FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.14.5

पुरेह भूमन् बहवोऽपि योगिन- स्त्वदर्पितेहा निजकर्मलब्धया । विबुध्य भक्त्यैव कथोपनीतया प्रपेदिरेऽञ्जोऽच्युत ते गतिं पराम् ॥ ५ ॥
pureha bhūman bahavo ’pi yoginas
[pureha bhooman bahavo ’pi yoginas]
tvad-arpitehā nija-karma-labdhayā
[tvad-arpitehaa nija-karma-labdhayaa]
vibudhya bhaktyaiva kathopanītayā
[vibudhya bhaktyaiva kathopaneetayaa]
prapedire ’ñjo ’cyuta te gatiṁ parām
[prapedire ’njo ’chyuta te gatim paraam]
purā — previously iha — in this world bhūman — O almighty Lord bahavaḥ — many api — indeed yoginaḥ — followers of the path of yoga tvat — unto You arpita — having offered īhāḥ — all their endeavors nija - karma — by their prescribed duties labdhayā — which is achieved vibudhya — coming to understand bhaktyā — by devotional service eva — indeed kathā - upanītayā — cultivated through hearing and chanting topics about You prapedire — they achieved by surrender añjaḥ — easily acyuta — O infallible one te — Your gatim — destination parām — supreme .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
pureha bhūman bahavo ’pi yoginas
purā
previously
iha
in this world
bhūman
O almighty Lord
bahavaḥ
many
tvad-arpitehā nija-karma-labdhayā
vibudhya bhaktyaiva kathopanītayā
prapedire ’ñjo ’cyuta te gatiṁ parām
api
indeed
yoginaḥ
followers of the path of yoga
tvat
unto You
arpita
having offered
īhāḥ
all their endeavors
nija - karma
by their prescribed duties
labdhayā
which is achieved
vibudhya
coming to understand
bhaktyā
by devotional service
eva
indeed
kathā - upanītayā
cultivated through hearing and chanting topics about You
prapedire
they achieved by surrender
añjaḥ
easily
acyuta
O infallible one
te
Your
gatim
destination
parām
supreme .
  • tvat-arpita-īhāḥ — whose endeavors are offered unto You
    Compound: tvat (You) + arpita (offered) + īhā (endeavor). The Gītā 9.27 formula yat karoṣi… tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam in nominal form. Karma is not abandoned but its phala-tyāga is total.
  • nija-karma — their prescribed duty
    Compound: nija (one's own) + karma. Sva-dharma — the work appropriate to one's varṇāśrama position. Brahmā confirms the sthāne sthitāḥ principle of the previous verse: the work stays in place.
  • kathā-upanītayā — made present by the topics
    Compound: kathā (narration) + upanīta (brought near). Hari-kathā does not describe Bhagavān from a distance; it brings Him near. The same root upa-√nī is used for upanayana — being led close to the guru.
  • acyuta — O infallible one
    Vocative — 'one who never falls'. The opposite of the conditioned soul who falls again and again. Kṛṣṇa as Acyuta is the only fixed point from which the cyuta jīva can be pulled up.
  • gatim parām — the supreme destination
    Phrase: gati (going, destination) + para (supreme). Gītā 8.21 calls this paramāṁ gatim — the abode from which one does not return. For Gauḍīyas this is Goloka Vṛndāvana, the topmost loka of Vaikuṇṭha.
O almighty Lord, in the past many yogīs in this world achieved the platform of devotional service by offering all their endeavors unto You and faithfully carrying out their prescribed duties. Through such devotional service, perfected by the processes of hearing and chanting about You, they came to understand You, O infallible one, and could easily surrender to You and achieve Your supreme abode.
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
O almighty Lord, in the past many yogīs in this world achieved the platform of devotional service by offering all their endeavors unto You and faithfully carrying out their prescribed duties. Through such devotional service, perfected by the processes of hearing and chanting about You, they came to understand You, O infallible one, and could easily surrender to You and achieve Your supreme abode.
Commentary

In the previous two verses, bhakti is established as the means of attaining the Lord, by negation and positive statement. In the present verse the activities of bhakti are established. "O lord (bhuman), in this universe (iha), there are many who practice bhakti (yoginah) and they offer their activities to you, using all their senses to increase their devotion. Being fully engrossed in bhakti with faith, and disregarding varnasrama, they engage in hearing and chanting (nija karma labdhaya) only about you. By the prema bhakti which arises from hearing and chanting (kathopanitaya), they realize (vibudhya) the Lord’s form, qualities and activities, and attain eternal association of the lord in prema (param)." The verse can also be taken as a rejection of the yoga process after having rejected jnana in the previous verses. "After practicing yoga for a long time and understanding its futility, o Lord, the yogis understand you through devotion mixed with jnana attained through offering you his activities and attain you."

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

This process is not just words, but was practiced and realized by many in the past. Śrīdhara Svāmī explains that they offered their prescribed karmas to the Lord and their individual actions as well (tvad-arpitehā). dharmaḥ svanuṣṭhitaḥ puṁsāṁ viṣvaksena-kathāsu yaḥ | notpādayed yadi ratiṁ śrama eva hi kevalam || Varṇāśrama-dharma of the human being, which does not produce attraction for topics of the Lord, is only wasted effort. SB 1.2.8 By having a taste of your topics they attained nearness to you. By developing taste for those topics one can realize you. satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ kathāḥ taj-joṣaṇād āśv apavarga-vartmani śraddhā ratir bhaktir anukramiṣyati From association with the best devotees, topics of my glorious pastimes become directly realized, bringing the devotee to niṣṭhā. Then the topics become an elixir for the heart and ears at the stage of ruci. By taste for these topics, āsakti, bhāva and then prema for the Lord who is the destroyer of material life, quickly develop in sequence. SB 3.25.25 ity acyutāṅghriṁ bhajato 'nuvṛttyā bhaktir viraktir bhagavat-prabodhaḥ bhavanti vai bhāgavatasya rājaṁs tataḥ parāṁ śāntim upaiti sākṣāt O King! The devotee who worships the lotus feet of the infallible Lord with constant endeavor achieves unflinching devotion, detachment and experience of the Lord. He achieves supreme happiness. SB 11.2.43 With an increase in prema the person then attains with surrender (prapedire) an intimate relationship with you (parām gatim). O lord with unlimited glories (bhūman)! This is a suitable result for bhakti dedicated to you. O Lord, you do not fail to give the desired results by performance of bhakti (acyuta)! na cyavante hi mad-bhaktā mahatyāṁ pralayād api ato ’acyuto ’khile loke vidvadbhiḥ pariṇīyate My devotees do not perish even at the time of universal destruction. The Lord alone is indestructible and all pervading in all planets. Skanda Purāṇa

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

This process is not just words, but was practiced and realized by many in the past. O Lord with unlimited glories (bhūman)! This is a suitable result for bhakti dedicated to you. Even liberated person (yoginaḥ) by hearing and glorifying your topics (te kathopanītayā) offered their activities to you. Or “Bhakti is difficult since it allows one to attain the supreme goal.” It can be done by purification (upanītayā) through hearing and glorifying you or by topcis concerning you which bring about glorification (upanītayā). Those topics are most excellent. O Lord, you do not fail to give the desired results by performance of bhakti (acyuta)! Or by bhakti the yogīs will associate with you. They will attain the outstanding place, Vaikuṇṭha or prema (paraṁ gatim), understanding (vibudhya) it is the highest result.

Related values
Karuna (Kindness / Compassion)Maitri (Friendship / Goodwill)Kritajnata (Gratitude)Guru Bhakti (Reverence for Teacher)Kartavya (Duty / Responsibility)Hrih (Modesty / Sense of Shame)Satya (Truthfulness)Samata (Equanimity / Even-mindedness)Dana (Charity / Generosity)
Related verses
Concepts
BhavaShraddha
Past yogīs reached the Lord not through mystic feats but by offering their ordinary work to Him and hearing and chanting His glories. Devotional service is older, simpler, and more reliable than impressive techniques.
Reflection Questions
  • Which of my daily activities could become my own form of 'offered yoga' today?
  • Where am I waiting for advanced experiences when basic hearing and chanting is the actual path?

An expert archer in the past learned to hit the target not by reading treatises on archery but by offering each arrow to his teacher and listening to him narrate the bow. Brahmā says the great yogīs of former ages succeeded the same way — they did their prescribed work, but turned its fruit toward Kṛṣṇa, and let hearing about Him do the actual aiming. Karma-arpaṇa plus kathā equals reaching the supreme abode.

Janaka, niṣkāma-karma-yogī

King Janaka ruled Mithilā, performed his royal duties, conducted yajñas — and offered every result to the Lord. The Bhāgavatam (9.13) treats him as a Vaiṣṇava, not as a Vedāntin merging into Brahman. Kṛṣṇa cites him in Gītā 3.20 as one who attained perfection by detached action.

Brahmā's purā iha bhūman bahavaḥ — 'in the past, O great one, many' — names this lineage. The work was kept; only the fruit was redirected.

Kapila to Devahūti

In the third canto (3.25–33) Kapiladeva instructs His mother Devahūti that the highest yogī offers nija-karma to Bhagavān and listens to His kathā until bhakti ripens. He is describing exactly the path Brahmā praises here.

The Gauḍīya line treats Kapila-sāṅkhya (theistic) as distinct from atheistic Sāṅkhya — its conclusion is prapatti, not enumeration.

📝 My note

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