Devanagari
श्रीभगवानुवाच
भक्तियोगो बहुविधो मार्गैर्भामिनि भाव्यते ।
स्वभावगुणमार्गेण पुंसां भावो विभिद्यते ॥ ७ ॥
Verse text
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
bhakti-yogo bahu-vidho
mārgair bhāmini bhāvyate
svabhāva-guṇa-mārgeṇa
puṁsāṁ bhāvo vibhidyate
Synonyms
śrī
—
bhagavān uvāca — the Personality of Godhead replied
;
bhakti
—
yogaḥ — devotional service
;
bahu
—
vidhaḥ — multifarious
;
mārgaiḥ
—
with paths
;
bhāmini
—
O noble lady
;
bhāvyate
—
is manifest
;
svabhāva
—
nature
;
guṇa
—
qualities
;
mārgeṇa
—
in terms of behavior
;
puṁsām
—
of the executors
;
bhāvaḥ
—
the appearance
;
vibhidyate
—
is divided .
Translation
Lord Kapila, the Personality of Godhead, replied: O noble lady, there are multifarious paths of devotional service in terms of the different qualities of the executor.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The Lord said: Bhakti appears in many forms by particular actions in a person according to his intentions. The intentions of men are classed by the actions of the guṇas arising from one’s nature.
Kapila has already spoken of pure bhakti beyond the guṇas:
devānāṁ guṇa-liṅgānām ānuśravika-karmaṇām
sattva evaika-manaso vṛttiḥ svābhāvikī tu yā
animittā bhāgavatī bhaktiḥ siddher garīyasī
Bhakti to the Supreme Lord without material desires, composed of actions of the senses to reveal senses objects related to the Lord and which conform to guru’s instructions, with mind dedicated exclusively to the Lord, and which include actions on the spontaneous level, is superior to liberation. SB 3.25.32
Now Kapila begins to speak about bhakti which is contaminated by the guṇas. Bhakti-yoga, of one nature, is known to have many forms with particular methods, according to the intention of the particular person (bhāvini). That intention becomes classified by differing actions of the guṇas arising from one’s nature. Though bhakti in its essential nature is beyond the guṇas, it becomes called tamasic bhakti etc. when it is contaminated by one’s natural guṇas such as tamas.
Purport
Pure devotional service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is one because in pure devotional service there is no demand from the devotee to be fulfilled by the Lord. But generally people take to devotional service with a purpose. As stated in
Bhagavad-gītā,
people who are not purified take to devotional service with four purposes. A person who is distressed because of material conditions becomes a devotee of the Lord and approaches the Lord for mitigation of his distress. A person in need of money approaches the Lord to ask for some improvement in his monetary condition. Others, who are not in distress or in need of monetary assistance but are seeking knowledge in order to understand the Absolute Truth, also take to devotional service, and they inquire into the nature of the Supreme Lord. This is very nicely described in
Bhagavad-gītā
(7.16)
. Actually the path of devotional service is one without a second, but according to the devotees’ condition, devotional service appears in multifarious varieties, as will be nicely explained in the following verses.