should not think that by serving you, the devotee enters into you, for this contradicts the previous verse which states that the devotee attains you, the abode of no fatigue (akuṇṭha-dhiṣṇyam). This is the explanation, since kuṇṭha means weak. As well the word anvīyuḥ, “they attain” would be meaningless if one argues that the devotees merge into the Lord.
Purport
In terms of a labor of love and its returns, the
bhaktas,
or devotees of the Lord, always have priority over persons who are addicted to the association of
jṣānīs,
or impersonalists, and
yogīs,
or mystics. The word
apare
(others) is very significant in this connection. “Others” refers to the
jṣānīs
and the
yogīs,
whose only hope is to merge into the existence of the impersonal
brahmajyoti.
Although their destination is not so important in comparison to the destination of the devotees, the labor of the nondevotees is far greater than that of the
bhaktas.
One may suggest that there is sufficient labor for the devotees also in the matter of discharging devotional service. But that labor is compensated by the enhancement of transcendental pleasure. The devotees derive more transcendental pleasure while engaged continuously in the service of the Lord than when they have no such engagement. In the family combination of a man and a woman there is much labor and responsibility for both of them, yet when they are single they feel more trouble for want of their united activities.
The union of the impersonalists and the union of the devotees are not on a par. The impersonalists try to fully stop their individuality by attaining
sāyujya-mukti,
or unification by merging into oneness, whereas the devotees keep their individuality to exchange feelings in relationship with the supreme individual Lord. Such reciprocation of feelings takes place in the transcendental Vaikuṇṭha planets, and therefore the liberation sought by the impersonalists is already achieved in devotional service. The devotees attain
mukti
automatically, while continuing the transcendental pleasure of maintaining individuality. As explained in the previous verse, the destination of the devotees is Vaikuṇṭha, or
akuṇṭha-dhiṣṇya,
the place where anxieties are completely eradicated. One should not mistake the destination of the devotees and that of the impersonalists to be one and the same. The destinations are distinctly different, and the transcendental pleasure derived by the devotee is also distinct from
cin-mātra,
or spiritual feelings alone.