FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 8.5.47

क्लेशभूर्यल्पसाराणि कर्माणि विफलानि वा । देहिनां विषयार्तानां न तथैवार्पितं त्वयि ॥ ४७ ॥
kleśa-bhūry-alpa-sārāṇi
[klesha-bhoory-alpa-saaraani]
karmāṇi viphalāni vā
[karmaani viphalaani vaa]
dehināṁ viṣayārtānāṁ
[dehinaam vishayaartaanaam]
na tathaivārpitaṁ tvayi
[na tathaivaarpitam tvayi]
kleśa — hardship bhūri — very much alpa — very little sārāṇi — good result karmāṇi — activities viphalāni — frustration vā — either dehinām — of persons viṣaya-artānām — who are eager to enjoy the material world na — not tathā — like that eva — indeed arpitam — dedicated tvayi — unto Your Lordship.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
kleśa-bhūry-alpa-sārāṇi
kleśa
hardship
bhūri
very much
alpa
very little
sārāṇi
good result
karmāṇi viphalāni vā
karmāṇi
activities
viphalāni
frustration
vā
either
dehināṁ viṣayārtānāṁ
dehinām
of persons
viṣaya-artānām
who are eager to enjoy the material world
na
not
na tathaivārpitaṁ tvayi
tathā
like that
eva
indeed
arpitam
dedicated
tvayi
unto Your Lordship.
Karmīs are always anxious to accumulate wealth for their sense gratification, but for that purpose they must work very hard. Yet even though they work hard, the results are not satisfying. Indeed, sometimes their work results only in frustration. But devotees who have dedicated their lives to the service of the Lord can achieve substantial results without working very hard. These results exceed the devotee’s expectations.

We can practically see how the devotees who have dedicated their lives for the service of the Lord in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement are getting immense opportunities for the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead without working very hard. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement actually started with only forty rupees, but now it has more than forty crores worth of property, and all this opulence has been achieved within eight or ten years. No karmī can expect to improve his business so swiftly, and besides that, whatever a karmī acquires is temporary and sometimes frustrating. In Kṛṣṇa consciousness, however, everything is encouraging and improving. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is not very popular with the karmīs because this movement recommends that one refrain from illicit sex, meat-eating, gambling and intoxication. These are restrictions that karmīs very much dislike. Nonetheless, in the presence of so many enemies, this movement is progressing, going forward without impediments. If the devotees continue to spread this movement, dedicating life and soul to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, no one will be able to check it. The movement will go forward without limits. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa!

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Activities performed for you are not like the activities of persons desiring material enjoyment--which require great effort and which yield little or no result. The pious acts of us, your devotees, should not be fruitless like the actions of the material enjoyers. The activities offered to you by your devotees are not like the actions of the materialists, which are filled with suffering, and have little result or no result.
Hard-working karmīs strain for results that often disappoint; devotees who serve the Lord receive substantial results beyond their expectation without grinding. Effort aligned with the Lord yields more with less.
Reflection Questions
  • Where am I straining for results in a way that bhakti-aligned effort might quietly outperform?
  • What activity could I reframe today as service to the Lord rather than personal striving?
📝 My note

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