Verse 2.2.205

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.2.205:

कर्म-विक्षेपकं तस्या वैराग्यं रस-शोषकम् ।
ज्ञानं हानि-करं तत्-तच्-छोधितं त्व् अनुयाति ताम् ॥ २०५ ॥

karma-vikṣepakaṃ tasyā vairāgyaṃ rasa-śoṣakam |
jñānaṃ hāni-karaṃ tat-tac-chodhitaṃ tv anuyāti tām || 205 ||

karma–fruitive work; vikṣepakam–makes unsteady; tasyāḥ–of that (bhakti); vairāgyam–renunciation; rasa–the relishable mellows; śoṣakam–dries up; jñānam–knowledge; hāni-karam–causes harm; tat-tat–each of them; śodhitam–when purified; tu–however; anuyāti–follow after; tām–her.

Ritualistic activities make one’s bhakti unsteady, renunciation dries up its nectar, and speculative knowledge harms it. But even so, when all these are bhakti’s obedient followers, they can sometimes be beneficial.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

(By Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī himself including a deep purport of that commentary)

Therefore, ritualistic activities performed for fruitive gain (karma), speculative knowledge (jñāna), renunciation (vairāgya), etc. that are opposed to bhakti should be totally abandoned by those who are practitioners of devotional service to the Lord. To explain this, the bhakti-śāstras say, “All karma is a distraction from bhakti. When one’s mind becomes agitated by the hundreds of details involved in performing the prescribed religious and occupational duties that are enjoined by scripture, one’s devotion to the Lord is diminished. The feeling of indifference to all things material that is concomitant with renunciation dries up the sweet nectar of loving relationship with the Lord (bhakti-rasa). It withers one’s attachment towards bhakti and ultimately causes one to develop the fault of indifference towards serving the Lord. Therefore, it is inappropriate to combine bhakti with karma, vairāgya, and the other practices that are opposed to it.

It is stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.2.42):

भक्तिः परेशानुभवो विरक्तिर् अन्यत्र चैष त्रिक एक-कालः
प्रपद्यमानस्य यथाश्नतः स्युस् तुष्टिः पुष्टिः क्षुद्-अपायो’नु-घासम्

bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra caiṣa trika eka-kālaḥ
prapadyamānasya yathāśnataḥ syus tuṣṭiḥ puṣṭiḥ kṣud-apāyo’nu-ghāsam

As a person who is eating experiences happiness, nourishment, and relief from hunger with every bite, similarly, a devotee of the Lord experiences three things simultaneously: devotion, direct experience of the loving form of Bhagavān, and detachment from other objects.

“Similarly, the pursuit of knowledge is detrimental because it weakens one’s disposition for devotion. Upon realizing the divine truth about the soul (ātma-tattva), one becomes like a jñānī, one whose goal is transcendental knowledge. Feeling completely satisfied and successful in the state of a jīvana-mukta, in which one is liberated even while living, such a person does not have an inclination towards devotional service.

In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.20.31–33), Śrī Bhagavān states:

तस्मान् मद्-भक्ति-युक्तस्य योगिनो वै मद्-आत्मनः
न ज्ञानं न च वैराग्यं प्रायः श्रेयो भवेद् इह
यत् कर्मभिर् यत् तपसा ज्ञान-वैराग्यतश् च यत्
योगेन दान-धर्मेण श्रेयोभिर् इतरैर् अपि
सर्वं मद्-भक्ति-योगेन मद्-भक्तो लभते’ञ्जसा
स्वर्गापवर्गं मद्-धाम कथञ्चिद् यदि वाञ्छति

tasmān mad-bhakti-yuktasya yogino vai mad-ātmanaḥ
na jñānaṃ na ca vairāgyaṃ prāyaḥ śreyo bhaved iha
yat karmabhir yat tapasā jñāna-vairāgyataś ca yat
yogena dāna-dharmeṇa śreyobhir itarair api
sarvaṃ mad-bhakti-yogena mad-bhakto labhate’ñjasā
svargāpavargaṃ mad-dhāma kathañcid yadi vāñchati

Because bhakti alone is the ultimate goal of human life, My devotees are devoted to Me and absorbed in contemplating Me. Therefore, the pursuit of knowledge and renunciation are generally not beneficial for them. People achieve many different types of results from fruitive activities (karma), penance (tapasyā), cultivation of knowledge (jñāna), detachment (vairāgya), deep meditation (samādhi), religious merit garnered by charity (dāna), and all kinds of other beneficial activities. However, My devotees effortlessly achieve all these results through bhakti alone. If they desire, they can even attain heaven, liberation, or residence in My abode.

“From these examples, it can be understood that knowledge and renunciation are generally not beneficial. In these statements of Bhagavān, the word prāyaḥ, meaning ‘generally or mostly,’ indicates that, at times, renunciation, knowledge, and the performance of prescribed duties can be helpful to some extent. When is that? Only when they are related to bhakti. Only when they are purified of their faults, can karma, vairāgya, and jñāna become subservient to bhakti. Then they are accepted as preliminary aspects of devotional practice (bhakti-sādhana).

It is stated in the Yoga-vāśiṣṭha:

जन्मान्तर-सहस्रेषु तपो-दान-समाधिभिः
नराणां क्षीन-पापानां कृष्णे भक्तिः प्रजायते

janmāntara-sahasreṣu tapo-dāna-samādhibhiḥ
narāṇāṃ kṣīna-pāpānāṃ kṛṣṇe bhaktiḥ prajāyate

Only those sinless, pure persons who have performed austerities by giving in charity and engaging in the discipline of samādhi for thousands and thousands of lifetimes may develop devotion for Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

“The underlying principle here is that the activities of those who perform them only for the Lord’s pleasure, without desiring to enjoy the results but as an offering to Him, are known as śodhita-karma, purified activities. Renunciation is purified when one relinquishes even the desire for liberation and becomes subservient to the desire to serve the Lord. Knowledge is purified when one gives up the conception of total oneness of the soul with Brahman and meditates on being a servant of the Lord. This process is the glory of bhakti.”