212
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 3, Ch. 5]
achievements like so much dust, and he accepts only devotional service, the transcendental culmination.
TEXT 47
तथापरे चात्मसमाधियोग- बलेन जित्वा प्रकृतिं बलिष्ठाम् । त्वामेव धीराः पुरुषं विशन्ति तेषां श्रमः स्यान्न तु सेवया ते ॥४७॥
tathāpare cātma-samādhi-yoga- balena jitvā prakṛtim baliṣṭhām tvām eva dhīrāḥ puruṣam viśanti teṣām śramaḥ syān na tu sevayā te
tathā —as far as;  apare —others;  ca —also;  ātma-samādhi —transcendental self-realization;  yoga —means;  balena —by the strength of;  jitvā —conquering;  prakṛtim —acquired nature or modes of nature;  baliṣṭhām —very powerful;  tvām —You;  eva —only;  dhīrāḥ —pacified;  puruṣam —person;  viśanti —enters into;  teṣām —for them;  śramaḥ —much labor;  syāt —has to be taken;  na —never;  tu —but;  sevayā —by serving;  te —of You.
TRANSLATION
Others, who are pacified by means of transcendental self-realization and have conquered over the modes of nature by dint of strong power and knowledge, also enter into You, but for them there is much pain, whereas the devotee simply discharges devotional service and thus feels no such pain.
PURPORT
In terms of a labor of love and its returns, the  bhaktas , or devotees of the Lord, always have priority over persons who are addicted to the association of  jñānīs , or impersonalists, and  yogīs , or mystics. The word  apare  (others) is very significant in this connection. “Others” refer to the  jñānīs  and the  yogīs , whose only hope is to merge into the existence of the impersonal  brahmajyoti . Although their destination is not so important in comparison to the destination of the devotees, the labor of the non-devotees is far greater than that of the  bhaktas . One may suggest that there is sufficient labor for the devotees also in the matter of discharging devotional service. But that labor is compensated by the enhancement of