Verse 14.26

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 14.26:

मां च योऽव्यभिचारेण भक्ति-योगेन सेवते ।
स गुणान् समतीत्यैतान् ब्रह्म-भूयाय कल्पते ॥ २६ ॥

māṃ ca yo'vyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate |
sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate || 26 ||

mām–Me, the Supreme Lord; ca–only; yaḥ–who; avyabhicāreṇa–with one-pointed; bhakti-yogena–devotional connection; sevate–serves; saḥ–he; guṇān–three qualities; samatītya–fully transcends; etān–these; brahma-bhūyāya–to realize brahma; kalpate–becomes eligible.

One who renders service with one-pointed devotion to Me, in My form as Śyāmasundara, can transcend these three binding influences of material nature and become qualified to realize brahma, My spiritual nature.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

“How can one transcend these three material modes?” In response to this third question, Śrī Bhagavān is speaking this verse beginning with māṃ ca. The word ca means ‘Me alone’. “Only those who render service to Me, Śyāmasundara, who am the Supreme Controller, become brahma-bhūyāya, or qualified to experience My spiritual nature.” This is proven by the use of the adjective ekayā in the statement “bhaktyāham ekayā grāhyaḥ–I am attained only by exclusive devotion” (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.14.21).

According to the Gītā (7.14), “mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṃ taranti te–only those who surrender to Me cross over the deluding external energy.” The word eva also emphasizes that brahma, or Spirit, can only be experienced with the help of bhakti, not by any other means. The import of the word avyabhicāreṇa (undeviating) is that bhakti-yoga should not be mixed with karma, jñāna or any other process. Even niṣkāma-karma is to be given up. “Renounce even jñāna related to Me.” In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.19.1), it is said, “jñānaṃ ca mayi sannyaset–one should surrender knowledge and the means by which he achieved that knowledge to Me.” According to this statement, jñānīs renounce their jñāna, having even cultivated it to its highest degree, but nowhere is it said that bhakti-yoga must be renounced. Only bhakti-yoga is avyabhicāra (undeviating). Therefore, just as karma-yoga should be rejected, jñāna-yoga should also be rejected in order for a person to engage in avyabhicāra, or kevalā-bhakti (exclusive devotion). There is no other means to attain the state beyond the modes. It is also said in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.25.26): “A performer of action who has taken shelter of Me is nirguṇa, situated beyond the modes of nature. In other words, only one-pointed devotees are free from the modes of nature.”

sāttvikaḥ kārako’saṅgī rāgāndho rājasaḥ smṛtaḥ tāmasaḥ
smṛti-vibhraṣṭo nirguṇo mad-apāśrayaḥ

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.25.26)

A person in the mode of goodness is not attached. A person in the mode of passion is extremely attached, and a person in the mode of ignorance loses his memory and can no longer discriminate. But a person who has taken shelter of Me is situated beyond the modes of nature.

This verse (11.25.26) describes the detached karmī and jñānī, who due to being situated in the mode of goodness, are sāttvika sādhakas, while those who have taken shelter of Bhagavān are described as beyond the material modes. From this statement, it is understood that Kṛṣṇa’s devotees are the only real sādhakas.

After becoming perfect in jñāna and renouncing the quality of goodness, a jñānī becomes transcendental to the modes. Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmīpāda says, “The word ca in this verse is used to indicate a conclusion.” Śrī Madhusūdana Sarasvatī writes, “Only those who serve Me, Lord Nārāyaṇa alone, with avyabhicāra-bhakti-yoga as described in the Twelfth Chapter, become transcendental to the modes of nature.”

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

How does the above-mentioned person who is guṇātīta, transcendental to the three modes, cross beyond them? In response to this third question, Śrī Bhagavān says, “As a result of rendering service to Me in My Śyāmasundara form, with undeviating, one-pointed bhakti-yoga, My devotees easily cross over these modes and become qualified to experience My svarūpa.” Only those devotees who have taken shelter of Bhagavān become free from the modes. This is verified in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.25.26): “nirguṇo mad-apāśrayaḥ–those who take exclusive shelter of Me are nirguṇa.” The word mad-apāśrayaḥ means “mad-eka-śaraṇo bhaktaḥ–only a devotee who takes exclusive shelter of Me is āśritaḥ, dependent on Me, and free from the modes.”

It is also seen in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.88.5):

harir hi nirguṇaḥ sākṣāt puruṣaḥ prakṛteḥ paraḥ
sa sarva-dṛg upadraṣṭā taṃ bhajan nirguṇo bhavet

Certainly Śrī Hari Himself is directly the Supreme Person, who is beyond the modes of material nature. He is the witness of everyone. Those who worship Him also transcend the modes of nature.

Here, the word brahma-bhūyāya means ‘to become qualified to realize Spiritual Reality, brahma-tattva’. Brahma cannot be realized by any practice other than bhakti. Realization of this requires eternal distinction between the person experiencing and that which is to be experienced (Parabrahma). In other words, the living entities’ existence is always separate from Bhagavān’s. The monists, or nirviśeṣavādīs, do not accept that the jīva and brahma exist separately after liberation, so it is not possible for them to experience Him. In fact, only devotees are qualified to realize brahma, or Śrī Bhagavān, the Absolute Truth. “Only those who serve Me in My form as Śyāmasundara, the Supreme Lord, in bhakti-yoga, are qualified to realize brahma.” This has been stated very clearly in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.14.21): “bhaktyāham ekayā grāhyaḥ–I can be attained only by bhakti.” One cannot attain liberation merely by jñāna. It can only be achieved with the help of bhakti, in some way or another.

This has been stated very clearly in many verses in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, such as (1.5.12):

naiṣkarmyam apy acyuta-bhāva-varjitaṃ
na śobhate jñānam alaṃ nirañjanam

This means that even if jñāna is selfless and pure, it is not auspicious if it is bereft of a service attitude to Bhagavān; rather, it is useless. What, then, to speak of fruitive action, which is always miserable and insignificant.

Such jñānīs fall down even after reaching the highest stage of jñāna: sthānād bhraṣṭāḥ patanty adhaḥ (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.5.3). The following verses from the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam can be referred to in this regard: 10.2.32; 11.14.21 and 4.31.12.

Some people translate the word brahma-bhūyāya in the present verse to infer that the living entity becomes one with brahma, the Supreme Spirit. But in fact, the living entity does not become one with brahma even after he has attained liberation. Chandogya Upaniṣad ascribes eight characteristics to one who is realized (brahma-bhūta):

ātmā’pahata-pāpnā vijaro vimṛtyur viśoko vijighatso’pipāsuḥ
satya-kāmaḥ satya-saṅkalpaḥ so’nveṣṭavyaḥ

(1) Apahata-pāpa–he has no relationship with the sinful tendencies of māyā, such as ignorance (avidyā).

(2) Vijara–because he is eternally youthful, he never faces old age.

(3) Vimṛtyu–there is no possibility of him ever becoming degraded.

(4) Viśoka–he is free from mundane happiness, misery, etc.

(5) Vijighatsa–he has no desire to enjoy sense objects.

(6) Apipāsu–he has no desire other than to serve Bhagavān.

(7) Satya-kāma–he is endowed with desires that are favourable for the service of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

(8) Satya-saṅkalpa–he attains perfection in whatever he desires.

According to the statement of Gītā 14.17, sattvāt sañjāyate jñānaṃ, knowledge results from the quality of goodness, and therefore jñānīs are sāttvika. After attaining perfection in jñāna, a jñānī gives up his sāttvika nature and becomes nirguṇa, transcending all modes of nature. But the special quality of the devotees is that even from the beginning of their practice, they are free from the modes.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.29.34) states:

martyo yadā tyakta-samasta-karmā niveditātmā vicikīrṣito me
tadāmṛtatvaṃ pratipadyamāno mayātma-bhūyāya ca kalpate vai

Having given up all types of prescribed duties, a mortal person attains immortality and becomes most dear to Me the very moment he fully surrenders to Me. In this way, he becomes free from the influence of the modes of nature.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura comments on the verses “jñānaṃ viśuddhaṃ paramārtham ekam–the non-dual Absolute Truth, being devoid of material contamination, bestows liberation upon us” (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.12.11), and “martyo yadā tyakta-samasta-karmā–that surrendered mortal, having given up all fruitive desires and offered Me his very life, achieves opulences akin to Mine” (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.29.34). He writes, “From the very beginning of the sādhana stage, when one takes shelter of bhakti to the Supreme Lord, Bhagavān begins His treatment of His surrendered devotees. In other words, He starts to make them nirguṇa.” This means that in his practice of bhakti, a sādhaka will progress systematically through the different stages: niṣṭhā (steadiness in bhakti), ruci (relish of bhakti) and āsakti (deep attachment to bhakti and to the Supreme Lord). Eventually, he achieves rati (transcendental emotion), and becomes completely free from the modes of nature. At that time, he has no relationship with illusory objects, such as his body or a house. “Bhakti’s power is so inconceivable that even while still receiving instruction, the devotee’s transcendental body, mind and senses are created by Me in a way that is hidden, or invisible.” In other words, this process is unknown to the jīva. Similarly, his illusory body, mind and senses are also removed in a way that is imperceptible. This shows the glory of bhakti.

“At that time, after being situated in his own svarūpa in My supreme abode, that pure living entity becomes qualified to taste the bliss of rendering service to Me.”

In many places, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura has confirmed that a devotee becomes free from the modes of nature even in the stage of sādhana. Although objects such as a leaf, flower, fruit, water and sandal-wood paste appear to be material in the eyes of the non-devotees, when the devotees offer these items to Bhagavān with devotion, they attain a transcendental nature and become situated beyond the three modes. How much more is this true of the devotees who fully offer themselves?

This is also confirmed in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā (4.191):

prabhu kahe—vaiṣṇava-deha ‘prākṛta’ kabhu naya
‘aprākṛta’ deha bhaktera ‘cid-ānanda-maya’

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “The body of a bhakta is never material. It is considered to be transcendental, full of spiritual bliss.”*