Verse Three

utsāhān niścayād dhairyāt
tat-tat-karma-pravartanāt
saṅga-tyāgāt sato vṛtteḥ
ṣaḍbhir bhaktiḥ prasidhyati

Enthusiasm, conviction, perseverance, engaging in favourable activities, giving up bad association, following the conduct of the great souls—devotion is nourished by these six qualities.

Bhasya by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur

anukulya-sankalpera chhaya anga sara
utsaha visvasa dhairya tat-tat-karma ara [1]

sanga-tyaga sadhu-vrtti karile asraya
bhakti-yoga-siddhi labhe sarva-sastre kaya [2]

All the scriptures say that if you take shelter in the six most important aspects of accepting the favourable—enthusiasm, conviction, perseverance, engaging in favourable activities, abandoning bad association, and following the conduct of the sadhus—then you will attain perfection in the practice of devotion.

bhakti-anusthane utsahera prayojana
bhaktite visvasa drdha dhairyavalambana [3]

ye karma karile haya bhaktira ullasa
ye karma jivana-yatra nirvahe prayasa [4]

Enthusiasm for devotional practice, firm conviction in devotion, perseverance, activities by which devotion develops, and activities by which one’s life is maintained are all necessary.

asat-sanga tyage haya sanga-vivarjana
sadachara sadhu-vrtti sarvada palana [5]

Give up association by rejecting bad association and always follow the conduct and practices of the sadhus.

tyagi bhiksa-yoge ara grhi dharmasraye
karibe jivana yatra savadhana haye [6]

Renunciants should carefully maintain their lives by begging, and householders should do so by following the codes for proper conduct.

Piyusa-varsini-vrtti by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur

Maintaining one’s life and practising devotion are both necessary for devotees. In the first half of this verse, activities that are favourable to the practice of devotion are prescribed, and in the second half, the way devotees should maintain their lives is prescribed. Devotion is perfected by utsaha, nischaya, dhairya, practices that are nourising to devotion [tat-tat-karma-pravartana], sanga-tyaga, and sadachar or sad-vrtti. Utsaha means eagerness for devotional practice. By indifference, devotion is lost. Practice with adoration is utsaha. Nischaya means firm conviction. Dhairya means not slackening in one’s engagement in the process even after seeing delays in the attainment of the goal. There are two types of activities that are nourishing to devotion: prescribed actions and restrictions on actions. Hearing, chanting, and so on are the prescriptions; giving up one’s own enjoyment or happiness for Krishna’s sake and other such activities are the restrictions. Sanga-tyaga means giving up the association of irreligious persons, women, the condition of being henpecked, men who associate with women, and nondevotees—materialists, illusionists, atheists, and religious hypocrites. Sad-vrtti means the conduct followed by the sadhus and the means by which they maintain their lives. For renunciants, sad-vrtti means begging, and for householders, it means acting according to the rules for their social role and function (varna and asram).