न तथा ह्यघवान् राजन्पूयेत तपआदिभि: । यथा कृष्णार्पितप्राणस्तत्पुरुषनिषेवया ॥ १६ ॥
na tatha hy aghavan rajan puyeta tapa-adibhih yatha krsnarpita-pranas tat-purusa-nisevaya
- na
- not
- tatha
- so much
- hi
- certainly
- agha-van
- a man full of sinful activities
- rajan
- O King
- puyeta
- can become purified
- tapah-adibhih
- by executing the principles of austerity, penance, brahmacarya and other purifying processes
- yatha
- as much as
- krsna-arpita-pranah
- the devotee whose life is fully Krsna conscious
- tat-purusa-nisevaya
- by engaging his life in the service of Krsna’s representative.
My dear King, if a sinful person engages in the service of a bona fide devotee of the Lord and thus learns how to dedicate his life unto the lotus feet of Krsna, he can be completely purified. One cannot be purified merely by undergoing austerity, penance, brahmacarya and the other methods of atonement I have previously described.