Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 47
Vānaprastha-vidhi and Sannyāsa-dharma: Austerity, Detachment, and the Paramahaṁsa Ideal
वर्णाश्रमवतां धर्म एष आचारलक्षण: । स एव मद्भक्तियुतो नि:श्रेयसकर: पर: ॥ ४७ ॥
varṇāśramavatāṁ dharma eṣa ācāra-lakṣaṇaḥ sa eva mad-bhakti-yuto niḥśreyasa-karaḥ paraḥ
This is the dharma of those who follow varṇāśrama: to live by the authorized traditions of proper conduct. When such varṇāśrama duties are offered to Me in loving service, they bestow the supreme perfection of life.
According to the varṇāśrama system, the members of different orders and statuses of life have many traditional duties, such as worshiping the forefathers to save them from possible sinful reactions. All such Vedic rituals, sacrifices, austerities and so forth should be offered to the lotus feet of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. They then become the transcendental means for going back home, back to Godhead. In other words, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or loving service to Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is the sum and substance of progressive human life.
FAQs
This verse says varṇāśrama-dharma is defined by proper conduct, but it becomes supremely beneficial only when it is joined with devotion to Kṛṣṇa.
In the Uddhava-gītā, Kṛṣṇa teaches Uddhava how duties and social-religious conduct reach perfection when they culminate in pure devotion, leading to the highest welfare.
Perform your responsibilities with integrity and self-discipline, and consciously offer the results to Kṛṣṇa through remembrance, prayer, and devotional practice—so duty becomes a path to inner freedom.