Text 13]
Nārada Instructs the Pracetās
1571
TRANSLATION
Transcendental practices that do not ultimately help one realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead are useless, be they mystic yoga practices, the analytical study of matter, severe austerity, the acceptance of sannyāsa, or the study of Vedic literature. All these may be very important aspects of spiritual advancement, but unless one understands the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, all these processes are useless.
PURPORT
In  Caitanya-caritāmṛta  it is said:
bhakti vinā kevala jñāne ‘mukti’ nāhi haya bhakti sādhana kare yei ‘prāpta-brahmalaya’ (Cc. Madhya 24.109)
Impersonalists do not take to devotional service but take to other practices, such as the analytical study of the material elements, the discrimination between matter and spirit, and the mystic  yoga  system. These are beneficial only insofar as they are complementary to devotional service. Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore told Sanātana Gosvāmī that without a touch of devotional service,  jñāna ,  yoga  and  sāṅkhya  philosophy cannot give one the desired results. The impersonalists wish to merge into the Supreme Brahman; however, merging into the Supreme Brahman also requires a touch of devotional service. The Absolute Truth is realized in three phases—impersonal Brahman, Paramātmā and the Supreme Personality of Godhead. All these require a touch of devotional service. Sometimes it is actually seen that these Māyāvādīs also chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa  mahā-mantra , although their motive is to merge into the Brahman effulgence of the Absolute. The  yogīs  also at times take to chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa  mahā-mantra , but their purpose is different from that of the  bhaktas . In all processes— karma ,  jñāna  or  yoga-bhakti  is required. That is the purport of this verse.
TEXT 13
श्रेयसामपि सर्वेषामात्मा ह्यवधिरर्थतः। सर्वेषामपि भूतानां हरिरात्माऽऽत्मदः प्रियः ॥१३॥
śreyasām api sarveṣām ātmā hy avadhir arthataḥ