Text 55
taṁ durārādhyam ārādhya
satām api durāpayā
ekānta-bhaktyā ko vāñchet
pāda-mūlaṁ vinā bahiḥ
tam — unto You; durārādhyam — very difficult to worship; ārādhya — having worshiped; satām api — even for the most exalted persons; durāpayā — very difficult to attain; ekānta — pure; bhaktyā — by devotional service; kaḥ — who is that man; vāñchet — should desire; pāda-mūlam — lotus feet; vinā — without; bahiḥ — outsiders.
My dear Lord, pure devotional service is even difficult for liberated persons to discharge, but devotional service alone can satisfy You. Who will take to other processes of self-realization if he is actually serious about the perfection of life?
The word satām refers to transcendentalists. There are three kinds of transcendentalists: the jñānī, yogī and bhakta. Out of these three, the bhakta is selected as the most suitable candidate to approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is emphasized herein that only one who is outside devotional service would not engage in searching for the lotus feet of the Lord. Foolish people sometimes maintain that God may be attained in any way — either by karma-yoga, jñāna-yoga, dhyāna-yoga, etc. — but here it is clearly stated that it is impossible to obtain the mercy of the Lord by any means but bhakti-yoga. The word durārādhya is especially significant. It is very difficult to attain the lotus feet of the Lord by any method other than bhakti-yoga.