te vai vidanty atitaranti ca deva-mÄyÄá¹
strÄ«-śūdra-hÅ«na-Å›abarÄ api pÄpa-jÄ«vÄḥ
yady adbhuta-krama-parÄyaṇa-śīla-Å›iká¹£Äs
tiryag-janÄ api kim u Å›ruta-dhÄraá¹‡Ä ye

 te - all of them; vai - certainly; vidanti - understand; atitaranti - cross over; ca - also; deva-mÄyÄm - the influence of the external illusory energy; strÄ« - women; Å›Å«dra - fourth-class men; hÅ«na - uncivilized hill tribes; Å›abarÄḥ - and hunters; api - even; pÄpa-jÄ«vÄḥ - sinful creatures; yadi - if; adbhuta-krama - of the performer of wonderful activities; parÄyaṇa - of the devotees; Å›Ä«la-Å›iká¹£Äḥ - characteristics and education; tiryak-janÄḥ - birds and beasts; api - even; kim u - what to speak of; Å›ruta-dhÄraṇÄḥ ye - persons advanced in the education of Vedic knowledge.


Text

“ ‘Women, fourth-class men, uncivilized hill tribes, hunters and many others born of low families, as well as birds and beasts, can engage in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead — who acts very wonderfully — and follow the path of the devotees and take lessons from them. Although the ocean of nescience is vast, they can still cross over it. What, then, is the difficulty for those who are advanced in Vedic knowledge?’

Purport

This is a quotation from ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (2.7.46). Lord BrahmÄ said this when speaking to his disciple NÄrada about the wonderful characteristics of Lord Viṣṇu. Simply by chanting the glories of Lord Viṣṇu, one can cross the ocean of nescience, even though one may be lowborn.