Sūtra 3.4.35

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of Sūtra 3.4.35:

अनभिभवं च दर्शयति

anabhibhavaṃ ca darśayati

anabhibhavam – not defeated; ca – and; darśayati – reveals.

“It reveals that he is not defeated.” (35)

Sūtra pagination:
Adhyāya 3:
  Devotional Service;
Pāda 4:
  Transcendental Knowledge is Independent of Vedic Rituals;
Adhikaraṇa 8:
  The Pariniṣṭhita Devotee may Renounce Ordinary Duties.

Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa’s commentary (Govinda-bhāṣya)

In Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad [4.4.23] it is said:

सर्वं पाप्मानं तरति. नैव पाप्मा तरति. सर्वं पाप्मानं तपति. नैव पाप्मा तपति.

sarvaṃ pāpmānaṃ tarati. naiva pāpmā tarati. sarvaṃ pāpmānaṃ tapati. naiva pāpmā tapati.

“He defeats all sins. Sins do not defeat him. He burns away all sins. Sins do not burn him.”

If, absorbed in chanting the glories of the Supreme Lord, a pariniṣṭhita devotee neglects his varṇāśrama duties, that neglect is not a sin on his part. That is why the sūtra declares, “It reveals that he is not defeated.” The meaning here is that it is right for a devotee to neglect the duties of varṇāśrama-dharma in favor of the duties of devotional service to the Supreme Lord.

In Viṣṇu Purāṇa 3.8.9 [quoted at the end of the purport to Sūtra 3.4.2] it is the devotee’s worship, not his performance of varṇāśrama duties, that satisfies the Lord.

In a preceding passage of Viṣṇu Purāṇa [2.13.9-11] are these words of King Bharata, who had faith in devotional service alone:

यज्ञेशाच्युत गोविन्द
माधवानन्त केशव
कृष्ण विष्णो हृषीकेशेत्य्
आह राजा स केवलम्

yajñeśācyuta govinda
mādhavānanta keśava
kṛṣṇa viṣṇo hṛṣīkeśety
āha rājā sa kevalam

“Again and again King Bharata would chant the Lord’s Holy Names: O Yajñeśa, O Acyuta, O Govinda, O Mādhava, O Ananta. O Keśava, O Kṛṣṇa, O Viṣṇu, O Hṛṣīkeśa!”

नान्यज् जगाद मैत्रेय
किञ्चित् स्वप्नान्तरेष्व् अपि
एतत् परं तद्-अर्थं च
विना नान्यद् अचिन्तयत्

nānyaj jagāda maitreya
kiñcit svapnāntareṣv api
etat paraṃ tad-arthaṃ ca
vinā nānyad acintayat

“O Maitreya, awake or asleep the king would not say anything else. He would not think of anything but the Lord and His service.”

समित्-पुष्प-कुशादानं
चक्रे देव-क्रिया-कृते
नान्यानि चक्रे कर्माणि
निःसङ्गो योग-तापसः

samit-puṣpa-kuśādānaṃ
cakre deva-kriyā-kṛte
nānyāni cakre karmāṇi
niḥsaṅgo yoga-tāpasaḥ

“Practicing austere yoga, he stayed alone. He gathered firewood, flowers, and kuśa grass for the worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He did not perform any other duties or rituals.”

Thus has been shown 1. the way that transcendental knowledge is manifested among they who are within the varṇāśrama institution and 2. the results that knowledge brings to such persons.