Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Srimad Bhagavatam 11.14.20

na sadhayati mam yogo

na sankhyam dharma uddhava

na svadhyayas tapas tyago

yatha bhaktir mamorjita

SYNONYMS

na -- not; sadhayati -- brings under control; mam -- Me; yogah -- the yoga system; na -- nor; sankhyam -- the system of Sankhya philosophy; dharmah -- pious activities within the varnasrama system; uddhava -- My dear Uddhava; na -- not; svadhyayah -- Vedic study; tapah -- austerity; tyagah -- renunciation; yatha -- as; bhaktih -- devotional service; mama -- unto Me; urjita -- strongly developed.

TRANSLATION

My dear Uddhava, the unalloyed devotional service rendered to Me by My devotees brings Me under their control. I cannot be thus controlled by those engaged in mystic yoga, Sankhya philosophy, pious work, Vedic study, austerity or renunciation.

PURPORT

One may make Krsna the goal of mystic yoga, Sankhya philosophy, etc.; yet such activities do not please the Lord as much as direct loving service, which one practices by hearing and chanting about the Lord and executing His mission. Srila Rupa Gosvami states, jnana-karmady-anavrtam: [Madhya 19.167] a devotee should simply depend on Krsna and should not unnecessarily complicate his loving service with tendencies toward fruitive work or mental speculation. The residents of Vrndavana simply depend on Lord Krsna. When the great serpent Aghasura appeared in the precincts of Vraja, the cowherd boys, completely confident in their friendship with Lord Krsna, fearlessly marched into the serpent's gigantic mouth. Such pure love for Krsna brings the Lord under the control of the devotee.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
His Holiness Hrdayananda dasa Goswami
Gopiparanadhana dasa Adhikari
Dravida dasa Brahmacari