SB 11.19.21 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

श्रद्धामृतकथायां मे शश्वन्मदनुकीर्तनम् । परिनिष्ठा च पूजायां स्तुतिभि: स्तवनं मम ॥ २० ॥ आदर: परिचर्यायां सर्वाङ्गैरभिवन्दनम् । मद्भ‍क्तपूजाभ्यधिका सर्वभूतेषु मन्मति: ॥ २१ ॥ मदर्थेष्वङ्गचेष्टा च वचसा मद्गुणेरणम् । मय्यर्पणं च मनस: सर्वकामविवर्जनम् ॥ २२ ॥ मदर्थेऽर्थपरित्यागो भोगस्य च सुखस्य च । इष्टं दत्तं हुतं जप्तं मदर्थं यद् व्रतं तप: ॥ २३ ॥ एवं धर्मैर्मनुष्याणामुद्धवात्मनिवेदिनाम् । मयि सञ्जायते भक्ति: कोऽन्योऽर्थोऽस्यावशिष्यते ॥ २४ ॥

Verse text

śraddhāmṛta-kathāyāṁ me śaśvan mad-anukīrtanam pariniṣṭhā ca pūjāyāṁ stutibhiḥ stavanaṁ mama ādaraḥ paricaryāyāṁ sarvāṅgair abhivandanam mad-bhakta-pūjābhyadhikā sarva-bhūteṣu man-matiḥ mad-artheṣv aṅga-ceṣṭā ca vacasā mad-guṇeraṇam mayy arpaṇaṁ ca manasaḥ sarva-kāma-vivarjanam mad-arthe ’rtha-parityāgo bhogasya ca sukhasya ca iṣṭaṁ dattaṁ hutaṁ japtaṁ mad-arthaṁ yad vrataṁ tapaḥ evaṁ dharmair manuṣyāṇām uddhavātma-nivedinām mayi saṣjāyate bhaktiḥ ko ’nyo ’rtho ’syāvaśiṣyate

Synonyms

śraddhā — faith ; amṛta — in the nectar ; kathāyām — of narrations ; me — about Me ; śaśvat — always ; mat — of Me ; anukīrtanam — chanting the glories ; pariniṣṭhā — fixed in attachment ; ca — also ; pūjāyām — in worshiping Me ; stutibhiḥ — with beautiful hymns ; stavanam — formal prayers ; mama — in relation to Me ; ādaraḥ — great respect ; paricaryāyām — for My devotional service ; sarva — aṅgaiḥ — with all the limbs of the body ; abhivandanam — offering obeisances ; mat — My ; bhakta — of the devotees ; pūjā — worship ; abhyadhikā — preeminent ; sarva — bhūteṣu — in all living entities ; mat — of Me ; matiḥ — consciousness ; mat — artheṣu — for the sake of serving Me ; aṅga — ceṣṭā — ordinary, bodily activities ; ca — also ; vacasā — with words ; mat — guṇa — My transcendental qualities ; īraṇam — declaring ; mayi — in Me ; arpaṇam — placing ; ca — also ; manasaḥ — of the mind ; sarva — kāma — of all material desires ; vivarjanam — rejection ; mat — arthe — for My sake ; artha — of wealth ; parityāgaḥ — the giving up ; bhogasya — of sense gratification ; ca — also ; sukhasya — of material happiness ; ca — also ; iṣṭam — desirable activities ; dattam — charity ; hutam — offering of sacrifice ; japtam — chanting the holy names of the Lord ; mat — artham — for the sake of achieving Me ; yat — which ; vratam — vows, such as fasting on Ekādaśī ; tapaḥ — austerities ; evam — thus ; dharmaiḥ — by such religious principles ; manuṣyānām — of human beings ; uddhava — Mv dear Uddhava ; ātma — nivedinām — who are surrendered souls ; mayi — to Me ; saṣjāyate — arises ; bhaktiḥ — loving devotion ; kaḥ — what ; anyaḥ — other ; arthaḥ — purpose ; asya — of My devotee ; avaśiṣyate — remains .

Translation

Firm faith in the blissful narrations of My pastimes, constant chanting of My glories, unwavering attachment to ceremonial worship of Me, praising Me through beautiful hymns, great respect for My devotional service, offering obeisances with the entire body, performing first-class worship of My devotees, consciousness of Me in all living entities, offering of ordinary, bodily activities in My devotional service, use of words to describe My qualities, offering the mind to Me, rejection of all material desires, giving up wealth for My devotional service, renouncing material sense gratification and happiness, and performing all desirable activities such as charity, sacrifice, chanting, vows and austerities with the purpose of achieving Me — these constitute actual religious principles, by which those human beings who have actually surrendered themselves to Me automatically develop love for Me. What other purpose or goal could remain for My devotee?

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Firm faith in the narration of my sweet pastimes, constant chanting of my glories, unwavering attachment to my worship, praising me through verses, great respect for serving the deity, offering obeisances with the entire body, performing extensive worship of my devotees, consciousness of me in all living entities, offering of ordinary bodily activities in my service, use of words to describe my qualities, offering the mind to me, rejection of all material desires, giving up wealth for my sake, renouncing material sense gratification and happiness, performing acts of charity, offering homa, and chanting japa, performing vows like Ekādaśī as austerity with the purpose of achieving me—by these those human beings who have surrendered themselves to me develop bhakti for me. What other result could remain for my devotee? One should have intense faith in topics which are nectar. Though all topics of the Lord are sweet, one should have faith in the very sweet topics related to the Lord’s rasas. One should worship the devotees extensively, since one understands that this is more pleasing than worshipping me. One offers bodily activities by understanding that one cleans the teeth or the body for service to the Lord. One can even use local languages or dialects to glorify or sing the Lord’s qualities. One should give up one’s articles for use in my festivals. One can give to guru and devotees on these occasions (mad-arthe ’rtha-parityāgo). Or another meaning is that one should give up objects unfavorable for bhakti. One should give enjoying women (bhogasya) and happiness (sukhasya) derived from caring for children. One can perform sacrifice using sesame and ghee, or offer food to the brāhmaṇas and devotees as sacrifice. One should chant japa of the Lord’s mantra or names a thousand or hundred thousand times. Giving donations (dattam), performing sacrifice (hūtam) and chanting japa are three sacrifices (iṣṭam) of the devotees. In order to attain me, one should perform vows like Ekādaśī. That is the austerity of the devotee. What other result remains for the niṣkāma devotee? The result in future lives is simply more hearing and chanting. When the jṣānī achieves his result he gives up his sādhana. When the devotee attains his goal, he does not give up the hearing and chanting of his sādhana. Rather, his bhakti of hearing and chanting increases a thousand times, as an anubhāva (conscious action motivated by prema) of the perfection of bhakti, which is prema.

Purport

The words mad-bhakta-pūjābhyadhikā are significant in this verse. Abhyadhikā indicates “superior quality.” The Lord is extremely satisfied with those who offer worship to His pure devotees, and He rewards them accordingly. Because of the Lord’s generous appraisal of His pure devotees, worship of the pure devotees is described as superior to worship of the Lord Himself. The words mad-artheṣv aṅga-ceṣṭā state that ordinary, bodily activities such as brushing the teeth, taking bath, eating, etc., should all be offered to the Supreme Lord as devotional service. The words vacasā mad-guṇeraṇam indicate that whether one speaks in ordinary, crude language or with learned poetic eloquence, one should describe the glories of the Personality of Godhead. The words mad-arthe ’rtha-parityāgaḥ indicate that one should spend one’s money for festivals glorifying the Personality of Godhead, such as Ratha-yātrā, Janmāṣṭamī and Gaura-pūrṇimā. Also, one is herein instructed to spend money to assist the mission of one’s spiritual master and other Vaiṣṇavas. Wealth that cannot be used properly in the Lord’s service and is thus an impediment to one’s clear consciousness should be given up entirely. The word bhogasya refers to sense gratification, headed by sex enjoyment, and sukhasya refers to sentimental material happiness, such as excessive family attachment. The words dattaṁ hutam indicate that one should offer to brāhmaṇas and Vaiṣṇavas first-class foods cooked in ghee. One should offer the vibration svāhā to Lord Viṣṇu in an authorized sacrificial fire along with grains and ghee. The word japtam indicates that one should constantly chant the holy names of the Lord.