Bg. 7.1

When will I take shelter of Mahāprabhu’s feet, which are a sweet ocean of mercy, made of eternal bliss? Then, somehow or other, I will attain the nectar of prema through the path of bhakti, which shuns liberation. The seventh chapter describes the powers of Kṛṣṇa, the powers of the Lord who is most worthy of worship. The four types of persons who worship and do not worship Kṛṣṇa are also described. In the first six chapters of the Gītā, jṣāna and aṣṭāṅga-yoga which lead to liberation, and depend upon niṣkāma-karma-yoga which first purifies the heart, have been described. In the middle six chapters, two types of bhakti will be described: that bhakti which yields sālokya and other types of liberation by being either without desire or with desire, because of mixture of karma, jṣāna or other elements; and the main type of bhakti which yields liberation in the form of becoming an associate of the Lord with prema. This type of bhakti is independent of karma, jṣāna or other processes, and, moreover, independently yields all goals such as Svarga and mokṣa without performance of any other process. Though easy to perform for all people, it is most rare. yat karmabhir yat tapasā jṣāna-vairāgyataś ca yat yogena dāna-dharmeṇa śreyobhir itarair api sarvaṁ mad-bhakti-yogena mad-bhakto labhate ’ṣjasā svargāpavargaṁ mad-dhāma kathaṣcid yadi vāṣchati Everything that can be achieved by fruitive activities, penance, knowledge, detachment, mystic yoga, charity, religious duties and all other means of perfecting life is easily achieved by My devotee through loving service unto Me. If somehow or other My devotee desires promotion to heaven, liberation, or residence in My abode, he easily achieves such benedictions. SB 11.20.32-33 “But the śruti says tam eva viditvā ati mṛtyum eti: knowing it, one surpasses death (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.15). How can you then say that without knowledge, just by bhakti, one attains liberation?” This is not a correct conclusion. The meaning of that śruti statement is: knowing Paramātmā (tam), having direct realization of Paramātmā (the word tat refers to Paramātmā, not jīva), one surpasses death. It does not mean “Knowing the individual soul (tvaṁ padārtham), or prakṛti or any existing object at all, one surpasses death.” Just as the cause of tasting sugar is the tongue, not the eye or ear, so the cause of tasting the para-brahman, is bhakti. It is possible to grasp the Brahman which is beyond the guṇas only by the process of bhakti which is also beyond the guṇas, and not by sattvic knowledge of the ātmā being different from the body (ātma-jṣāna). This is understood from the Lord’s statement bhaktyāham ekayā grahyaḥ: I am obtained only by bhakti. (SB 11.14.11) And I will elaborate on this in the commentary on the verse bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yas cāsmi tattvataḥ: I can be known as I am only by bhakti. (BG 18.55) And the accomplishment of liberation through jṣāna and aṣṭāṅga-yoga is brought about only through the influence of bhakti which is a subordinate element within those practices. It is stated in many places in the scriptures that without bhakti, those two processes are insignificant. Moreover, because of the absence of the word eva (only) after viditvā, there is another meaning. This sentence without eva does not indicate that exclusively by knowing Paramātmā, one attains liberation. Rather, knowing Paramātmā or not knowing, one attains liberation. Therefore, one can get liberation by knowledge beyond the guṇas—knowledge of Paramātmā, which arises through bhakti; and sometimes also, one can attain liberation without Paramātmā knowledge arising from bhakti—by bhakti alone. It is just like eating matsyaṇḍika which cannot be tasted, due to malfunction of the tongue. But gradually taste is restored and as well, the sickness is destroyed (one action accomplishes two results). According to Amara Kośa, matsyaṇḍika is a transformation of sugar. [Note: Perhaps the previous sentence is a quotation from some scripture, and thus in the next sentence Viśvanātha explains the meaning of the word matsyaṇḍika.] nanv īśvaro 'nubhajato 'viduṣo 'pi sākṣāc chreyas tanoty agada-rāja ivopayuktaḥ It is true that the Supreme Lord Himself awards His blessings even to an ignorant worshiper, just as the best medicine works even when taken by a person ignorant of its ingredients. SB 10.47.59 In the Mokṣa Dharma, there is a statement made about Nārāyaṇa: yo vai sādhana sampattiḥ puruṣārtha catuṣṭhaye tayā vinā tad āpnoti naro nārāyaṇāśrayaḥ Even without performing actions for attaining the four puruṣārthas (artha, dharma, kāma and mokṣa), the person who surrenders to Nārāyaṇa attains the goal. As quoted above already, Bhāgavatam says: Everything that can be achieved by fruitive activities, penance, knowledge, detachment, mystic yoga, charity, religious duties and all other means of perfecting life is easily achieved by My devotee through loving service unto Me. If somehow or other My devotee desires promotion to heaven, liberation, or residence in My abode, he easily achieves such benedictions. SB 11.20.32-33 yan-nāma sakṛc chravaṇāt pukkaśo ’pi vimucyate saṁsārāt Not to speak of seeing You personally, merely by hearing the holy name of Your Lordship only once, even caṇḍālas, men of the lowest class, are freed from saṁsāra. SB 6.16.44 Thus, according to many such statements in the scriptures, liberation can be attained by bhakti alone. Now, let us return to the verse. “In Your statement at the end of the last chapter (yoginām api sarveṣām), I have understood that You have indicated the unique quality of Your own devotee who absorbs his mind in You (mad gatenāntarātmanā) and has faith in You. But what type of devotee is he? One would expect that he is qualified with knowledge (jṣāna) and realization (vijṣāna).” The Lord then answers in two verses. Realization will occur gradually in proportion to the intensity of the worship. bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra caiṣa trika eka-kālaḥ prapadyamānasya yathāśnataḥ syus tuṣṭiḥ puṣṭiḥ kṣud-apāyo 'nu-ghāsam Devotion, direct experience of the Supreme Lord, and detachment from other things—these three occur simultaneously for one who has taken shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in the same way that pleasure, nourishment and relief from hunger come simultaneously and increasingly, with each bite, for a person engaged in eating. SB 11.2.42 Just as by eating a handful of food one does not attain satisfaction or nourishment but by taking a lot of food one does get satisfaction and nourishment, when you have attained the stage of attachment to Me (mayy āsakta manāḥ) in My form of Śyāmasundara with yellow cloth, you will know Me. Hear how (yathā) you will realize Me clearly. What type of yoga is this? You will gradually attain a relationship with Me (saṁyogam yuṣjan). You will take shelter of Me alone, not karma or jṣāna (mad-āśrayaḥ), since you are My ananya-bhakta. You will be absolutely without doubt about which is better—My impersonal aspect or My personal aspect, as indicated later in chapter 12 with My words: kleśo ’dhikataras teṣām avyaktāsakta-cetasām avyaktā hi gatir duḥkhaṁ dehavadbhir avāpyate Those who are attached to the impersonal aspect endure great difficulties. The impersonal goal gives difficulties for one a body. BG 12.5 Moreover, that Brahman is just an expression of My greatness, as I, in the form of Matsya, say to Satyavrata: madīyaṁ mahimānaṁ ca paraṁ brahmeti śabditam vetsyasy anugṛhītaṁ me sampraśnair vivṛtaṁ hṛdi You will be thoroughly advised and favored by Me, and because of your inquiries, everything about My glories, which are known as paraṁ brahma, will be manifest within your heart. SB 8.24.38 In the Gītā I will later say, brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham: I am the basis of Brahman. Thus, in comparison to knowledge about Me in My personal form, which is complete (samagram), this knowledge of impersonal Brahman is incomplete. Therefore you will know Me completely (samagraṁ mām), without doubt.