ei saba sÄdhanera ati tuccha bala
kṛṣṇa-bhakti vinÄ tÄhÄ dite nÄre phala
ei saba - all these; sÄdhanera - of methods of spiritual activities; ati - very; tuccha - insignificant; bala - strength; kṛṣṇa-bhakti - devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa; vinÄ - without; tÄhÄ - all these; dite - to deliver; nÄre - are not able; phala - the desired result.
“Without devotional service, all other methods for spiritual self-realization are weak and insignificant. Unless one comes to the devotional service of Lord Kṛṣṇa, jñÄna and yoga cannot give the desired results.
In the Vedic scriptures, stress is sometimes given to fruitive activity, speculative knowledge and the mystic yoga system. Although people are inclined to practice these processes, they cannot attain the desired results without being touched by kṛṣṇa-bhakti, devotional service. In other words, the real desired result is to invoke dormant love for Kṛṣṇa. ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (1.2.6) states:
sa vai puá¹sÄá¹ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhoká¹£aje
ahaituky apratihatÄ yayÄtmÄ suprasÄ«dati
“The supreme occupation [dharma] for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self.†Karma, jñÄna and yoga cannot actually awaken love of Godhead. One has to take to the Lord’s devotional service, and the more one is inclined to devotional service, the more he loses interest in other so-called achievements. Dhruva MahÄrÄja went to practice mystic yoga to see the Lord personally, face to face, but when he developed an interest in devotional service, he saw that he was not being benefited by karma, jñÄna and yoga.
