Verse 2.10.245

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 2.10.245:

তুমি যত কহিলে, সকল সত্য হয ভক্তি বিনা আমা’ দেখিলে ও কিছু নয ॥ ২৪৫ ॥

तुमि यत कहिले, सकल सत्य हय भक्ति विना आमा’ देखिले ओ किछु नय ॥ २४५ ॥

tumi yata kahile, sakala satya haya bhakti vinā āmā’ dekhile o kichu naya || 245 ||

tumi yata kahile, sakala satya haya bhakti vina ama’ dekhile o kichu naya (245)

English translation:

(245) “Whatever you have said is indeed true, for one cannot achieve perfection without devotional service, even if he sees Me face to face.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

Śrī Gaurasundara said, “O Mukunda, it is the supreme truth that if one wants to see Me without devotional service, he will not see Me.” As stated:

ataḥśrī-kṛṣṇa-namadi, na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ sevonmukhe hi jihvādau, svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ

“No one can understand the transcendental nature of the name, form, quality and pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa through his materially contaminated senses. Only when one becomes spiritually saturated by transcendental service to the Lord are the transcendental name, form, quality and pastimes of the Lord revealed to him.” If one is not inclined towards the service of the Lord, then instead of serving the object of service one ends up serving unservable objects. It is stated [in Hari-nāma-cintāmaṇi]: nāmākṣara bāhirāya baṭe, tabu nāma kabhu naya—“One may vibrate the sound of the holy names, but it may not actually be the holy names.” The holy names and the Supreme Lord are nondifferent. Those who lack knowledge of the relationship between the servant and the object of service cannot cross the four objectives of life—religiosity, economic development, sense gratification and liberation—and reach the platform of love of Kṛṣṇa. As stated in the Padma Purāṇa, Uttara-khaṇḍa, Chapter Fifty:

cakṣur vinā yathā dīpaṃ yathā darpaṇam eva ca samīpasthaṃ na paśyanti tathā viṣṇuṃ bahir mukhāḥ

“As a blind person cannot see anything, even with the help of a lamp or a mirror, persons who are averse to Lord Viṣṇu cannot see Him even if He stands before them.”