SB 1.5.17
यत्र क्व वाभद्रमभूदमुष्य किं को वार्थ आप्तोऽभजतां स्वधर्मतः ॥ १७
bhajann apakvo’tha patet tato yadi
yatra kva vābhadram abhūd amuṣya kiṁ
ko vārtha āpto’bhajatāṁ sva-dharmataḥ
Synonyms
kim — has; abhadram — inauspiciousness; abhūt — ever occurred; amuṣya — of [i.e., to] him [the person who has awakened a taste for devotion (bhakti-rasikasya)65]; yatra kva vā — in whatever circumstance he might find himself [(yatra kvāpy avasthāyām);66 even in a lower birth (nīca-yonāv api)]; tyaktvā — [who] having abandoned; sva-dharmam — his prescribed socio-religious duty [nitya-naimittika sva-dharma]; bhajan — becomes devoted [bhajan syāt67]; caraṇa-ambujam — to the lotus feet; hareḥ — of Bhagavān Hari [Kṛṣṇa]; yadi — [even] if; atha — thereafter; apakvaḥ — while still in an immature stage [without having yet attained the ultimate goal (akṛtārthaḥ)]; patet — he should meet with death or somehow fall away [mriyate kathañcit bhraśyed vā]; tataḥ — from that [from such bhajana]; [no, such a thing has never occurred, because the residual predispositions for bhakti are permanently existent (nabhūd evety arthaḥ, bhakti-vāsanā-sad-bhāvād iti bhāvaḥ)]; [on the other hand (tu)]; kaḥ vā arthaḥ — what value; āptaḥ — is gained [prāptaḥ]; [kevalam] sva-dharmataḥ — through adherence to prescribed duty alone; abhajatām — of [i.e., by] those who fail to worship Bhagavān.
Translation
Has inauspiciousness ever befallen a person, in whatever circumstance he might find himself, who, having abandoned his prescribed socio-religious duty, becomes devoted to the lotus feet of Bhagavān Hari, even if, thereafter, while still in an immature stage, he should meet with death or somehow fall away from such bhajana? On the other hand, what value is gained through adherence to prescribed duty alone by those who fail to worship Bhagavān?