Vinopasarpaty-aparaà hi bäliçaù

çva läìgulenäti titarti sindhuà

“Free from all material conceptions of existence and never wonder struck by anything, the Lord is always jubilant and fully satisfied by His own spiritual perfection. He has no material designation, and therefore He is steady and unattached. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the only shelter of everyone. Anyone desiring to be protected by others is certainly a great fool who desires to cross the sea by holding the tail of a dog.”

Those who are situated in varëa and äçrama and do not worship the Supreme Lord Govinda, but superficial demigods, are greatly foolish. What are the qualities of Govinda? He is always satisfied by the perfection of His eight kinds of opulence called aëimä, laghimä etc. He alone awards the surrendered souls their desired goal. Therefore, other than Him, no one else is fully satisfied.

Lord Govinda is 'avismita,' because being eternal, there is no question of wonder in Him. He is 'praçänta,' because He has a form desired by His devotees. Bewildered by the external potency of the Lord, a person leaves the devotional service of the Supreme Lord and worships demigods. He is foolish; he is described as a foolish man trying to cross the ocean by holding the tail of a dog. Thus, one who has turned his face from the Lord to serve demigods to fulfill his insignificant desires gets no result, as everything is dependent on the Supreme Lord. He has no way to escape from the bondage of repeated birth and death.

c. In Padma Puräëa it is said:

yathä dhåtvä çunaù pucchaà

tartuà icchet saritpatim

tathä tyaktvä harià sevyaà

anyopäsanayä bhavam

“As a person desires to cross the ocean by holding a tail of a dog, similarly an unintelligent man desires to deliver himself from the material bondage by worshipping others, giving up Lord Hari.”

Here the word 'anyopäsanayä' means serving or worshipping the external and marginal energies of the Lord, such as demigods and other living entities. Therefore, other than Lord Hari, there is no one else who is worshipable in this material world.

d. As Lord Çiva has mentioned to Närada:

bhuvane sarva-lokänäà

näradhyo vai harià vénä

bhavärëavacchinna ko 'pi

sarva kämada kämadaù

“ O Närada, in this world no one else but Lord Hari is to be worshipped by all. Apart from Him, no one else can deliver the souls from the ocean of birth and death and no one can fulfil the desires of the materialists.”

'Bhuvane' means not only on this middle planet but on all the fourteen planets,the Supreme Lord Hari is to be worshipped by all, even Lord Brahmä. It is concluded that other than Him no one in existence is to be worshipped. But even if one worships the Lord's external and marginal potencies to fulfill all his desires according to prescription of the Vedas, Puräëas, Småtis, and Ägamas, the bestower of fulfillment to the demigods is Lord Çré Hari. Therefore, being among the external and marginal potencies, the demigods have no power to cut off the bondage of the ocean of birth and death. Except for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, no one can mitigate the great fear of the dangerous circuit of mundane existence.

e. In Çrémad Bhägavatam 11.19.9 Uddhava says to the Lord:

täpa-trayeëäpi hatasya ghore

santapya mänasya bhavädhvanéça

paçyämi nänyac-caraëaà taväïghri

dvandvä tapaträdamåtäbhivarñäd

“My dear Lord, for one tormented on the terrible path of birth and death and constantly overwhelmed by the threefold miseries, I do not see any possible shelter other than Your two lotus feet, which are just like a refreshing umbrella that pours down showers of delicious nectar.”

‘O Lord, on this terrible path of birth and death, the souls who are suffering by the miseries, such as ädhidaivika, ädhibhautika and ädhyätmika, and entering repreatedly the womb have no shelter. Except for the umbrella of Your lotus feet, I don't see any other shelter. As a person protects himself from the fierce sunshine and rain by holding an umbrella, so the souls who are bound by the ropes of birth and death escape that bondage by going under the umbrella of Your lotus feet.

'amåtam' means the four kinds of salvations such as attaining the same abode as the Lord and serving His lotus feet and thereby attaining liberation from the transmigration of the body. The Lord’s feet produce showers of bliss in the form of different types of liberation, like the unlimited drops of water in a shower of rain. For that reason, there is no other way to get out from the existence of the mundane world, except these two lotus feet of Yours, O Absolute Truth, Personality of Godhead! In this world You are the only shelter of the demigods, demons and human beings. One who does not worship Your lotus feet never achieves liberation. And the one who serves Your lotus feet becomes free from the bondage of the material world and remains in happiness always –in this llife and the next.’

The consciousness of full surrender