Verse Text
yathā tatraiva—
yat karmabhir yat tapasā jṣāna-vairāgyataś ca yat |
yogena dāna dharmeṇa śreyobhir itarair api ||252||
sarvaṁ mad-bhakti-yogena mad-bhakto labhate ’njasā |
svargāpavargaṁ mad-dhāma kathaṣcid yadi vāṣchati ||253||
Translation
Thus, it is said in Bhāgavatam: 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 (for service), he easily achieves such benedictions. SB 11.20.32-33
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Itaraiḥ śreyobhiḥ (by other processes that aim at the highest goal) means “by bhakti mixed with desires for sālokya etc.” Kathaṣcid yadi vāṣchati means “if a person desires things which are useful for serving in devotion.” Examples are Citraketu enjoying in his airplane given by the Lord, Śukadeva desiring to reject māyā and Prahlāda desiring to live near the Lord.
Thus, it is said in the Sixth Canto reme vidyādhara-strībhir gāpayan harim īśvaram: Citraketu enjoyed life with the women of Vidyādhara-loka by chanting the glories of the Supreme Lord, Hari. (SB 6.17.3)
In the Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa Śukadeva prays to the Lord:
tvaṁ brūhi mādhava jagan-nigaḍopameyā
māyākhilasya na vilaṅghyatamā tvadīyā |
badhnāti māṁ na yadi garbham imaṁ vihāya
tad yāmi samprati muhuḥ pratibhūs tvam atra ||
O Mādhava, Your māyā, like chains binding the whole universe, is most difficult to overcome by all beings. If that māyā will not bind me, I will give up this womb and enter the world right now. You are the constant assurance for this. Please tell me.
In the Seventh Canto Prahlāda says:
trasto ’smy ahaṁ kṛpaṇa-vatsala duḥsahogra-
saṁsāra-cakra-kadanād grasatāṁ praṇītaḥ |
baddhaḥ sva-karmabhir uśattama te ’ṅghri-mūlaṁ
prīto ’pavarga-śaraṇaṁ hvayase kadā nu ||
O most desirable object, who are kind to the fallen souls, I have been put into the association of demons as a result of my activities, and therefore I am very much afraid of my condition of life within this material world. When will that moment come when You will call me to the shelter of Your lotus feet, which are the ultimate goal for liberation from conditional life? SB 7.9.16
I am afraid of the terrible suffering (kadanād) of the wheel of saṁsāra, because it is difficult to endure. I have been thrown (praṇītaḥ) to the devouring demons. O most desirable object (uśattama), being pleased with me, when will You call me to the eternal position at Your lotus feet (te aṅghri-mūlam), to Vaikuṇṭha?
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
In the Eleventh Canto, Twentieth Chapter, verses 32 and 33, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam the Lord further instructs Uddhava, “My dear friend, the profits derived from fruitive activities, austerities, the culture of philosophical knowledge, renunciation, the practice of mystic yoga, charity and all similar auspicious activities are automatically achieved by My devotees—those who are simply attached to Me by loving service. These devotees have everything at their disposal, but they desire nothing outside of My devotional service. If ever a devotee should desire some material profit, like promotion to the heavenly planets, or some spiritual profit—to go to the Vaikuṇṭhas—by My causeless mercy his desires are very easily fulfilled.”