Verse Text
yathā ekādaśe —
te nādhīta-śruti-gaṇā nopāsita-mahattamāḥ |
avratātapta-tapasaḥ mat-saṅgān mām upāgatāḥ ||10||
Translation
In the Eleventh Canto, prema arising from the Lord’s mercy (in this case, association) is illustrated as follows: The persons I have mentioned did not undergo serious studies of the Vedic literature, nor did they worship great saintly persons, nor did they execute severe vows or austerities. Simply by association with My devotees and Me, they achieved Me. SB 11.12.7
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
The persons who achieved the Lord and who are mentioned here are Bali and others (mentioned in the previous verse of the Bhāgavatam.) They did not study the Vedas (na adhīta-śruti-gaṇā) in order to attain Me. They did not worship the great masters (mahattamāḥ) in order to learn the Vedas. Mat-saṅgāt (which can mean “from association with my devotees or association with Me”) in this case, means, “Attaining prema from association with Me principally, among all the types of association that one may attain.” They then attained Me. Though the Lord is in an independent position, out of humility, He counts Himself among the devotees. That is why it is expressed in this way. Thus, the verse may be quoted to show that one can achieve prema from the mercy of the Lord.
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
An example of such extraordinary mercy is given in the Eleventh Canto, Twelfth Chapter, verse 7, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, wherein Lord Kṛṣṇa tells Uddhava, “The gopīs in Vṛndāvana did not study the Vedas to achieve Me. Nor had they ever been in holy places of pilgrimage. Nor did they devoutly execute any regulative principle. Nor did they undergo any kind of austerity. It is simply by My association that they have attained the highest perfection of devotional service.”
From the example of Candrakānti as found in the Padma Purāṇa and from the example of the gopīs as found in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it appears that a devotee who always thinks of Kṛṣṇa and who always chants His glories in ecstatic love, regardless of his condition, will attain the highest perfection of unalloyed devotional love due to Lord Kṛṣṇa’s extraordinary mercy. This is confirmed in Nārada-paṣcarātra: “If a person worships, adores and loves Hari, the Supreme Lord, he should be understood to have finished all kinds of austerities, penances and similar processes for self-realization. On the other hand, if after undergoing all types of austerities, penances and mystic yoga practices one does not develop such love for Hari, then all his performances are to be considered a useless waste of time. If someone always sees Kṛṣṇa inside and out, then it is to be understood that he has surpassed all austerities and penances for self-realization. And if, after executing all kinds of penances and austerities, one cannot always see Kṛṣṇa inside and out, then he has executed his performances uselessly.”