Verse 2.3.138

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.3.138:

न ह्य् अन्य-कर्म-वद् भक्तिर् अपि कर्मेति मन्यताम् ।
बहिर्-दृष्ट्यैव जल्प्येत भक्त-देहादिवत् क्वचित् ॥ १३८ ॥

na hy anya-karma-vad bhaktir api karmeti manyatām |
bahir-dṛṣṭyaiva jalpyeta bhakta-dehādivat kvacit || 138 ||

na–not; hi–certainly; anya-karma-vat–like other activities; bhaktiḥ–devotional service; api–also; karma–action; iti–thus; manyatām–for those who think; bahiḥ dṛṣṭyā–by external vision; eva–indeed; jalpyeta–it may be said; bhakta–of a devotee; deha-ādi-vat–like the body and so forth; kvacit–sometimes.

Some people think that devotion to the Lord is also a karmic activity like performing one’s prescribed occupational duties, but this can never be so. This is an external conception, not based on the underlying truth of bhakti. Although the term deha is used to refer both to the bodies of devotees who reside in Vaikuṇṭha and to bodies made of five material elements, nevertheless the first usage is transcendental and the second is material. Similarly, although bhakti is independent of karma, nevertheless, due to an external perspective, it is sometimes regarded as karma.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

Śrī Gopa-kumāra might say, “The execution of one’s prescribed occupational duties, or sva-dharma, is mundane karmic activity. Similarly, can we not say that bhakti is also a particular type of karma?”

The Vaikuṇṭha pārṣadas reply, “Devotional service performed with intimate feelings for Bhagavān can never be a fruitive or mundane activity like the execution of one’s prescribed occupational duties. This is because intimate and confidential service is not at all an activity of the material senses. Even if it appears to be a mundane activity from an external perspective, factually it is not.” When the term bhaktikarma, meaning ‘devotional activities,’ is used, some people take it to be material. Bhakti, however, is not an activity of the mundane senses. Thus, in two verses, beginning here with na hi, the Vaikuṇṭha associates quote conclusive truth, or siddhānta, to refute the claim that bhakti is indeed karma.

Gopa-kumāra might posit, “Devotional service to Bhagavān is the best of all virtuous activities meant for cleansing the consciousness.” This is the opinion of those who are adherents of the philosophy known as mīmāṃsā (also, known as karma-mīmāṃsā).

The Vaikuṇṭha pārṣadas speak the line beginning with bahiḥ to refute this opinion. They say, “Occasionally, bhakti is called karma and assumed to be material activity. However, this is only from an external perspective; it is not based on actual truth (tattva-vicāra). There is an example in this regard. Just as the word deha, meaning ‘body,’ is used for the sac-cid-ānanda forms of the devotees residing in Vaikuṇṭha, similarly, the term karma is sometimes applied to bhakti, although it is different from the fruitive activities known as karma.

“Here the word deha has been used both for a body comprised of eternity, knowledge, and bliss and for a body comprised of the five material elements. Similarly, the word maṇi, meaning ‘jewel,’ can refer to both the spiritual wish-fulfilling gem cintāmaṇi and a jewel made of glass. Also, the word sattva indicates existence consisting of the three modes of material nature and also śuddha-sattva, the nature of Parabrahman, who is the support of entire existence and the basis of the qualities of saintly persons.”

In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.35), Śrī Brahmā states:

सत्त्वं न चेद् धातर् इदं निजं भवेद्
विज्ञानम् अज्ञान-भिदापमार्जनम्

sattvaṃ na ced dhātar idaṃ nijaṃ bhaved
vijñānam ajñāna-bhidāpamārjanam

O Lord, there would have been no means of overcoming ignorance if You had not manifested Your transcendental form (sattva-vapu).

The Vaikuṇṭha pārṣadas continue, “In the same way, one who sees with only an external perspective will see as karma both types of action: mundane activities–such as the execution of one’s prescribed occupational duties (sva-dharma)–and the intimate service (paricaryā) of the Lord.”