Verse 2.23.54

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 2.23.54:

প্রভু বলে `তপঃ’ করি’ না করহ বল বিষ্ণু-ভক্তি সর্ব-শ্রেষ্ঠ জানহ কেবল ॥ ৫৪ ॥

प्रभु बले `तपः’ करि’ ना करह बल विष्णु-भक्ति सर्व-श्रेष्ठ जानह केवल ॥ ५४ ॥

prabhu bale `tapaḥ’ kari’ nā karaha bala viṣṇu-bhakti sarva-śreṣṭha jānaha kevala || 54 ||

prabhu bale `tapah’ kari’ na karaha bala visnu-bhakti sarva-srestha janaha kevala (54)

English translation:

(54) The Lord then told him that he shouldn’t be proud of his austerity, and he should know for certain that devotional service to the Supreme Lord is supreme.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

Refer to the previously quoted Śrīmad Bhāgavatam verses (11.12.1-8).

Also, in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.23.42-43) it is stated:

nāsāṃ dvijāti-saṃskāro na nivāso gurāv api

na tapo nātma-mīmāṃsā na śaucaṃ na kriyāḥśubhāḥ

tathāpi hy uttamaḥ-śloke kṛṣṇe yogeśvareśvare bhaktir dṛḍhā na cāsmākaṃ saṃskārādimatām api

“These women have never undergone the purificatory rites of the twice- born classes, nor have they lived as brahmacārīs in the āśrama of a spiritual master, nor have they executed austerities, speculated on the nature of the self, followed the formalities of cleanliness or engaged in pious rituals. Nevertheless, they have firm devotion for Lord Kṛṣṇa, whose glories are chanted by the exalted hymns of the Vedas and who is the supreme master of all masters of mystic power. We, on the other hand, have no such devotion for the Lord, although we have executed all these processes.” In the Padma Purāṇa it is stated:

mahā-kula-prasūto ‘pi sarva-yajñeṣu dīkṣitaḥ sahasra-śākhādhyāyī ca na guruḥ syād avaiṣṇavaḥ

“A non-Vaiṣṇava is never fit to be guru even if he has taken birth in a great family, performed all sacrifices, and studied many branches of the Vedas.” In the Nārada-pañcarātra it is stated:

ārādhito yadi haris tapasā tataḥ kiṃna rādhito yadi haris tapasā tataḥ kim

antar bahir yadi haris tapasā tataḥ kiṃ nāntar bahir yadi haris tapasā tataḥ kim

“If one is worshiping Lord Hari, what is the use of performing extraneous penances? And if one is not worshiping Lord Hari, no such penances will save one. If one can understand that Lord Hari is all-pervading, within and without, what is the need of performing penances? And if one is not able to understand that Hari is all-pervading, all his penances are useless.” In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (11.20.31) it is stated:

na jñānaṃ na ca vairāgyaṃ prāyaḥśreyo bhaved iha

“The cultivation of knowledge and renunciation is generally not the means of achieving the highest perfection within this world.” In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.81.19) it is stated:

sarvāsām api siddhīnāṃ mūlaṃ tac-caraṇārcanam

“Devotional service to His lotus feet is the root cause of all perfection.” In the Padma Purāṇa it is stated:

ārādhanānāṃ sarveṣāṃ viṣṇor ārādhanaṃ param tasmāt parataraṃ devi tadīyānāṃ samarcanam

“O Devī, the most exalted system of worship is the worship of Lord Viṣṇu. Greater than that is the worship of tadīya, or anything belonging to Viṣṇu.”