Text 56

sarva-karmany api sada
kurvano mad-vyapasrayah
mat-prasadad avapnoti
sasvatam padam avyayam

Translation

Though engaged in all kinds of activities, My pure devotee, under My protection, reaches the eternal and imperishable abode by My grace.

Commentary by Srila Prabhupada 

The word mad-vyapasrayah means under the protection of the Supreme Lord. To be free from material contamination, a pure devotee acts under the direction of the Supreme Lord or His representative, the spiritual master. There is no time limitation for a pure devotee. He is always, twenty-four hours a day, one hundred percent engaged in activities under the direction of the Supreme Lord. To a devotee who is thus engaged in Krishna consciousness the Lord is very, very kind. In spite of all difficulties, he is eventually placed in the transcendental abode, or Krishnaloka. He is guaranteed entrance there; there is no doubt about it. In that supreme abode, there is no change; everything is eternal, imperishable and full of knowledge.

Commentary by Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur

It has thus been said that the jnani step by step giving up the results of work, work itself and then jnana, attains sayujya. Now hear from me how my devotee attains me.

That devotee takes shelter of me, even with evident material desires (vi apa asrayah). Vi stands for visesatah, meaning "particularly," and apa stands for apakrsta, meaning "low." He is not even a niskama bhakta, for he performs all actions even material ones such as protecting wife and children as well as nitya, naimittka and kamya karmas. What is the question of his giving up karma, yoga, jnana, worship of devatas, or other desires?

The word asrayate means he completely serves. The prefix "a" emphasizes the predominance of service. The use of the word api indicates inferiority of these other actions. Thus he performs these other activities, but as secondary actions. Thus, he has bhakti mixed with karma, rather than karma mixed with bhakti, which was already described in the first six chapters. There is no overlapping of actions with the previous descriptions. That bhakta attains my eternal dhamas (padam), such as Vaikuntha, Mathura, Dvaraka, and Ayodhya.

"But will those dhamas remain after the pralaya?"

"They are indestructible (avyayam). At the time of mahapralaya, my dhamas will not disappear, because of my inconceivable power."

"The jnani, after many births, having undergone much suffering and austerities, having stopped the action of senses for sense objects, attains naiskarmya, and then sayujya. How does this devotee, performing actions and having desires, attain your eternal dhamas just by taking shelter of you?"

"He attains it by my mercy (mat prasadat). Know that my mercy is inconceivable and most powerful."