yathÄgninÄ hema malaá¹ jahÄti
dhmÄtaá¹ punaḥ svaá¹ bhajate ca rÅ«pam
ÄtmÄ ca karmÄnuÅ›ayaá¹ vidhÅ«ya
mad-bhakti-yogena bhajaty atho mÄm
yathÄ - just as; agninÄ - by fire; hema - gold; malam - impurities; jahÄti - gives up; dhmÄtam - smelted; punaḥ - again; svam - its own; bhajate - enters; ca - also; rÅ«pam - form; ÄtmÄ - the spirit soul or consciousness; ca - also; karma - of fruitive activities; anuÅ›ayam - the resultant contamination; vidhÅ«ya - removing; mat-bhakti-yogena - by loving service to Me; bhajati - worships; atho - thus; mÄm - Me.
Just as gold, when smelted in fire, gives up its impurities and returns to its pure brilliant state, similarly, the spirit soul, absorbed in the fire of bhakti-yoga, is purified of all contamination caused by previous fruitive activities and returns to its original position of serving Me in the spiritual world.
According to ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« ṬhÄkura, this verse indicates that the devotee goes back home, back to Godhead, and there worships Lord Kṛṣṇa in his original spiritual body, which is compared to the original pure form of smelted gold. Gold alloyed with inferior metals cannot be purified by water and soap; similarly, the heart’s impurities cannot be removed by superficial processes. Only the fire of love of Godhead can cleanse one’s soul and send one back home, back to Godhead, to engage in eternal loving service to the Lord.
