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The Glories of Devotional Service
1055
na —not;  anyatra —otherwise;  mat —than Myself;  bhagavataḥ —the Supreme Personality of Godhead;  pradhāna-puruṣa-tśvarāt —the Lord of both  prakṛti  and  puruṣa ;  ātmanaḥ —the Soul;  sarva-bhūtānām —of all living beings;  bhayam —fear;  tīvram —terrible;  nivartate —is forsaken.
TRANSLATION
The terrible fear of birth and death can never be forsaken by anyone who resorts to any shelter other than Myself, for I am the almighty Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the original source of all creation, and also the Supreme Soul of all souls.
PURPORT
It is indicated herein that the cycle of birth and death cannot be stopped unless one is a pure devotee of the Supreme Lord. It is said,  harim vinā na sṛtim taranti . One cannot surpass the cycle of birth and death unless one is favored by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The same concept is confirmed herewith: one may take to the system of understanding the Absolute Truth by one's own imperfect sensual speculation, or one may try to realize the self by the mystic  yoga  process; but whatever one may do, unless he comes to the point of surrendering to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, no process can give him liberation. One may ask if this means that those who are undergoing so much penance and austerity by strictly following the rules and regulations are endeavoring in vain. The answer is given by  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  (10.2.32):  ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ . Lord Brahmā and other demigods prayed to the Lord when Kṛṣṇa was in the womb of Devakī: "My dear lotus-eyed Lord, there are persons who are puffed up with the thought that they have become liberated or one with God or have become God, but in spite of thinking in such a puffed-up way, their intelligence is not laudable. They are less intelligent." It is stated that their intelligence, whether high or low, is not even purified. In purified intelligence a living entity cannot think otherwise than to surrender.  Bhagavad-gītā , therefore, confirms that purified intelligence arises in the person of a very wise man.  Bahūnām janmanām ante jñānavān mām prapadyate . After many, many births, one who is actually advanced in intelligence surrenders unto the Supreme Lord.
Without the surrendering process, one cannot achieve liberation. The  Bhāgavatam  says, "Those who are simply puffed up, thinking themselves liberated by some nondevotional process, are not polished or clear in intelligence because they have not yet surrendered unto You. In spite of executing all kinds of austerities and penances or even arriving at the