Text 21

Bhakti destroys the egoism arising from falsely identifying the body with the self. This is stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (4.11.30):

त्वं प्रत्यग् आत्मनि तदा भगवत्य् अनन्त आनन्द-मात्र उपपन्न-समस्त-शक्तौ
भक्तिं विधाय परमां शनकैर् अविद्या ग्रन्थिं विभेत्स्यसि ममाहम् इति प्ररूढम्

tvaṃ pratyag ātmani tadā bhagavaty ananta ānanda-mātra upapanna-samasta-śaktau
bhaktiṃ vidhāya paramāṃ śanakair avidyā granthiṃ vibhetsyasi mamāham iti prarūḍham

[Manu said to Dhruva:] By searching for Bhagavān Ananta, who possesses all potencies, who is the embodiment of supreme transcendental bliss and who resides within all living entities as the Supersoul, your devotion will become very steady. On the strength of that devotion you will be able to cut the tight knot of ignorance in the form of the false conceptions of ‘I’ and ‘mine’.

मनु बले ध्रुव तुमि धृत सर्व-शक्ति
प्रत्यक् आनन्द-रूप कृष्णे कर भक्ति

manu bale dhruva tumi dhṛta sarva-śakti
pratyak ānanda-rūpa kṛṣṇe kara bhakti

आमि-मम-रूप-विद्या-ग्रन्थि दृढतम
छेदन करिते क्रमे हैबे सक्षम

āmi-mama-rūpa-vidyā-granthi dṛḍhatama
chedana karite krame haibe sakṣama

Commentary: Bhajana-rahasya-vṛtti:

A sādhaka experiences his own transcendental form (svarūpa ) by cultivating pure devotional service, which is unobstructed and not personally motivated. Upon realising his svarūpa, he very easily cuts the knot of ignorance by which he identifies the material body as ‘I’ and material objects as ‘mine’. When the living entity transcends the three modes (sattva, rajas and tamas), he is able to experience bhagavad-rasa, which is endowed with all potencies. This takes place by the influence of association with devotees. Since he is self-realised, he searches for the Supreme Lord, who is beyond the material modes, who is the non-dual Absolute Truth endowed with all transcendental qualities, and who is infallible. By cultivating bhakti in this way, he gradually becomes eternally situated in his own svarūpa.