Verse 2.2.202

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.2.202:

कृष्ण-भक्त्यैव साधुत्वं साधनं परमं हि सा ।
तया साध्यं तद्-अङ्घ्र्य्-अब्ज-युगलं परमं फलम् ॥ २०२ ॥

kṛṣṇa-bhaktyaiva sādhutvaṃ sādhanaṃ paramaṃ hi sā |
tayā sādhyaṃ tad-aṅghry-abja-yugalaṃ paramaṃ phalam || 202 ||

kṛṣṇa-bhaktyā–through devotion to Śrī Kṛṣṇa; eva–indeed; sādhutvam–saintly quality; sādhanam–means; paramam–supreme; hi–certainly; sā–she (bhakti); tayā–by her; sādhyam–attainment; tat-aṅghri-abja–His lotus feet; yugalam–pair; paramam–supreme; phalam–reward.

Devotion unto the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the primary characteristic of saintliness, and one becomes saintly by this kṛṣṇa-bhakti alone. Such devotion is the foremost means to attain the service of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet, and such attainment is, in turn, the ultimate fruit of bhakti.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

Śrī Gopa-kumāra might ask, “Can those who observe their ritualistic religious duties or those who cultivate empirical knowledge (jñāna) not also be regarded as saintly?”

To refute this, the bhakti-śāstras explain, “Only by serving Śrī Kṛṣṇa with pure love (kṛṣṇa-bhakti) can one attain saintliness. Without devotion for Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the righteousness accrued by performing activities such as regulated religious duties is to be regarded as inferior, or gauṇa. Other than devotion for Śrī Kṛṣṇa, no other quality can be regarded as saintly.

“In the story of Śrī Ambarīṣa Mahārāja (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 9.4.63), Śrī Bhagavān says to Śrī Durvāsā, ‘ahaṃ bhakta-parādhīno hy asvatantra iva dvija–I am controlled by My devotees and have no independence in their presence.’ The Lord concludes by saying that saintly persons control His heart. He says (9.4.68), ‘sādhavo hṛdayaṃ mahyaṃ sādhūnāṃ hṛdayaṃ tv aham–Sādhus are My heart, and I am the heart of the sādhus.’ Since loving service to the Lord is the best means to attain His lotus feet, with these words, Śrī Bhagavān has personally established the saintliness of His devotees.

“Although in the beginning stage of bhakti, fruitive activities (karma), speculative knowledge (jñāna), renunciation (vairāgya), etc. are sometimes counted as limbs of pure devotional service, one should still understand that processes such as karma and jñāna are subsidiary, or gauṇa, and bhakti alone is primary, or mukhya. Therefore bhakti is the supreme spiritual practice. The goal of this topmost spiritual practice is the service of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet. This is the ultimate, or parama, result.” Alternatively, the word parama indicates that when bhakti and liberation are compared, the very nature of pure loving devotion is superior to the experience of Brahman.