Devanagari
दुरापा ह्यल्पतपस: सेवा वैकुण्ठवर्त्मसु ।
यत्रोपगीयते नित्यं देवदेवो जनार्दन: ॥ २० ॥
Verse text
durāpā hy alpa-tapasaḥ
sevā vaikuṇṭha-vartmasu
yatropagīyate nityaṁ
deva-devo janārdanaḥ
Synonyms
durāpā
—
rarely obtainable
;
hi
—
certainly
;
alpa
—
tapasaḥ — of one whose austerity is meager
;
sevā
—
service
;
vaikuṇṭha
—
the transcendental kingdom of God
;
vartmasu
—
on the path of
;
yatra
—
wherein
;
upagīyate
—
is glorified
;
nityam
—
always
;
deva
—
of the demigods
;
devaḥ
—
the Lord
;
jana
—
ardanaḥ — the controller of the living entities .
Translation
Persons whose austerity is meager can hardly obtain the service of the pure devotees who are progressing on the path back to the kingdom of Godhead, the Vaikuṇṭhas. Pure devotees engage one hundred percent in glorifying the Supreme Lord, who is the Lord of the demigods and the controller of all living entities.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Service to the devotees, those on the path to Vaikuṇṭha, who are constantly singing about the Supreme Lord, is rarely achieved for those who perform little austerity.
Service to the great devotees is very rare. Though the verse says that those will little austerity rarely attain devotees, this is only a conventional expression. Service to devotees is attained only by mercy of devotees. It is not attained as a result of austerity. “Those on the path to Vaikuṇṭha” means those who are constantly engaged in sādhana-bhakti or sādhya (prema-bhakti).
Purport
The path of liberation, as recommended by all authorities, is to serve the
mahātmā
transcendentalists. As far as
Bhagavad-gītā
is concerned, the
mahātmās
are the pure devotees who are on the path to Vaikuṇṭha, the kingdom of God, and who always chant and hear the glories of the Lord rather than talk of dry, profitless philosophy. This system of association has been recommended since time immemorial, but in this age of quarrel and hypocrisy it is especially recommended by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Even if one has no assets of favorable austerity, if he nevertheless takes shelter of the
mahātmās,
who are engaged in chanting and hearing the glories of the Lord, he is sure to make progress on the path back home, back to Godhead.