Devanagari
यत्पादपङ्कजपलाशविलासभक्त्या
कर्माशयं ग्रथितमुद्ग्रथयन्ति सन्त: ।
तद्वन्न रिक्तमतयो यतयोऽपि रुद्ध
स्रोतोगणास्तमरणं भज वासुदेवम् ॥ ३९ ॥
Verse text
yat-pāda-paṅkaja-palāśa-vilāsa-bhaktyā
karmāśayaṁ grathitam udgrathayanti santaḥ
tadvan na rikta-matayo yatayo ’pi ruddha-
sroto-gaṇās tam araṇaṁ bhaja vāsudevam
Synonyms
yat
—
whose
;
pāda
—
feet
;
paṅkaja
—
lotus
;
palāśa
—
petals or toes
;
vilāsa
—
enjoyment
;
bhaktyā
—
by devotional service
;
karma
—
fruitive activities
;
āśayam
—
desire
;
grathitam
—
hard knot
;
udgrathayanti
—
root out
;
santaḥ
—
devotees
;
tat
—
that
;
vat
—
like
;
na
—
never
;
rikta
—
matayaḥ — persons devoid of devotional service
;
yatayaḥ
—
ever-increasingly trying
;
api
—
even though
;
ruddha
—
stopped
;
srotaḥ
—
gaṇāḥ — the waves of sense enjoyment
;
tam
—
unto Him
;
araṇam
—
worthy to take shelter
;
bhaja
—
engage in devotional service
;
vāsudevam
—
unto Kṛṣṇa, the son of Vasudeva .
Translation
The devotees, who are always engaged in the service of the toes of the lotus feet of the Lord, can very easily overcome hard-knotted desires for fruitive activities. Because this is very difficult, the nondevotees — the jṣānīs and yogīs — although trying to stop the waves of sense gratification, cannot do so. Therefore you are advised to engage in the devotional service of Kṛṣṇa, the son of Vasudeva.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Worship Vāsudeva, the shelter. By devotion to his lotus toes possessing ever-increasing beauty, the devotees untie the knot of false ego filled with impressions of karma, which the foolish sannyāsīs who try to stop the senses flowing like a river cannot untie.
Jṣāna-miśra-bhakti, having predominance of bhakti, culminating in śānta-rati, was explained starting with verse 22. Verses 37 and 38 explained bhakti-miśra-jṣāna, with a predominance of jṣāna, with the goal of sāyujya-mukti (merging). Understanding Pṛthu’s distaste of the words “Know that Lord, I am he” mentioned in verse 37, since he had pure bhakti in the mood of a servant and nothing else, Sanatkumāra now speaks of pure bhakti, by which one achieves prema, in which liberation is a secondary effect. He glorifies that bhakti as the best process in two verses.
Palāśa (petal) refers to the Lord’s toes in this verse. Vilāsa means “distinctive sport” or “movement with distinction” (viśeṣena lāsa)—in other words, beauty increasing at every moment. Thus the phrase means “by bhakti to the Lord’s lotus toes whose beauty increases at every moment.” Bhakti has two forms, sādhana (practice) and sādhya (perfection). [Note: The sādhya form is mentioned here because the final destruction of the knot of ignorance actually takes place in bhāva-bhakti, not sādhana bhakti, though sādhana-bhakti leads to bhāva-bhakti.] Karmāśayam means “ahaṅkāra filled with impressions of karma.” This is tightly knotted (grathitam). (This is equated with avidyā. The hṛdaya-granthi refers to the same.) Or another meaning is “by bhakti to the Lord’s toes, endowed with various astonishing skills (vilāsa), such as massaging, putting perfumes on the Lord’s body, bathing him, and dressing his hair.” Or it can mean “by remembrance of the beauty of the Lord’s toes.”
Please worship Vāsudeva, the shelter. The Vaiṣṇavas (santaḥ) untie the knot of ahaṅkāra filled with impressions of karma, tied tightly by the jīva’s previous actions, by now performing actions to the Lord which have the opposite effect--by the process of bhakti, progressing from sādhana to sādya, which is offered to his lotus-petal toes whose beauty increases at every moment. Ascetics (yatayaḥ) cannot do the same. Why? Their minds are without objects of thought (rikta-matayaḥ); they are without intelligence. Like persons without wealth, they are without intelligence—contemptible persons (asantaḥ). Santas (commendable persons) on the other hand have their minds concentrated on the Lord. They have good intelligence. The ascetics have attempted to stop the group (gaṇa) of senses which flow like rivers (srotas). But just as it is impossible to stop the flow of a river, this attempt to stop the senses is a sign of their foolishness. On the other hand, the santas engage their eyes and other senses in the sweetness of the Lord’s beauty and other qualities. They are very intelligence and happy. Araṇam means shelter. Worship the son of Vasudeva, Kṛṣṇa. Araṇam can also mean “without battle.” If you do not surrender, then you will have to battle the senses, and you will be defeated.
Purport
There are three kinds of transcendentalists trying to overcome the influence of the modes of material nature: the
jṣānīs, yogīs
and
bhaktas.
All of them attempt to overcome the influence of the senses, which is compared to the incessant waves of a river. The waves of a river flow incessantly, and it is very difficult to stop them. Similarly, the waves of desire for material enjoyment are so strong that they cannot be stopped by any process other than
bhakti-yoga.
The
bhaktas,
by their transcendental devotional service unto the lotus feet of the Lord, become so overwhelmed with transcendental bliss that automatically their desires for material enjoyment stop. The
jṣānīs
and
yogīs,
who are not attached to the lotus feet of the Lord, simply struggle against the waves of desire. They are described in this verse as
rikta-matayaḥ,
which means “devoid of devotional service.” In other words, the
jṣānīs
and
yogīs,
although trying to be free from the desires of material activities, actually become more and more entangled in false philosophical speculation or strenuous attempts to stop the activities of the senses. As stated previously:
vāsudeve bhagavati
bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ
janayaty āśu vairāgyaṁ
jṣānaṁ ca yad ahaitukam
(
Bhāg.
1.2.7
)
Here also the same point is stressed.
Bhaja vāsudevam
indicates that one who is engaged in the loving service of Kṛṣṇa, the son of Vasudeva, can very easily stop the waves of desires. As long as one continues to try to artificially stop the waves of desires, he will certainly be defeated. That is indicated in this verse. Desires for fruitive activities are strongly rooted, but the trees of desire can be uprooted completely by devotional service because devotional service employs superior desire. One can give up inferior desires when engaged in superior desires. To try to stop desires is impossible. One has to desire the Supreme in order not to be entangled in inferior desires.
Jṣānīs
maintain a desire to become one with the Supreme, but such desire is also considered to be
kāma,
lust. Similarly, the
yogīs
desire mystic power, and that is also
kāma.
And the
bhaktas,
not being desirous of any sort of material enjoyment, become purified. There is no artificial attempt to stop desire. Desire becomes a source of spiritual enjoyment under the protection of the toes of the lotus feet of the Lord. It is stated herein by the Kumāras that the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa are the ultimate reservoir of all pleasure. One should therefore take shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord instead of trying unsuccessfully to stop desires for material enjoyment. As long as one is unable to stop the desire for material enjoyment, there is no possibility of becoming liberated from the entanglement of material existence. It may be argued that the waves of a river are incessantly flowing and that they cannot be stopped, but the waves of the river flow toward the sea. When the tide comes over the river, it overwhelms the flowing of the river, and the river itself becomes overflooded. Then the waves from the sea become more prominent than the waves from the river. Similarly, a devotee with intelligence plans so many things for the service of the Lord in Kṛṣṇa consciousness that stagnant material desires become overflooded by the desire to serve the Lord. As confirmed by Yāmunācārya, since he has been engaged in the service of the lotus feet of the Lord there is always a current of newer and newer desires flowing to serve the Lord, so much so that the stagnant desire of sex life becomes very insignificant. Yāmunācārya even says that he spits on such desires.
Bhagavad-gītā
(2.59)
also confirms:
paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate.
The conclusion is that by developing a loving desire for the service of the lotus feet of the Lord, we subdue all material desires for sense gratification.