Text 23
kathaṁ vinā roma-harṣaṁ
dravatā cetasā vinā
vinānandāśru-kalayā
śudhyed bhaktyā vināśayaḥ
katham — how; vinā — without; roma-harṣam — standing of the hairs on end; dravatā — melted; cetasā — heart; vinā — without; vinā — without; ānanda — of bliss; aśru-kalayā — the flowing of tears; śudhyet — can be purified; bhaktyā — loving service; vinā — without; āśayaḥ — the consciousness.
If one’s hairs do not stand on end, how can the heart melt? And if the heart does not melt, how can tears of love flow from the eyes? If one does not cry in spiritual happiness, how can one render loving service to the Lord? And without such service, how can the consciousness be purified?
Loving service to the Lord is the only process that can completely purify one’s consciousness; such service produces waves of ecstatic love that completely cleanse the soul. As mentioned earlier by Lord Kṛṣṇa to Śrī Uddhava, other processes such as self-control, pious activities, mystic yoga, penances, etc., certainly purify the mind, as stated in many authorized literatures. Such processes, however, do not completely remove the desire to perform forbidden activities. But pure devotional service rendered in love of Godhead is so powerful that it burns to ashes any obstacle encountered on the path of progress. The Lord has stated in this chapter that loving service to Him is a blazing fire that burns to ashes all impediments. In contrast, the small fires of mental speculation or mystic yoga can be extinguished by sinful desires at any moment. Thus, by hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam one should ignite the blazing fire of loving service to the Lord and burn to ashes the network of material illusion.