Text 44
mayi bhaktir hi bhūtānām
amṛtatvāya kalpate
diṣṭyā yad āsīn mat-sneho
bhavatīnāṁ mad-āpanaḥ
mayi — to Me; bhaktiḥ — devotional service; hi — indeed; bhūtānām — for living beings; amṛtatvāya — to immortality; kalpate — leads; diṣṭyā — by good fortune; yat — which; āsīt — has developed; mat — for Me; snehaḥ — the love; bhavatīnām — on the part of your good selves; mat — Me; āpanaḥ — which is the cause of obtaining.
Rendering devotional service to Me qualifies any living being for eternal life. But by your good fortune you have developed a special loving attitude toward Me, by which you have obtained Me.
According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, the gopīs then replied, “But that Supreme Lord You are blaming is none other than Yourself, O most clever of speakers. Everyone in the world knows this! Why should we be ignorant of this fact?” “All right,” Lord Kṛṣṇa then told them, “if this is true, I must be God, but still I am conquered by your loving affection.”