Śrīla Viśvanāth Chakravartī Ṭhākur’s commentary on tat Te ’nukampāṁ susamīkṣamāṇo.
tat te ’nukampāṁ susamīkṣamāṇo
bhuñjāna evātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam
hṛd‑vāg‑vapurbhir vidadhan namas te
jīveta yo mukti-pade sa dāya-bhāk
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.14.8)
“One who perfectly sees Your mercy, endures the reactions to one’s past actions, and lives in submission to You with one’s mind, body, and words is an heir to liberation—Your eternal service.”
Śrī Sārārtha-daśinī-ṭikā 10.14.8
“By leaving all other endeavours and practising devotion, one will attain You.” Now that this conception has been understood, in anticipation of the question, “How should devotion be practised?” Brahmā speaks this verse. As “worldly ends cannot be the result of spiritual practice” (dharmasya hy āpavargyasya nārtho ‘rthāyopakalpate (SB: 1.2.9)), so, while experiencing “the result of one’s past actions” (ātma-kṛtaṁ vipākaṁ)—both the happiness caused by practising devotion and the suffering caused by committing offences [in devotion]—one sees them as duly and wholly the Lord’s mercy; one knows that the happiness and the suffering one experiences from time to time are both the results of the Lord’s mercy. As a father sometimes mercifully nourishes his son with milk and at other times with neem juice, sometimes embraces and kisses him, and at other times slaps him, so, “Like a father for his son, my Lord, You certainly know what is good and bad for me; I don’t know anything. Moreover, time and karma have no jurisdiction over me, as I am Your devotee; it is You who mercifully cause me to experience happiness and sadness, and You who engage me in Your service.”
yathā chared bāla-hitaṁ pitā svayaṁ
tathā tvam evārhasi naḥ samīhitum
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.20.31)
[Pṛthu Mahārāj: “As a father acts for the benefit of his son, so it is befitting for You to take action for me.”]
One who prays to the Lord every day in this way like Pṛthu Mahārāj, remains submissive to Him with one’s body, mind, and words, and maintains one’s life without excessive struggle is a rightful heir to both mukti and pada: the auxiliary result of devotion— liberation from saṁsāra—and its primary result—the service of the Lord’s feet. As a son’s simply being alive is the cause of him obtaining his inheritance, so a devotee’s life is situated on the path of devotion [just by following the path of devotion, a devotee becomes entitled to liberation and service to the Lord].
dṛtaya iva śvasanty asu-bhṛto yadi te ‘nuvidhā
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.87.17)
[“If a living being has no devotion to You, they breath like a bellows (their life is meaningless).”]
This is the purport of the above statement.
Reference
Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur summarises as follows:
Those who are intelligent consider karmic reactions the Lord’s mercy. They endure them and live on, having surrendered themselves to the Lord in thought, word, and deed. They accept whatever great adversities occur to be the reactions to their own actions and do not fault the Lord. Rather, they accept all adversity on their heads as mercy and become all the more enamoured with the Lord. This the Bhāgavat’s teaching [10.14.8].