कर्म स्मृतिश्चरणयोः श्रवणं कथायाम् ।
संसेवया त्वयि विनेति षडङ्गया किं
भक्तिं जनः परमहंसगतौ लभेत ॥५०॥
tat te 'rhattama namaḥ stuti-karma-pÅ«jÄḥ
karma smá¹›tiÅ› caraṇayoḥ Å›ravaṇaá¹ kathÄyÄm
saá¹sevayÄ tvayi vineti á¹£aá¸-aá¹…gayÄ kiá¹
bhaktiá¹ janaḥ paramahaá¹sa-gatau labheta
tat - therefore; te - unto You; arhat-tama - O supreme of all worshipable persons; namaḥ - respectful obeisances; stuti-karma-pÅ«jÄḥ - worshiping Your Lordship by offering prayers and other devotional activities; karma - activities being dedicated to You; smá¹›tiḥ - constant remembrance; caraṇayoḥ - of Your lotus feet; Å›ravaṇam - always hearing; kathÄyÄm - in topics (about You); saá¹sevayÄ - such devotional service; tvayi - unto You; vinÄ - without; iti - thus; á¹£aá¹-aá¹…gayÄ - having six different parts; kim - how; bhaktim - devotional service; janaḥ - a person; paramahaá¹sa-gatau - obtainable by the paramahaá¹sa; labheta - may attain.
Therefore, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, the best of all persons to whom prayers are offered, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You because without rendering six kinds of devotional service unto You — offering prayers, dedicating all the results of activities, worshiping You, working on Your behalf, always remembering Your lotus feet and hearing about Your glories — who can achieve that which is meant for the paramahaá¹sas?
The Vedas enjoin: nÄyam ÄtmÄ pravacanena labhyo na medhayÄ na bahunÄ Å›rutena. One cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead simply by studying the Vedas and offering prayers. Only by the grace of the Supreme Lord can one understand Him. The process of understanding the Lord, therefore, is bhakti. Without bhakti, simply following the Vedic injunctions to understand the Absolute Truth will not be helpful at all. The process of bhakti is understood by the paramahaá¹sa, one who has accepted the essence of everything. The results of bhakti are reserved for such a paramahaá¹sa, and this stage cannot be obtained by any Vedic process other than devotional service. Other processes, such as jñÄna and yoga, can be successful only when mixed with bhakti. When we speak of jñÄna-yoga, karma-yoga and dhyÄna-yoga the word yoga indicates bhakti. Bhakti-yoga, or buddhi-yoga, executed with intelligence and full knowledge, is the only successful method for going back home, back to Godhead. If one wants to be liberated from the pangs of material existence, he should take to devotional service for quick attainment of this goal.
