Text 26
yathā saṅkalpayed buddhyā
yadā vā mat-paraḥ pumān
mayi satye mano yuñjaṁs
tathā tat samupāśnute
yathā — by which means; saṅkalpayet — one may determine or resolve; buddhyā — by the mind; yadā — when; vā — or; mat-paraḥ — having faith in Me; pumān — the yogī; mayi — in Me; satye — whose desire always becomes truth; manaḥ — the mind; yuñjan — absorbing; tathā — by that means; tat — that very purpose; samupāśnute — he obtains.
A yogī who has faith in Me, absorbing his mind in Me and knowing that My purpose is always fulfilled, will always achieve his purpose by the very means he has determined to follow.
In this verse the word yadā (“whenever”) indicates that by the mystic power called yathā-saṅkalpa-saṁsiddhi one will achieve one’s objective even if one pursues it at an inauspicious time. Lord Kṛṣṇa is called satya-saṅkalpa, or He whose desire, intention, purpose or resolve always comes to pass.
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura mentions that one should determine to revive one’s lost relationship with the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa through the infallible means of devotional service, which can be executed at any time or in any place. There are many books giving proper guidance for achieving Lord Kṛṣṇa, and the following are mentioned: Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī’s Saṅkalpa-kalpavṛkṣa, Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja’s Śrī Govinda-līlāmṛta, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī’s Śrī Kṛṣṇa-bhāvanāmṛta and Saṅkalpa-kalpadruma, and Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s Śrī Gaurāṅga-smaraṇa-maṅgala. In the modern age, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda has given us over sixty large volumes of transcendental literature, which can fix us firmly on the path back home, back to Godhead. Our saṅkalpa, or determination, should be practical and not useless. We should resolve to make a permanent solution to the problems of life by going back home, back to Godhead.