22.52
rahuganaitat tapasa na yati
na cejyaya nirvapanad grhad va
na cchandasa naiva jalagni-suryair
vina mahat-pada-rajo-’bhisekam
SYNONYMS
rahugana—O King Rahugana; etat—this; tapasa—by severe austerities and penances; na yati—one does not obtain; na—neither; ca—also; ijyaya—by gorgeous worship; nirvapanat—by renounced order of life; grhat—by sacrifices while living in the home; va—or; na chandasa—nor by scholarly study of the Vedas; na—nor; eva—certainly; jala-agni-suryaih—by those who worship water, fire or scorching sunshine; vina—without; mahat-pada-rajah—of the dust of the lotus feet of a mahatma; abhisekam—the sprinkling " ’O King Rahugana, without taking upon one’s head the dust from the lotus feet of a pure devotee (a mahajana or mahatma), one cannot attain devotional service.
Devotional service is not possible to attain simply by undergoing severe austerities and penances, by gorgeously worshiping the Deity, or by strictly following the rules and regulations of the sannyasa or grhastha order, nor by studying the Vedas, submerging oneself in water, or exposing oneself to fire or scorching sunlight.’
PURPORT
This verse appears in Srimad-Bhagavatam (5.12.12).
Jada Bharata herein tells King Rahugana how he attained the paramahamsa stage.
Maharaja Rahugana, the King of Sindhu-sauvira, had asked Jada Bharata how he had attained the paramahamsa stage.
The King had called him to carry his palanquin, but when the King heard from paramahamsa Jada Bharata about the supreme philosophy, he expressed surprise and asked Jada Bharata how he had attained such great liberation.
At that time Jada Bharata informed the King how to become detached from material attraction.