22
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 6, Ch. 1]
TEXT 15
केचित्केवलया भक्त्या वासुदेवपरायणाः । अघं धुन्वन्ति कात्स्न्येन नीहारमिव भास्करः॥१५॥
kecit kevalayā bhaktyā vāsudeva-parāyaṇāḥ agham dhunvanti kārtsnyena nihāram iva bhāskaraḥ
kecit —some people;  kevalayā bhaktyā —by executing unalloyed devotional service;  vāsudeva —to Lord Kṛṣṇa, the all-pervading Supreme Personality of Godhead;  parāyaṇāḥ —completely attached (only to such service, without dependence on austerity, penance, cultivation of knowledge or pious activities);  agham —all kinds of sinful reactions;  dhunvanti —destroy;  kārtsnyena —completely (with no possibility that sinful desires will revive);  nihāram —fog;  iva —like;  bhāskaraḥ —the sun.
TRANSLATION
Only a rare person who has adopted complete, unalloyed devotional service to Kṛṣṇa can uproot the weeds of sinful actions with no possibility that they will revive. He can do this simply by discharging devotional service, just as the sun can immediately dissipate fog by its rays.
PURPORT
In the previous verse Śukadeva Gosvāmī gave the example that the dried leaves of creepers beneath a bamboo tree may be completely burnt to ashes by a fire, although the creepers may sprout again because the root is still in the ground. Similarly, because the root of sinful desire is not destroyed in the heart of a person who is cultivating knowledge but who has no taste for devotional service, there is a possibility that his sinful desires will reappear. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.14.4):
śreyaḥ-sṛtiṁ bhaktim udasya te vibho kliśyanti ye kevala-bodha-labdhaye