Verse Text
prathame—
tyaktvā svadharmaṁ caraṇāmbujam harer
bhajann apakvo ’tha patet tato yadi |
yatra kva vābhadram abhūd amuṣya kiṁ
ko vārtha āpto ’bhajatāṁ sva-dharmataḥ ||66||
Translation
In the First Canto it is said: If someone gives up his occupational duties and works in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and then falls down on account of not completing his work, what loss is there on his part? Moreover, what can one gain if one performs his occupational duties perfectly but does not worship the Lord. SB 1.5.17
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
What misfortune can there be for a person who has begun bhakti, even if (yatra) he was born in a low family? Vā has the sense of api tu (even, yet). There is no loss at all if he does not complete bhakti because the impressions of bhakti continue unbroken in future lives. What value is attained from following prescribed duties by those who do not worship the Lord (abhajatām)? Nothing at all.
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
This statement is supported in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, First Canto, Fifth Chapter, verse 17, wherein Śrī Nārada Muni advises Vyāsadeva thus: “Even if one does not execute his specific occupational duty, but immediately takes direct shelter of the lotus feet of Hari [Kṛṣṇa], there will be no fault on his part, and in all circumstances his position is secure. Even if, by some bad association, he falls down while executing devotional service, or if he doesn’t finish the complete course of devotional service and dies untimely, still he is not at a loss. A person who is simply discharging his occupational duty in varṇa and āśrama, however, with no Kṛṣṇa consciousness, practically does not gain the true benefit of human life.” The purport is that all conditioned souls who are engaged very frantically in activities for sense gratification, without knowing that this process will never help them get out of material contamination, are awarded only with repeated births and deaths.
In the Fifth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is clearly stated by Ṛṣabhadeva to His sons, “Persons engaged in fruitive activities are repeatedly accepting birth and death, and until they develop a loving feeling for Vāsudeva, there will be no question of getting out from these stringent laws of material nature.” As such, any person who is very seriously engaged in his occupational duties in the varṇas and āśramas, and who does not develop love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva, should be understood to be simply spoiling his human form of life.