Text 14

It is useless to be anxious about attaining the four goals of life. Śrī Uddhava explains in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.4.15):

को न्व् ईश ते पाद-सरोज-भाजां सुदुर्लभो’र्थेषु चतुर्ष्व् अपीह
तथापि नाहं प्रवृणोमि भूमन् भवत्-पदाम्भोज-निषेवणोत्सुकः

ko nv īśa te pāda-saroja-bhājāṃ sudurlabho’rtheṣu caturṣv apīha
tathāpi nāhaṃ pravṛṇomi bhūman bhavat-padāmbhoja-niṣevaṇotsukaḥ

O Lord, it is not difficult for one who has taken shelter of Your lotus feet to achieve the four goals of life (religiosity, economic development, sense gratification and liberation); nevertheless, such a person does not desire them. O Great One, he is not concerned with anything other than rendering service to Your lotus feet.

कृष्ण! तव पाद-पद्मे भक्ति आछे याङ्र
चतुर्-वर्ग-मध्ये किवा अप्राप्य ताङ्हार

kṛṣṇa! tava pāda-padme bhakti āche yāṅra
catur-varga-madhye kivā aprāpya tāṅhāra

तथापि तोमार पद-सेवा मात्र चाइ
अन्य कोन अर्थे मोर प्रयोजन नाइ

tathāpi tomāra pada-sevā mātra cāi
anya kona arthe mora prayojana nāi

Commentary: Bhajana-rahasya-vṛtti:

The inherent dharma of the living entity is the tendency to serve (sevā-vṛtti). The devotee therefore desires the fifth goal of human life, pañcama-puruṣārtha, which is prema-sevā. He does not accept the threefold designations of religiosity (dharma), economic development (artha) and sense gratification (kāma), nor does he accept liberation (mokṣa ), which is free from material designations. The impersonalists strive for sāyujya-mukti, which the devotee always completely rejects.

The Nārada-pañcarātra (quoted in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.34) states:

हरि-भक्ति-महादेव्याः सर्वा मुक्तादि-सिद्धयः
भक्तश् चाद्भुतास् तस्याश् चेटिकावद् अनुव्रताः

hari-bhakti-mahādevyāḥ sarvā muktādi-siddhayaḥ
bhaktaś cādbhutās tasyāś ceṭikāvad anuvratāḥ

All kinds of liberation are automatically accomplished by devotees who perform pure devotional service to Śrī Hari. Not only are they accomplished, but they follow the devotees like maidservants, always ready to serve them.

Devotees reject the five kinds of liberation: sāyujya, sārūpya, sāmīpya, sālokya and sārṣṭi. Excluding sāyujya, however, the other four are not entirely opposed to bhakti. They are of two kinds: sukhaiśvaryottarā (liberation tainted with the desire to enjoy the Lord’s opulence) and prema-sevottarā (liberation in which the dominant desire is to serve the Lord for His pleasure). Because there is some desire for personal happiness in both of these, those who are devoted to unalloyed service to Śrī Bhagavān consider them opposed to loving service and do not accept them.