Verse 2.2.171

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.2.171:

निर्वक्तुं भक्ति-माहात्म्यं कथ्यतेऽस्यापि तत् क्वचित् ।
न तु साध्य-फलत्वेन सुख-गन्धोऽपि नास्ति यत् ॥ १७१ ॥

nirvaktuṃ bhakti-māhātmyaṃ kathyate'syāpi tat kvacit |
na tu sādhya-phalatvena sukha-gandho'pi nāsti yat || 171 ||

nirvaktum–to articulate; bhakti–of devotion; māhātmyam–the glory; kathyate–it is spoken of; asya–of it (mukti); api–also; tat–that; kvacit–somewhere; na–not; tu–but; sādhya-phalatvena–in terms of the ultimate result; sukha–of happiness; gandhaḥ–a slight trace; api–even; na asti–there is not; yat–which.

In the course of describing the glories of bhakti, we have also sometimes praised liberation. But this is not to indicate that liberation is the ultimate attainment, for there is not even a scent of real happiness in it.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

Gopa-kumāra might ask, “Why, then, have you glorified liberation in certain places?”

In reply, the bhakti-śāstras speak this verse beginning with nirvaktum. They say, “When describing the glories of bhakti, it is also necessary to discuss something of the glories of liberation. For example, we say, ‘Bhakti, or loving devotional service to the Lord, is the most exalted reality and is billions and billions of times more joyful than mokṣa.’ In this way, we have described the bliss of liberation while explaining bhakti, and the happiness of mokṣa is used to demonstrate the comparatively greater glories of the happiness of bhakti.

“However, in reality, from the standpoint of essential truth, or tattva-vicāra, there is not even a trace of happiness in liberation. Only salvationists (mumukṣus) feel that there is happiness to be had in it, and thus, our depiction of happiness in liberation is valid only from the point of view of these adherents. Therefore, because it does not even have a scent of real happiness, liberation has not been described as equal to bhakti in being the desired goal, or fruit of attainment.”