devarṣi-bhūtāpta-nṛṇāḿ pitṝṇāḿ

na kińkaro nāyam ṛṇī ca rājan

sarvātmanā yaḥ śaraṇaḿ śaraṇyaḿ

gato mukundaḿ parihṛtya kartam

[SB 11541]


"'One who has given up all material duties and taken full shelter at the lotus feet of Mukunda, who gives shelter to all, is not indebted to the demigods, great sages, ordinary living beings, relatives, friends, mankind or even his forefathers who have passed away.'


The only duty to be performed is to become Krsna Conscious, this is the root of the tree.

SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM CANTO 9 CHAPTER 18 TEXT 44

uttamaś cintitaṁ kuryāt

prokta-kārī tu madhyamaḥ

adhamo ’śraddhayā kuryād

akartoccaritaṁ pituḥ

TRANSLATION

A son who acts by anticipating what his father wants him to do is first class, one who acts upon receiving his father’s order is second class, and one who executes his father’s order irreverently is third class. But a son who refuses his father’s order is like his father’s stool.

PURPORT

"Pūru, Yayāti’s last son, immediately accepted his father’s proposal, for although he was the youngest, he was very qualified. Pūru thought, “I should have accepted my father’s proposal before he asked, but I did not. Therefore I am not a first-class son. I am second class. But I do not wish to become the lowest type of son, who is compared to his father’s stool.” One Indian poet has spoken of putra and mūtra. putra means “son,” and mūtra means “urine.” Both a son and urine come from the same genitals. If a son is an obedient devotee of the Lord he is called putra, or a real son; otherwise, if he is not learned and is not a devotee, a son is nothing better than urine."

"Mahārāja Yadu was different from his brothers. As stated in the next verse, turvasuś coditaḥ pitrā druhyuś cānuś ca bhārata/ pratyācakhyur adharmajñāḥ. Mahārāja Yadu’s brothers refused to accept their father’s proposal because they were not completely aware of dharma. To accept orders that follow religious principles, especially the orders of one’s father, is very important. Therefore when the brothers of Mahārāja Yadu refused their father’s order, this was certainly irreligious. Mahārāja Yadu’s refusal, however, was religious. As stated in the Tenth Canto, yadoś ca dharma-śīlāya: Mahārāja Yadu was completely aware of the principles of religion. The ultimate principle of religion is to engage oneself in devotional service to the Lord. Mahārāja Yadu was very eager to engage himself in the Lord’s service, but there was an impediment: during youth the material desire to enjoy the material senses is certainly present, and unless one fully satisfies these lusty desires in youth, there is a chance of one’s being disturbed in rendering service to the Lord. We have actually seen that many sannyāsīs who accept sannyāsa prematurely, not having satisfied their material desires, fall down because they are disturbed. Therefore the general process is to go through gṛhastha life and vānaprastha life and finally come to sannyāsa and devote oneself completely to the service of the Lord. Mahārāja Yadu was ready to accept his father’s order and exchange youth for old age because he was confident that the youth taken by his father would be returned. But because this exchange would delay his complete engagement in devotional service, he did not want to accept his father’s old age, for he was eager to achieve freedom from disturbances. SB 9.18.40 Purport