8.60
yat karosi yad asnasi
yaj juhosi dadasi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya
tat kurusva mad-arpanam
SYNONYMS
yat—whatever; karosi—you do; yat—whatever; asnasi—you eat; yat—whatever; juhosi—you offer in sacrifice; dadasi—you give in charity; yat—whatever; yat—whatever; tapasyasi—you perform as austerity; kaunteya—O son of Kunti; tat—that; kurusva—just do; mat—unto Me; arpanam—offering.
Ramananda Raya continued, “ ’My dear son of Kunti, whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in sacrifice, whatever you give in charity, and whatever austerities you perform, all the results of such activities should be offered to Me, Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.’ ”
PURPORT
The Lord has said that the varnasrama-dharma is not properly executed in this Age of Kali; therefore He ordered Ramananda Raya to go further into the matter.
Ramananda replied with this verse from the Bhagavad-gita (9.27), which instructs that while remaining in the system of varnasrama-dharma one may offer the results of his activities to Lord Sri Krsna in loving service.
Naturally Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was asking Ramananda Raya about the execution of devotional service.
Ramananda Raya first enunciated the principle of varnasrama-dharma in consideration of materialistic people.
However, this conception is not transcendental.
As long as one is in the material world, he must follow the principles of varnasrama-dharma, but devotional service is transcendental.
The system of varnasrama-dharma refers to the three modes of material nature, but transcendental devotional service is on the absolute platform.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu belonged to the spiritual world, and His methods for propagating the sankirtana movement were also imported from the spiritual world.
Srila Narottama dasa Thakura has sung: golokera prema-dhana, hari-nama-sankirtana, rati na janmila kene taya.
This states that the sankirtana movement has nothing to do with this material world.
It is imported from the spiritual world, Goloka Vrndavana.
Narottama dasa Thakura laments that mundane people do not take this sankirtana movement seriously.
Considering the position of devotional service and the sankirtana movement, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu deemed the system of varnasrama-dharma to be material, although it aims at elevation to the spiritual platform.
However, the sankirtana movement can raise one immediately to the spiritual platform.
Consequently it is said that varnasrama-dharma is external, and Caitanya Mahaprabhu requested Ramananda Raya to proceed deeper into the matter and uncover the spiritual platform.
Sometimes materialists consider Lord Visnu a material conception.
Impersonalists think that above Lord Visnu is the impersonal Brahman.
The impersonalists misunderstand the worship of Lord Visnu.
They worship Lord Visnu to merge into His body.
In order that visnu-aradhana not be misunderstood, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu requested that Sri Ramananda Raya proceed further and clear up the issue.
Ramananda Raya quoted the verse from the Bhagavad-gita stating that the results of one’s occupational duty may be offered to Lord Visnu or Krsna.
In Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.8) it is also said:
dharmah svanusthitah pumsam
visvaksena-kathasu yah
notpadayed yadi ratim
srama eva hi kevalam “If one executes the occupational duties of varnasrama-dharma but does not cultivate his dormant Krsna consciousness, his activities are futile.