Text 34]
The Glories of Devotional Service
1041
jarayati —dissolves;  āśu —quickly;  yā —which;  kośam —the subtle body;  nigīrṇam —things eaten;  analaḥ —fire;  yathā —as.
TRANSLATION
Bhakti, devotional service, dissolves the subtle body of the living entity without separate effort, just as fire in the stomach digests all that we eat.
PURPORT
Bhakti  is in a far higher position than  mukti  because a person's endeavor to get liberation from the material encagement is automatically served in devotional service. The example is given here that the fire in the stomach can digest whatever we eat. If the digestive power is sufficient, then whatever we can eat will be digested by the fire in the stomach. Similarly, a devotee doesn't have to try separately to attain liberation. That very service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the process of his liberation because to engage oneself in the service of the Lord is already liberation from material entanglement. Śrī Bilvamaṅgala Thākura explained this position very nicely. He said, "If I have unflinching devotion unto the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, then  mukti  or liberation serves me as my maidservant.  Mukti , the maidservant, is always ready to do whatever I ask."
For a devotee, liberation is no problem at all. Liberation takes place without separate endeavor.  Bhakti , therefore, is far better than  mukti  or the impersonalist position. The impersonalists undergo severe penances and austerities to attain  mukti , but the  bhakta , simply by engaging himself in the  bhakti  process, especially in chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, immediately develops control over the tongue by engaging it in chanting and accepting the remnants of foodstuff offered to the Personality of Godhead. As soon as the tongue is controlled, naturally all other senses are controlled automatically. Sense control is the perfection of the  yoga  principle, and one's liberation begins immediately as soon as he engages himself in the service of the Lord. It is confirmed by Kapiladeva that  bhakti  or devotional service is  garīyasī , more glorious than  siddhi , liberation.
TEXT 34
नैकात्मतां मे स्पृहयन्ति केचिन्- मत्पादसेवाभिरता मदीहाः ।