atha tad-arthe ‘khila-ceSTitaM
yathA pańcarAtre
laukikI vaidikI vApi yA kriyA kriyate mune |
hari sevAnukUlaiva sA kAryA bhaktim icchatA || 200 ||
NArada PańcarAtra: "Oh sage, if one desires bhakti then all one’s activities, worldly and scriptural, should be done in a way favorable to Hari’s service."
atha sharaNApattiH
yathA hari-bhakti-vilAse
tavAsmIti vadan vAcA tathaiva manasA vidan |
tat sthAnam AshritastanvA modate sharaNAgataH || 201 ||
Hari-Bhakti-VilAsa: "One who says ‘I am yours,’ in his words and thoughts, and who lives in the Lord’s place exemplifies self-surrender."
shrI nArasiMhe ca
tvAM prapanno ‘smi sharaNaM deva-deva janArdana |
iti yaH sharaNaM prAptas taM kleshAd uddharAmy aham || 202 ||
NArasiMha PurANa: "I deliever from all distress one who surrenders to me, saying, ‘O God of Gods! O Maintaner of All People! I beseech you for refuge!’"
"Surrender" indicates giving oneself to another and relying on that person for protection. This sense of reliance upon Krishna for protection slightly differentiates Self Surrender from Offering Oneself. Although the two practices overlap, Self Surrender is mainly the internal mood to reliance solely upon Krishna, while Offering Oneself mainly involves the external ramifications of offering all of ones physical and emotional self to Krishna.
atha tadyAnAM sevanam tulAsyaH
yathA skAnde
yA driSTA nikhilAgha-sanga shamanI spriSTA vapuH pAvanI |
ragAnAm abhivanditA nirasanI siktAntakatrAsini ||
pratyAsatti-vidhAyinI bhagavataH kriSNasya saMropitA |
nyastA tac-caraNe vimukti-phaladA tasyai tulasyai namaH || 203 ||
SkAnda PurANa: "Seeing her tranquilizes all sin, touching her purifies the body, offering respects to her casts out all disease, watering her casts out death, planting her makes one devoted to Lord Krishna, and throwing [her leaves] upon his feet bears ultimate liberation. My respects to TulasI.
tathA ca tatraiva
driStA spriSTA tathA dhyAtA kIritA namitA stutA |
ropitA sevitA nityaM pUjitA tulasI shubhA || 204 ||
navadhA tulasIM devIM ye bhajanti dine dine |
yuga-koTi-sahasrANi te vasanti harer-grihe || 205 ||
SkAnda PurANa: "Seeing, touching, meditating, glorifying, respecting, listening to her praise, planting, serving, and always worshipping auspicious TulasI – One who worships the Goddess TulasI in these nine ways day after day can reside in Hari’s house for hundreds of thousands of eons.
atha shAstrasya
shAstra-matra samAkhyAtaM yad-bhakti-pratipAdakam || 206 ||
"Scripture" is a declaration which establishes bhakti.
yathA skAnde
vaiSNavAni tu shAstrANI ye shriNvanti paThanti ca |
dhanyAste mAnavA loke tesAM kriSNaH prasIdati || 207 ||
vaiSNavAni tu shAstrANI ye arcayanti grihe narAH |
sarva-pApa-vinirmuktA bhavanti sura-vanditAH || 208 ||
tiSThate vaiSNaviM shAstraM likhitaM yasya mandire |
tatra nArAyaNo devaH svayaM vasati nArada || 209 ||
SkAnda PurANa: "But blessed are the people of this world who study and hear scriptures about Vishnu. Krishna becomes pleased with them.
"But those who keep scriptures about Vishnu in their homes and worship them are liberated from all sin and respected by the gods.
"Oh Narada, God himself, NArAyaNa, resides in the home where scriptures about Vishnu are written are preserved."
"Serving scriptures" thus includes studying, hearing, worshipping, preserving, and writing declarations about Vishnu.
tathA shrI-bhAgavate dvAdashe ca
sarva-vedAnta-sAraM hi shrI bhAgavatam iSyate |
tad-rasAmrita-triptasya nAnyatra syAd ratiH kvacit || 210 ||
Bhagavatam, Twelfth Canto [12.13.15]: "SHrI BhAgavatam is said to be the essence of all VedAnta. One who drinks it’s nectar mellows cannot be attracted to anything else."
This indicates that the foremost scripture about Vishnu is SHrI BhAgavata PurANa.
atha mathurAyAH
yathA Adi-vArAhe
mathurAńca parityajya yo ‘nyatra kurute ratim |
mUDho bhramati saMsAre mohitA mama mAyayA || 211 ||
Adi-VArAha PurANa: "One who wants to give up MathurA and go somewhere else is a deluded fool bewildered and illusioned by my tricky material world."
brahmANDe ca
trailokya-varti-tIrthAnAM sevanAd durlabhA hi yA |
parAnanda-mayI siddhir-mathurA-sparSamAtrataH || 212 ||
BrahmANDa PurANa: "One obtains the supreme, blissful perfection - which is difficult to obtain even by serving all the holy places in the three worlds - simply by touching MathurA."
shrutA smritA kIrtitA ca vańchitA preskSitA gatA |
spriSTA shritA sevitA ca mathurAbhISTadA nriNAm |
iti khyAtaM purANeSu na vistArabhiyocyate || 213 ||
Hearing about, remembering, glorifying, desiring to visit, seeing, going to, touching, residing in, and serving MathurA fulfills all a person’s desires. I will not specifically cite all the PurANas that declare this, out of fear that this book will become too huge.
This shlokas establish that MaturA is the best sacred place, and that one should, as a practice of sAdhana, serve it in the ways mentioned above. “Serving MathurA" (sevitA), in the current shloka primarily means to clean and care for the land.
atha vaiSNavAnAM sevanaM
yathA pAdme
ArAdhanAnAM sarveSAM viSNor-ArAdhanaM param |
tasmAt parataraM devi tadIyAnAM samarcanam || 214 ||
PAdma PurANa: "Of all types of worship, worship of Vishnu is best. Of that the very best, O goddess, is to thoroughly worship whatever is related to Vishnu."
tritIye ca
yat-sevayA bhagavataH kUTa-stasya madhu-dviSaH |
rati-rAso bhavet tIvraH pAdayor vyasanArdanaH || 215 ||
Third Canto: [3.7.19] "By serving him, one manifests very strong, relishable love for the feet of God – who is the indweller, and the enemy of Madhu.
In this BhAgavatam shloka, "Him" (yat) refers to the Vaishnava mentioned in the previous text. This shloka asserts that by serving the Vaishnava, one develops rati for the Supreme who lives within the heart and who is the enemy of Madhu. This rati is synonymous with bhAva-bhakti, which allows one to taste bhakti-rAsa.
The term vyasanArdana is extremely interesting. It is a compound of the words vyasana and ardana. In forming this compound word, the "a" at the end of vyasana joins with the "a" at the beginning or ardana, and a long a (A) results. A long a (A) would also result, however, if the second word were Ardana, which means "nourish," opposite of the word ardana, which means "destroy."
The word vyasana has many meanings. Primarily it indicates intense movement to and fro, characterizing hard work and distress. This shloka thus states that bhAva-bhakti destroys the distress that arises from the hard work of material life. However it simultaneously states that bhAva-bhakti nourishes a state of eagerly moving to and fro in fervent effort to please Hari.
Other meanings of vyasana are "attachment, addiction, passion, devotion." BhAva-bhakti simultaneously destroys and nourishes these. It destroys attachment, etc. to material existence, while nourishing attachment, etc. for the Supreme.
skAnde ca
shankha-cakrAnkita-tanuH shirasA mańjarI-dharaH |
gopI-candana-liptANgo driStash-cet-tad-aghaM kutaH || 216 ||
SkAnda PurANa: "Can sin continue to exist if one sees those with the Conch and Wheel of Vishnu on their bodies, with TulasI flowers on their heads, and anointed with GopI-Candana?"
If simply seeing a Vaishnava has this effect, much is indirectly said about actively serving a Vaishnava.
prathame ca
yeSAM saMsmaraNAt puMsAM sadyaH shuddhyanti vai grihAH |
kiM punar darshana-sparsha-pAda-shaucAsanAdibhiH || 217 ||
First Canto [1.19.33]: "Simply by remembering them, one’s home immediately becomes purified. Than what of one who sees, touches, washes the feet of, and offers seats to them?"
This verse contains several practical suggestions for serving the Vaishnava: remembering, seeing, touching, washing the feet of, and offering seats to.
AdI-purANe
ye me bhakta-janAH pArtha na me bhaktAsh ca te janAH |
mad-bhaktAnAM ca ye bhaktAs te me bhaktatamA matAH || 218 ||
AdI PurANa: "In my opinion, those who are my devotees are not really my devotees, but they who are the devotees of my devotees are the best devotees."
yAvanti bhagavad-bhakter-angAni kathitAn Iha |
prAyastAvanti tad-bhakta-bhakter api budhA viduH || 219 ||
The wise recognize that almost all the practices of devotion for God described thus far also involve devotion to the devotee of God.
Among the 64 practices of sadhana listed by Rupa Goswami, many of them involve interacting with the Lord’s devotees.
atha yathA-vaibhava-mahotsavo
yathA pAdme
yaH karoti mahIpAla harer-gehe mahotsavam |
tasyApi bhavati nityaM hari-loke mahotsava || 220 ||
Padma PurANa: "O King, an eternal festival in Hari’s realm results to one who celebrates festivals in Hari’s house."
atha urjAdaro
yathA pAdme
yathA dAmodaro bhakta-vatsalo vidito janaiH |
tasyAyaM tAdrisho mAsaH svalpam apy urukArakaH || 221 ||
Padma PurANa: "People know that the month of DAmodara, just like DAmodara himself, is very affectionate to his devotees and gives ample rewards for even a little effort."
tatrApi mathurAyAM visheSo
yathA tatraiva
bhuktiM muktiM harir dadyAd arcito ‘nyatra sevinAm |
bhaktiM tu na dadAty eva yato vashyakarI hareH || 222 ||
Special efficacy of KArtika in MathurA
Padma PurANa: "Hari bestows enjoyment and liberation as a result of services performed elsewhere, but does not give bhakti."
This shloka from Padma PurANa talks about the month of KArtika. Services performed to Hari in that month elsewhere bestow bhukti and mukti – but not bhakti. This indicates that services performed during KArtika in MathurA do bestow bhakti. Rupa Goswami notes this in the next shloka.
sA tvańjasA harer-bhaktir-labhyate kArtike naraiH |
mathurAyAM sakrid api shrI-dAmodara-sevanAt || 223 ||
This is saying that one attains Hari-bhakti by serving SHrI DAmodara in MathurA during KArtika.
atha shrI janma-dina-yAtrA
yathA bhaviSyottare
yasmin dine prasUteyaM devakI tvAM janArdana |
tad-dinaM brUhi vaikuNTha kurmaste tatra cotsavam |
tena samyak prapannAnAM prasAdaM kuru keshavaH || 224 ||
BhaviSya PurANa: "Tell us about the day you appeared to DevakI, O JanArdana, O Lord of VaikuNTha! We will celebrate festivals on that day in hopes of making you fully pleased with us, O Keshava!"