Verse Text
yatha caikādaśe—
tāvat karmāṇi kurvīta na nirvidyeta yāvatā |
mat-kathā-śravaṇādau vā śraddhā yāvan na jāyate ||247||
Translation
In the Eleventh Canto it is explained: One should continue to perform the daily and periodic varṇāśrama activities until one actually becomes detached from material sense gratification and develops faith for hearing and chanting about Me. SB 11.20.9
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The commentary says karmāṇi means daily and periodic duties of varṇāśrama. The scriptures say:
śruti-smṛtī mamaivājṣe yas te ullaṅghya vartate |
ājṣā-cchedī mama dveṣī mad-bhakto’pi na vaiṣṇavaḥ ||
Whoever disregards the śruti and smṛti scriptures that are mine and breaks the rules is a breaker of My order, a hater of Me. Even if he is My devotee he is not a Vaiṣṇava.
However, this does not apply to the devotee because the devotee is following another order. He breaks the first order, to perform varṇāśrama, only because he is following another order of the Lord which is based on detachment from material enjoyment and faith in bhakti.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
This verse explains the circumstances in which the performance of varṇāśrama is applicable. Because one should perform varṇāśrama duties until one reaches detachment from enjoyment and develops faith in bhakti, directions are given to engage in varṇāśrama.
The verse spoken by Parāśara thus means that because Viṣṇu is worshipped by a person who follows varṇāśrama duties, that path and no other is satisfying to Viṣṇu (This, of course, refers to a person with no faith in bhakti). But Parāśara also says:
sā hānis tan mahac chidraṁ sa mohaḥ sa ca vibhramaḥ |
yan muhūrtaṁ kṣaṇaṁ vāpi vāsudevaṁ na kīrtayet ||
If even for a moment the remembrance of Vāsudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is missed, it is the greatest loss. It is the greatest fault, the greatest illusion, and the greatest anomaly. Viṣṇu-dharma 1.16
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
In the Eleventh Canto, Twentieth Chapter, verse 9, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the Lord Himself says, “One should execute the prescribed duties of varṇa and āśrama as long as he has not developed spontaneous attachment for hearing about My pastimes and activities.” In other words, the prescribed forms of varṇa and āśrama are ritualistic ceremonies of religion intended for economic development, sense gratification or salvation. All of these things are recommended for persons who have not developed Kṛṣṇa consciousness; in fact, all such activities are recommended in the revealed scriptures only to bring one to the point of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But one who has already developed spontaneous attachment for Kṛṣṇa does not require to execute the duties prescribed in the scriptures.