patraá¹ puá¹£paá¹ phalaá¹ toyaá¹
yo me bhaktyÄ prayacchati
tad ahaá¹ bhakty-upahá¹›tam
aÅ›nÄmi prayatÄtmanaḥ
patram - a leaf; puá¹£pam - a flower; phalam - a fruit; toyam - water; yaḥ - whoever; me - unto Me; bhaktyÄ - with devotion; prayacchati - offers; tat - that; aham - I; bhakti-upahá¹›tam - offered in devotion; aÅ›nÄmi - accept; prayata-Ätmanaḥ - from one in pure consciousness.
These famous words are also spoken by the Lord in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (9.26); the translation and word meanings here are taken from ÅšrÄ«la PrabhupÄda’s Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ As It Is.
In the context of the current episode of SudÄmÄ’s visit to DvÄrakÄ, ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« has kindly continued his explanation of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s statements: This verse is a reply to SudÄmÄ’s anxiety that his bringing such an unfit offering was ill-considered. The use of the words bhaktyÄ prayacchati and bhakty-upahá¹›tam may seem redundant, since they both mean “offered with devotion,†but bhaktyÄ can indicate how the Lord reciprocates the devotional mood of whoever offers Him something with love. In other words, Lord Kṛṣṇa here declares that His reciprocation in a pure loving exchange is not dependent on the external quality of what is offered. Kṛṣṇa says, “Something may or may not be impressive and pleasing in its own right, but when My devotee offers it to Me in devotion, with the expectation that I will enjoy it, it gives Me great pleasure; in this regard I make no discrimination.†The verb aÅ›nÄmi, “I eat,†implies that Lord Kṛṣṇa eats even a flower, which is supposed to be smelled, bewildered as He is by the ecstatic love He feels for His devotee.
Someone might then question the Lord, “So, will You refuse an offering made to You by a devotee of some other deity?†The Lord answers, “Yes, I will refuse to eat it.†This the Lord states by the phrase prayatÄtmanaḥ, implying “Only by devotional service to Me can one become pure in heart.â€