वासुदेवे भगवति भक्तिमुद्वहतां नृणाम् ।
ज्ञानवैराग्यवीर्याणां न हि कश्चिद् व्यपाश्रयः ॥३१॥

vÄsudeve bhagavati
bhaktim udvahatÄá¹ nṛṇÄm
jñÄna-vairÄgya-vÄ«ryÄṇÄá¹
na hi kaÅ›cid vyapÄÅ›rayaḥ

 vÄsudeve - to Lord VÄsudeva, Kṛṣṇa; bhagavati - the Supreme Personality of Godhead; bhaktim - love and faith in devotional service; udvahatÄm - for those who are carrying; nṛṇÄm - men; jñÄna-vairÄgya - of real knowledge and detachment; vÄ«ryÄṇÄm - possessing the powerful strength; na - not; hi - indeed; kaÅ›cit - anything; vyapÄÅ›rayaḥ - as interest or shelter.


Text

Persons engaged in devotional service to Lord VÄsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, have naturally perfect knowledge and detachment from this material world. Therefore such devotees are not interested in the so-called happiness or so-called distress of this world.

Purport

Here is the distinction between a devotee and a philosopher who speculates on the subject matter of transcendence. A devotee does not need to cultivate knowledge to understand the falsity or temporary existence of this material world. Because of his unalloyed devotion to VÄsudeva, this knowledge and detachment are automatically manifested in his person. As confirmed elsewhere in ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (1.2.7):

vÄsudeve bhagavati
 bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ
janayaty ÄÅ›u vairÄgyaá¹
 jñÄnaá¹ ca yad ahaitukam

One who engages in unalloyed devotional service to VÄsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, automatically becomes aware of this material world, and therefore he is naturally detached. This detachment is possible because of his high standard of knowledge. The speculative philosopher tries to understand that this material world is false by cultivating knowledge, but this understanding is automatically manifested in the person of a devotee, without separate endeavor. The MÄyÄvÄdÄ« philosophers may be very proud of their so-called knowledge, but because they do not understand VÄsudeva (vÄsudevaḥ sarvam iti), they do not understand the world of duality, which is a manifestation of VÄsudeva’s external energy. Therefore, unless the so-called jñÄnÄ«s take shelter of VÄsudeva, their speculative knowledge is imperfect. Ye ’nye ’ravindÄká¹£a vimukta-mÄninaḥ. They simply think of becoming free from the contamination of the material world, but because they do not take shelter at the lotus feet of VÄsudeva, their knowledge is impure. When they actually become pure, they surrender to the lotus feet of VÄsudeva. Therefore, the Absolute Truth is easier to understand for a devotee than for jñÄnÄ«s who simply speculate to understand VÄsudeva. Lord Åšiva confirms this statement in the following verse.