Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.14.20

na sādhayati mām yogo

na sāńkhyam dharma uddhava

na svādhyāyas tapas tyāgo

yathā bhaktir mamorjitā

SYNONYMS

na — not; sādhayati — brings under control; mām — Me; yogah — the yoga system; na — nor; sāńkhyam — the system of Sāńkhya philosophy; dharmah — pious activities within the varnāśrama system; uddhava — My dear Uddhava; na — not; svādhyāyah — Vedic study; tapah — austerity; tyāgah — renunciation; yathā — as; bhaktih — devotional service; mama — unto Me; ūrjitā — 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, Sāńkhya philosophy, pious work, Vedic study, austerity or renunciation.

PURPORT

One may make Krishna the goal of mystic yoga, Sāńkhya 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. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī states, jñāna-karmādy-anāvritam: [Madhya 19.167] a devotee should simply depend on Krishna and should not unnecessarily complicate his loving service with tendencies toward fruitive work or mental speculation. The residents of Vrindāvana simply depend on Lord Krishna. When the great serpent Aghāsura appeared in the precincts of Vraja, the cowherd boys, completely confident in their friendship with Lord Krishna, fearlessly marched into the serpent's gigantic mouth. Such pure love for Krishna brings the Lord under the control of the devotee.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
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