yeá¹£Äá¹ sa eá¹£a bhagavÄn dayayed anantaḥ
sarvÄtmanÄÅ›rita-pado yadi nirvyalÄ«kam
te dustarÄm atitaranti ca deva-mÄyÄá¹
naiá¹£Äá¹ mamÄham iti dhīḥ Å›va-śṛgÄla-bhaká¹£ye

 yeá¹£Äm - unto those who are fully surrendered souls; saḥ - He; eá¹£aḥ - this; bhagavÄn - the Supreme Personality of Godhead; dayayet - may show mercy; anantaḥ - the unlimited; sarva-ÄtmanÄ - fully, without reservation; ÄÅ›rita-padaḥ - those who have taken shelter of the Lord; yadi - if; nirvyalÄ«kam - without duplicity; te - such persons; dustarÄm - insurmountable; atitaranti - surpass; ca - also; deva-mÄyÄm - the illusory material energy; na - not; eá¹£Äm - this; mama aham - 'my' and 'I'; iti - such; dhīḥ - intelligence; Å›va-śṛgÄla-bhaká¹£ye - in the body, which is to be eaten by dogs and jackals.


Text

“ ‘When a person takes shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead without reservation, the unlimited, merciful Lord bestows His causeless mercy upon him. Thus he can pass over the insurmountable ocean of nescience. Those whose intelligence is fixed in the bodily conception, who think, “I am this body,†are fit food for dogs and jackals. The Supreme Lord never bestows His mercy upon such people.’ â€

Purport

The Supreme Lord never bestows His benediction upon those fixed in the bodily conception. As Kṛṣṇa clearly states in the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (18.66):

sarva-dharmÄn parityajya mÄm ekaá¹ Å›araṇaá¹ vraja
ahaá¹ tvÄá¹ sarva-pÄpebhyo moká¹£ayiá¹£yÄmi mÄ Å›ucaḥ

“Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.â€

The verse that Caitanya MahÄprabhu quoted (ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam 2.7.42) explains the meaning of ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa’s statement. Kṛṣṇa bestowed His causeless mercy upon Arjuna just to get him out of the bodily conception. This was done at the very beginning of the second chapter of the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (2.13), where Kṛṣṇa says, dehino ’smin yathÄ dehe kaumÄraá¹ yauvanaá¹ jarÄ. In this body, there is an owner, and one should not consider the body to be the self. This is the first instruction to be assimilated by a devotee. If one is under the bodily conception, he is unable to realize his true identity and engage in the loving devotional service of the Lord. Unless one comes to the transcendental position, he cannot expect the causeless mercy of the Supreme Lord, nor can he cross over the vast ocean of material nescience. Lord Kṛṣṇa confirms this in the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (7.14): mÄm eva ye prapadyante mÄyÄm etÄá¹ taranti te. Without surrendering unto the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, one cannot expect release from the clutches of mÄyÄ, the illusory energy. According to ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (10.2.32), MÄyÄvÄdÄ« sannyÄsÄ«s who falsely think of themselves as liberated from the clutches of mÄyÄ are called vimukta-mÄninaḥ. Actually, they are not liberated, but they think that they have become liberated and have become NÄrÄyaṇa Himself. Although they have apparently realized that they are not the material body but spirit soul, they nonetheless neglect the duty of the spirit soul, which is to render service to the Supreme Soul. Therefore their intelligence remains unsanctified. Unless one’s intelligence is sanctified, one cannot apply it to understanding devotional service. Devotional service begins when the mind, intelligence and ego are completely purified. MÄyÄvÄdÄ« sannyÄsÄ«s do not purify their intelligence, mind and ego, and consequently they cannot engage in the service of the Lord or expect the causeless mercy of the Lord. Although they rise to a very high position by executing severe austerities and penances, they still hover in the material world without the benediction of the lotus feet of the Lord. Sometimes they rise to the Brahman effulgence, but because their minds are not completely purified, they must return to material existence.

The karmÄ«s are fully under the bodily conception of life, and the jñÄnÄ«s, although theoretically understanding that they are not the body, also have no information about the lotus feet of the Lord because they overly stress impersonalism. Consequently both karmÄ«s and jñÄnÄ«s are unfit for receiving the mercy of the Lord and becoming devotees. Narottama dÄsa ṬhÄkura therefore says, karma-kÄṇá¸a jñÄna-kÄṇá¸a, kevala viá¹£era bhÄṇá¸a: those who have taken to the process of karma-kÄṇá¸a (fruitive activity) and jñÄna-kÄṇá¸a (speculation on the science of transcendence) have simply eaten from poisoned pots. They are condemned to remain in material existence life after life until they take shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. This is confirmed in ÅšrÄ«mad Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (7.19):

bahÅ«nÄá¹ janmanÄm ante jñÄnavÄn mÄá¹ prapadyate
vÄsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahÄtmÄ su-durlabhaḥ

“After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.â€