Verse 2.2.203

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.2.203:

तद्-भक्ति-रसिकानां तु महतां तत्त्व-वेदिनाम् ।
साध्या तच्-चरणाम्भोज-मकरन्दात्मिकैव सा ॥ २०३ ॥

tad-bhakti-rasikānāṃ tu mahatāṃ tattva-vedinām |
sādhyā tac-caraṇāmbhoja-makarandātmikaiva sā || 203 ||

tat–to Him; bhakti–of devotional service; rasikānām–for those expert in tasting the mellow; tu–but; mahatām–great souls; tattvavedinām–who know the truth; sādhyā–the objective; tat-caraṇaambhoja–of His lotus feet; makaranda–of the honey; ātmikā–embodiment; eva–certainly; sā–she (devotion).

Understand that for those exalted souls who know the truth and who relish the mellows of pure devotional service, the bhakti they practice–that nectar of serving Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet–is itself the goal.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

Śrī Gopa-kumāra might question, “Although liberation is considered the foremost achievement of human life, pure devotional service is said to be even more beneficial. So isn’t bhakti the goal rather than the means to attain it?”

The personified bhakti-śāstras reply, “Truly, bhakti is both the goal as well as the means. Loving devotion for the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa is both a practice and an objective of those great personalities who are bhakti-rasika, or connoisseurs of the mellows of devotion.”

Gopa-kumāra might say, “Is it not true that viewing the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa is celebrated as the entire fruit of bhakti?”

The bhakti-śāstras say, “Know that goal, bhakti, to be identical in nature to the honey emanating from the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. In other words, it is like supreme bliss that is the essence of sweetness, fragrant, cooling, and full of rasa.

“The purport is that one obtains more happiness in that wonderful process of serving Śrī Bhagavān than in directly meeting with Him. Understand this to be the ultimate result of bhakti.” This will be thoroughly explained in the future.

“There are many people who have realized impersonal Brahman. They are self-satisfied (ātmā-rāma), liberated even in this world (jīvan-mukta), and perfected beings (siddha-jana). However, all of them think that achieving freedom from distress is the goal of life. Devotees of Bhagavān, on the other hand, may not go to Vaikuṇṭha–they may have bodies made of the five material elements–but, continuously enjoying the essence of happiness, they obtain the mercy of Bhagavān.”