Verse Text
api ca—
ananuṣṭhānato doṣo bhakty-aṅgānāṁ prajāyate |
na karmaṇām akaraṇād eṣa bhakty-adhikāriṇām ||63||
niṣiddhācārato daivāt prāyaścittaṁ tu nocitam |
iti vaiṣṇava-śāstrāṇāṁ rahasyaṁ tad-vidāṁ matam ||64||
Translation
And, moreover, it is said: The person qualified for bhakti is at fault for failing to perform all of the important aṅgas of bhakti. But he is not at fault for failing to perform the duties of varṇa and āśrama. If he, by chance, happens to commit some sin, there is no atonement prescribed for him. This is the opinion of those who know the secret of Vaiṣṇava scriptures.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
It is a fault if those qualified for bhakti fail to perform the required aṅgas of bhakti such as observance of Ekādaśī or Janmāṣṭamī. It is not a fault if they do not perform varṇāśrama activities. If they commit forbidden acts because of influence of previous vaiṣṇava-aparādha, atonement is not required, since these pure devotees do not have a natural tendency for sinful actions. Bhakti alone acts as atonement. This is the conclusion of the Vaiṣṇava scriptures.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
It has been established that bhakti should be without other desires (anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam). On a related topic, it has been shown that all humans, regardless of social position, are qualified for this type of bhakti. There may be a doubt about this. “Yes, all people are qualified. However, at the same time, everyone should follow the rules prescribed for them according to varṇāśrama. The scriptures tell us that failure to perform those duties is sinful. If they do not perform their prescribed duties, (and they simply perform bhakti), all people will be engaging in sinful activity. That being the case, how can they become pure, if they are sinful? By doing atonements, will performance of the undone duties be accomplished?”
In response to this doubt, the author then answers with this verse, introducing it with “Moreover….(api ca)” The aṅgas of bhakti here means the essential aṅgas of bhakti. [Note: There is no fault if a person does not perform all the sixty-four aṅgas of bhakti. The essential aṅgas are the first twenty and the last five are: chanting, hearing Bhāgavatam, association with devotees, living in a holy place and deity worship.]
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī warns, however, that if a person is properly initiated by a bona fide spiritual master, he should not think that simply by the acceptance of such initiation his business is then finished. One still has to follow the rules and regulations very carefully. If after accepting the spiritual master and being initiated one does not follow the rules and regulations of devotional service, then he is again fallen. One must be very vigilant to remember that he is the part and parcel of the transcendental body of Kṛṣṇa, and that it is his duty as part and parcel to give service to the whole, or Kṛṣṇa. If we do not render service to Kṛṣṇa then again we fall down. In other words, simply becoming initiated does not elevate one to the position of a high-class brāhmaṇa. One also has to discharge the duties and follow the regulative principles very rigidly.
Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī also says that if one is regularly discharging devotional service, there will be no question of a falldown. But even if circumstantially there is some falldown, the Vaiṣṇava need have nothing to do with the prāyaścitta, the ritualistic ceremony for purification. If someone falls down from the principles of devotional service, he need not take to the prāyaścitta performances for reformation. He simply has to execute the rules and regulations for discharging devotional service, and this is sufficient for his reinstatement. This is the mystery of the Vaiṣṇava (devotional) cult.
Practically there are three processes for elevating one to the platform of spiritual consciousness. These processes are called karma, jṣāna and bhakti. Ritualistic performances are in the field of karma. Speculative processes are in the field of jṣāna. One who has taken to bhakti, the devotional service of the Lord, need have nothing to do with karma or jṣāna. It has been already explained that pure devotional service is without any tinge of karma or jṣāna. Bhakti should have no tinge of philosophical speculation or ritualistic performances.