भवान्भक्तिमता लभ्यो दुर्लभः सर्वदेहिनाम् ।
स्वाराज्यस्याप्यभिमत एकान्तेनात्मविद्गतिः ॥५४॥

bhavÄn bhaktimatÄ labhyo
durlabhaḥ sarva-dehinÄm
svÄrÄjyasyÄpy abhimata
ekÄntenÄtma-vid-gatiḥ

 bhavÄn - Your Grace; bhakti-matÄ - by the devotee; labhyaḥ - obtainable; durlabhaḥ - very difficult to be obtained; sarva-dehinÄm - of all other living entities; svÄrÄjyasya - of the King of heaven; api - even; abhimataḥ - the ultimate goal; ekÄntena - by oneness; Ätma-vit - of the self-realized; gatiḥ - the ultimate destination.


Text

My dear Lord, the king in charge of the heavenly kingdom is also desirous of obtaining the ultimate goal of life — devotional service. Similarly, You are the ultimate destination of those who identify themselves with You [ahaá¹ brahmÄsmi]. However, it is very difficult for them to attain You, whereas a devotee can very easily attain Your Lordship.

Purport

As stated in Brahma-saá¹hitÄ, vedeá¹£u durlabham adurlabham Ätma-bhaktau. This indicates that it is very difficult for one to attain the ultimate goal of life and reach the supreme destination, Vaikuṇṭhaloka or Goloka Vá¹›ndÄvana, simply by studying VedÄnta philosophy or Vedic literature. However, this highest perfectional stage can be attained by the devotees very easily. That is the meaning of vedeá¹£u durlabham adurlabham Ätma-bhaktau. The same point is confirmed by Lord Åšiva in this verse. The Lord is very difficult for the karma-yogÄ«s, jñÄna-yogÄ«s and dhyÄna-yogÄ«s to attain. Those who are bhakti-yogÄ«s, however, have no difficulty at all. In the word svÄrÄjyasya, svar refers to Svargaloka, the heavenly planet, and svÄrÄjya refers to the ruler of the heavenly planet, Indra. Generally, karmÄ«s desire elevation to heavenly planets, but King Indra desires to become perfect in bhakti-yoga. Those who identify themselves as ahaá¹ brahmÄsmi (“I am the Supreme Brahman, one with the Absolute Truthâ€) also ultimately desire to attain perfect liberation in the Vaikuṇṭha planets or Goloka Vá¹›ndÄvana. In Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (18.55) it is said:

bhaktyÄ mÄm abhijÄnÄti
 yÄvÄn yaÅ› cÄsmi tattvataḥ
tato mÄá¹ tattvato jñÄtvÄ
 viÅ›ate tadanantaram

“One can understand the Supreme Personality as He is only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of the Supreme Lord by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God.â€

Thus if one desires to enter into the spiritual world, he must try to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead by practicing bhakti-yoga. Simply by practicing bhakti-yoga one can understand the Supreme Lord in truth, but without such understanding, one cannot enter the spiritual kingdom. One may be elevated to the heavenly planets or may realize himself as Brahman (ahaá¹ brahmÄsmi), but that is not the end of realization. One must realize the position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead by bhakti-yoga; then real perfection of life is attained.