Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 24
Chapter 19
एवं धर्मैर्मनुष्याणामुद्धवात्मनिवेदिनाम् ।
मयि सञ्जायते भक्तिः कोऽन्योऽर्थोऽस्यावशिष्यते ॥
evaṃ dharmair manuṣyāṇām uddhavātma-nivedinām / mayi sañjāyate bhaktiḥ ko 'nyo 'rtho 'syāvaśiṣyate //
Ô Uddhava, par de telles pratiques de dharma, chez les humains qui se sont offerts eux-mêmes à Moi naît la bhakti envers Moi. Quel autre but pourrait-il alors rester à atteindre ?
Having defined the devotional orientation of all disciplines in the previous verse, Kṛṣṇa now states the result: bhakti naturally manifests in the heart of the self-surrendered (ātma-nivedinām). The emphasis is not on mechanical performance of dharma, but on dharma harmonized with surrender—where the practitioner belongs to the Lord. When a person’s identity shifts from “I am the doer and enjoyer” to “I am Krishna’s servant,” religious life stops being a ladder for worldly success and becomes a channel for love of God. The rhetorical question—“What other purpose remains?”—asserts bhakti as the supreme end (parama-puruṣārtha). In the Bhagavata vision, once devotion awakens, subsidiary aims like wealth, pleasure, and even impersonal liberation lose their independent attraction. Bhakti itself contains fulfillment because it reconnects the jīva with its eternal relationship with Bhagavān. Thus, the verse is both a promise (bhakti will arise) and a reorientation of goals (nothing higher remains).
FAQs
Bhagavatam 11.19.24 presents devotion to Krishna (bhakti) as the supreme goal; when bhakti arises in a surrendered heart, no higher purpose remains.
They are those who have offered their very self to Krishna—living with surrender, seeing themselves as His, and aligning dharma and daily life with His pleasure.
It teaches that practices and duties should culminate in surrender and devotion; rather than chasing many goals, one should cultivate bhakti as the final purpose of life.