Devanagari
कथं विना रोमहर्षं द्रवता चेतसा विना ।
विनानन्दाश्रुकलया शुध्येद् भक्त्या विनाशय: ॥ २३ ॥
Verse text
kathaṁ vinā roma-harṣaṁ
dravatā cetasā vinā
vinānandāśru-kalayā
śudhyed bhaktyā vināśayaḥ
Synonyms
katham
—
how
;
vinā
—
without
;
roma
—
harṣam — standing of the hairs on end
;
dravatā
—
melted
;
cetasā
—
heart
;
vinā
—
without
;
vinā
—
without
;
ānanda
—
of bliss
;
aśru
—
kalayā — the flowing of tears
;
śudhyet
—
can be purified
;
bhaktyā
—
loving service
;
vinā
—
without
;
āśayaḥ
—
the consciousness .
Translation
If one’s hairs do not stand on end, how can the heart melt? And if the heart does not melt, how can tears of love flow from the eyes? If one does not cry in spiritual happiness, how can one render loving service to the Lord? And without such service, how can the consciousness be purified?
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Without bhakti how can the heart melt? Without melting of the heart, how can one’ṣ hairs stand on end and tears come to the eyes? Without hair standing on end and tears in the eyes how can the consciousness become purified?
Bhakti purifies the antaḥkaraṇa completely, whereas other processes do not. That bhakti is understood by the presence of symptoms like hair standing on end. The heart melts by bhakti. Without that melting of the heart caused by bhakti, how can one’s hairs stand on end and how can one have tears in the eyes, using some other process? Without hairs standing on end and tears in the eyes, how can the heart become purified? The Kali-yuga avatāra has said:
śrutam apy aupaniṣadaṁ dūre hari-kathāmṛtāt |
yan na santi dravac-citta-kampāśru-pulakādayaḥ ||
Though one has heard the Upaniṣads, if one has not heart the sweet topics of the Lord, melting of the heart, tears and hairs standing on end will not take place. Padyāvalī 39
Thus, niṣkāma-karma, yoga and other processes purify the heart to some degree according to many scriptural proofs. However, direct realization of the Lord will not occur because of the presence of some contamination after practicing those processes. Prema-bhakti burns up that contamination, but the fire of jṣāna does not.
Purport
Loving service to the Lord is the only process that can completely purify one’s consciousness; such service produces waves of ecstatic love that completely cleanse the soul. As mentioned earlier by Lord Kṛṣṇa to Śrī Uddhava, other processes such as self-control, pious activities, mystic
yoga,
penances, etc., certainly purify the mind, as stated in many authorized literatures. Such processes, however, do not completely remove the desire to perform forbidden activities. But pure devotional service rendered in love of Godhead is so powerful that it burns to ashes any obstacle encountered on the path of progress. The Lord has stated in this chapter that loving service to Him is a blazing fire that burns to ashes all impediments. In contrast, the small fires of mental speculation or mystic
yoga
can be extinguished by sinful desires at any moment. Thus, by hearing
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
one should ignite the blazing fire of loving service to the Lord and burn to ashes the network of material illusion.