17.76
na sadhayati mam yogo
na sankhyam dharma uddhava
na svadhyayas tapas tyago
yatha bhaktir mamorjita
SYNONYMS
na—never; sadhayati—causes to remain satisfied; mam—Me; yogah—the process of control; na—nor; sankhyam—the process of gaining philosophical knowledge about the Absolute Truth; dharmah—such an occupation; uddhava—My dear Uddhava; na—nor; svadhyayah—study of the Vedas; tapah—austerities; tyagah—renunciation, acceptance of sannyasa, or charity; yatha—as much as; bhaktih—devotional service; mama—unto Me; urjita—developed “(The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, said:) ’My dear Uddhava, neither through astanga-yoga (the mystic yoga system to control the senses), nor through impersonal monism or an analytical study of the Absolute Truth, nor through study of the Vedas, nor through practice of austerities, nor through charity, nor through acceptance of sannyasa can one satisfy Me as much as one can by developing unalloyed devotional service unto Me.’ ”
PURPORT
Karmis, jnanis, yogis, tapasvis and students of Vedic literature who do not have Krsna consciousness simply beat around the bush and do not get any final profit because they have no clear knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Nor do they have faith in approaching Him by discharging devotional service, although everywhere such service is repeatedly emphasized, as it is in this verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.14.20).
The Bhagavad-gita (Bg.18.55) also declares, bhaktya mam abhijanati yavan yas casmi tattvatah: “One can understand the Supreme Personality as He is only by devotional service.” If one wants to understand the Supreme Personality factually, he must take to the path of devotional service and not waste time in profitless philosophical speculation, fruitive activity, mystic yogic practice or severe austerity and penance.
Elsewhere in the Bhagavad-gita (12.5) the Lord confirms, kleso ’dhikataras tesam avyaktasakta-cetasam: “For those whose minds are attached to the unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Supreme, advancement is very troublesome.” People who are attached to the impersonal feature of the Lord are obliged to take great trouble, yet nevertheless they cannot understand the Absolute Truth.
As explained in Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.11), brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti sabdyate.
Unless one understands the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the original source of both Brahman and Paramatma, one is still in darkness about the Absolute Truth.