Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Narada Bhakti Sutra 33

asmat saiva grahya mumuksubhih

SYNONYMS

asmat -- therefore; sa -- it; eva -- only; grahya -- should be accepted; mumuksubhih -- by persons desiring liberation.

TRANSLATION

Therefore seekers of liberation should take to devotional service alone.

PURPORT

As stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.2.32), those who pursue liberation but do not take shelter of the Supreme Lord in devotional service may think that they have attained the highest position and been liberated, but eventually they fall down to materialistic activities. Because the impersonalist meditator fails to develop his loving relationship with the Supreme Person, he must return from his sojourn in Brahman and come back into the material world to fulfill his personal desires. Therefore eternal liberation, freedom from repeated birth and death, is achieved only in the spiritual world, when one is fixed in one's eternal relationship of loving devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In previous sutras Narada mentioned that pure devotional service is not performed for any reward, including release from birth and death. Lord Caitanya also expressed this idea in His Siksastaka (4):

na dhanam na janam na sundarim

kavitam va jagad-isa kamaye

mama janmani janmanisvare

bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi

"O almighty Lord, I have no desire for accumulating wealth, nor do I have any desire to enjoy beautiful women, nor do I want many followers. All I want is Your causeless devotional service in my life, birth after birth." By saying "birth after birth," Lord Caitanya implies that He does not seek liberation, either. All He desires is continuous service and remembrance of the Lord, in any sphere of life.

And yet although a pure devotee never aspires for mukti, he automatically achieves it. By Krsna's desire, he is promoted to Krsnaloka or to a Vaikuntha planet, depending on his rasa with the Lord. Or, like Narada, he may remain in the material world to preach Krsna consciousness. Srila Prabhupada used to say that liberation doesn't mean one has to develop four arms and four heads. If one is purely Krsna conscious one may continue to live in the material world and be fully liberated. As Srila Rupa Gosvami says in his Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.2.187):

iha yasya harer dasye karmana manasa gira

nikhilasv apy avasthasu jivan-muktah sa ucyate

"A person acting in the service of Krsna with his body, mind, intelligence, and words is a liberated person even within the material world, although he may engage in many apparently material activities."

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Copyright (c) The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
Gopiparanadhana dasa Adhikari