Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 2


Sanskrit:

भवतोदाहृत: स्वामिन् भक्तियोगोऽनपेक्षित: ।निरस्य सर्वत: सङ्गं येन त्वय्याविशेन्मन: ॥ २ ॥

ITRANS:

bhavatodāhṛtaḥ svāminbhakti-yogo ’napekṣitaḥnirasya sarvataḥ saṅgaṁyena tvayy āviśen manaḥ

Translation:

My dear Lord, You have clearly explained the process of unalloyed devotional service, by which a devotee removes all material association from his life, enabling him to fix his mind on You.

Purport:

It is now clearly established that pure devotional service is the supreme process for fixing the mind in the Supreme Truth, Lord Kṛṣṇa. The next point to be clarified is this: Can everyone practice this process, or is it limited to an elite class of transcendentalists? In discussing the relative advantages of different spiritual processes, one must immediately ascertain the goal of spiritual life and then isolate the process that actually awards this goal. Processes must be defined in terms of primary and secondary functions. A method that gives one the highest perfection is primary, whereas processes that merely assist or enhance the primary function are considered secondary. The mind is most flickering and unsteady; therefore by clear intelligence one must fix oneself in a progressive mode of life, and thus one can achieve the Absolute Truth in this lifetime. This is the sober purpose of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s conversation with Śrī Uddhava.