Adhyaya 16

This chapter teaches that devotion (bhakti) to Hari surpasses social rank and ritual pedigree. It declares that a brāhmaṇa without devotion is inferior to one deemed an outcaste if that person is truly devoted, for bhakti alone is the mark of spiritual nobility. It then recounts a Dvāpara-age tale of the Śabara devotee Cakrīkā. In spontaneous love he offers fruit to Viṣṇu, even after tasting it first, unaware of purity rules. When the fruit lodges in his throat and his distress to present it to Murāri drives him to wound himself, Viṣṇu appears, proclaims his devotion unequalled, heals him by touch, and accepts his hymn of praise. Cakrīkā asks for no worldly boon—only a steadfast mind in the Lord—and ultimately attains liberation. The teaching concludes that Viṣṇu is pleased by devotion alone, not by wealth, hymns, austerities, or japa.