Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.32.37
प्रावोचं भक्तियोगस्य स्वरूपं ते चतुर्विधम् ।
कालस्य चाव्यक्तगतेर्योऽन्तर्धावति जन्तुषु ॥ ३७ ॥
prāvocaṁ bhakti-yogasya
[praavocham bhakti-yogasya]
svarūpaṁ te catur-vidham
[svaroopam te chatur-vidham]
kālasya cāvyakta-gater
[kaalasya chaavyakta-gater]
yo ’ntardhāvati jantuṣu
[yo ’ntardhaavati jantushu]
Word-for-word
prāvocam
—
explained
bhakti-yogasya
—
of devotional service
svarūpam
—
the identity
te
—
to you
catuḥ-vidham
—
in four divisions
kālasya
—
of time
ca
—
also
avyakta-gateḥ
—
the movement of which is imperceptible
yaḥ
—
which
antardhāvati
—
chases
jantuṣu
—
the living entities.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
prāvocaṁ bhakti-yogasya
prāvocam
explained
bhakti-yogasya
of devotional service
svarūpaṁ te catur-vidham
svarūpam
the identity
te
to you
catuḥ-vidham
in four divisions
kālasya cāvyakta-gater
kālasya
of time
ca
also
avyakta-gateḥ
the movement of which is imperceptible
yaḥ
which
yo ’ntardhāvati jantuṣu
antardhāvati
chases
jantuṣu
the living entities.
My dear mother, I have explained to you the process of devotional service and its identity in four different social divisions. I have explained to you as well how eternal time is chasing the living entities, although it is imperceptible to them.
Purport
The process of bhakti-yoga, devotional service, is the main river flowing down towards the sea of the Absolute Truth, and all other processes mentioned are just like tributaries. Lord Kapila is summarizing the importance of the process of devotional service. Bhakti-yoga, as described before, is divided into four divisions — three in the material modes of nature and one in transcendence, which is untinged by the modes of material nature. Devotional service mixed with the modes of material nature is a means for material existence, whereas devotional service without desires for fruitive result and without attempts for empirical philosophical research is pure, transcendental devotional service.
— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura
Gauḍīya
Translation
I have explained to you the four types of bhakti: tamasic, rajasic, sattvic and nirguṇa bhakti and the form of time whose progress is invisible and which pursues all living beings.
Having summarized jñāna-yoga, and showing its dependence on bhakti to Bhagavān, who is attained by bhakti, by a suitable example Kapila showed Bhagavān to be the goal of all paths. Now Kapila summarizes bhakti-yoga and other processes in two verses. The four varieties of bhakti are bhakti in tamas, rajas, and sattva and bhakti which is beyond the guṇas.
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Devotion in this verse is not a feeling to wait for but a practice to take up. The heart catches up to the hands once we begin acting on the Lord's behalf instead of our own. Its centre of gravity is material existence.
Reflection Questions
- What part of your day still belongs entirely to your own enjoyment, and could even a corner of it be offered?
- What would steady, unglamorous service look like for you this month?
My note
Source: vedabase.io