Verse 2.4.225

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.4.225:

अतोऽन्यान्य् अतितुच्छानि सर्व-काम-फलानि हि ।
मुक्तिश् च सुलभान्य् अस्मात् तद्-भक्तिर् न तु तादृशी ॥ २२५ ॥

ato'nyāny atitucchāni sarva-kāma-phalāni hi |
muktiś ca sulabhāny asmāt tad-bhaktir na tu tādṛśī || 225 ||

ataḥ–then; anyāni–other; ati-tucchāni–very insignificant; sarvakāma–awarding all desires; phalāni–the fruits; hi–indeed; muktiḥ–liberation; ca–also; su-labhāni–easily attained; asmāt–as compared to that; tat-bhaktiḥ–His devotional service; na–not; tu–certainly; tādṛśī–in the same way.

Therefore, Śrī Bhagavān easily gives all other types of insignificant fruitive results and liberation as well, but He does not readily give His pure devotional service.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

Śrī Nārada says, “Other than darśana of the Lord, all other results of worshiping Śrī Bhagavān are totally insignificant. Bhakti, pure loving devotion, is the primary result of such worship. Bhagavān easily gives other results, even up to insignificant mukti, but He does not easily grant bhakti that has the quality of prema, pure love. Therefore, prema-bhakti for Śrī Kṛṣṇa is considered even more rare to attain than liberation.”

In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (5.6.18), Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī states:

राजन् पतिर् गुरुर् अलं भवतां यदूनां दैवं प्रियः कुल-पतिः क्व च किङ्करो वः
अस्त्व् एवम् अङ्ग भजतां भगवान् मुकुन्दो मुक्तिं ददाति कर्हिचित् स्म न भक्ति-योगम्

rājan patir gurur alaṃ bhavatāṃ yadūnāṃ daivaṃ priyaḥ kula-patiḥ kva ca kiṅkaro vaḥ
astv evam aṅga bhajatāṃ bhagavān mukundo muktiṃ dadāti karhicit sma na bhakti-yogam

O King, Bhagavān Mukunda is the guardian, guru, worshipable Lord, well-wisher, and master of both your dynasty and that of the Yādavas. Even so, sometimes He acts like your servant, carrying messages for you. Śrī Bhagavān behaves intimately like this with you, but to others who worship Him, He generally bestows liberation; He does not easily give His devotional service.

The purport is that Śukadeva Gosvāmī is saying, “O King, O Parīkṣit, for you and the Yādavas, Bhagavān Mukunda acts as the master and guardian, the guru and counselor, the Lord and Deity, the beloved and close friend, the patriarch and governor. What is more, sometimes He is even your messenger and follows your orders like a servant. O dear friend, to others who worship Him, He only grants liberation, what to speak of being all these things; He never easily gives bhakti-yoga to anyone.”

The reason is that He is Mukunda–He who bestows mukuṃ, ‘the happiness of liberation.’ Another reading is that mu means mukti (liberation) and kuṃ means bhukti (sense gratification). He also bestows sense enjoyment. However, He never easily gives prema-bhakti to anyone.

Śrī Nārada continues, “He is Bhagavān Parameśvara, the Supreme Person, and therefore He is wholly independent. However, when He bestows prema-bhakti, He comes under the control of His loving devotees and becomes completely dependent. Being the crest jewel of the all-omniscient souls, He does not see fit to bestow His prema-bhakti on unqualified persons who are unaware of prema-rasa, the mellows of love.” The reason for this will be discussed in detail further ahead.