praviṣṭaḥ karṇa-randhreṇa
svānāḿ bhāva-saroruham
dhunoti śamalaḿ kṛṣṇaḥ
salilasya yathā śarat
TRANSLATION
The sound incarnation of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Soul [i.e. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam], enters into the heart of a self-realized devotee, sits on the lotus flower of his loving relationship, and thus cleanses the dust of material association, such as lust, anger and hankering. Thus it acts like autumnal rains upon pools of muddy water.
śṛṇvataḥ śraddhayā nityaḿ
gṛṇataś ca sva-ceṣṭitam
kālena nātidīrgheṇa
bhagavān viśate hṛdi
TRANSLATION
Persons who hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam regularly and are always taking the matter very seriously will have the Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa manifested in their hearts within a short time
हंसे गुरौ मयि भक्त्यानुवृत्या
वितृष्णया द्वन्द्वतितिक्षया च ।
सर्वत्र जन्तोर्व्यसनावगत्या
जिज्ञासया तपसेहानिवृत्त्या ॥ १० ॥
मत्कर्मभिर्मत्कथया च नित्यं
मद्देवसङ्गाद् गुणकीर्तनान्मे ।
निर्वैरसाम्योपशमेन पुत्रा
जिहासया देहगेहात्मबुद्धे: ॥ ११ ॥
अध्यात्मयोगेन विविक्तसेवया
प्राणेन्द्रियात्माभिजयेन सध्य्रक् ।
सच्छ्रद्धया ब्रह्मचर्येण शश्वद्
असम्प्रमादेन यमेन वाचाम् ॥ १२ ॥
सर्वत्र मद्भावविचक्षणेन
ज्ञानेन विज्ञानविराजितेन ।
योगेन धृत्युद्यमसत्त्वयुक्तो
लिङ्गं व्यपोहेत्कुशलोऽहमाख्यम् ॥ १३ ॥
haṁse gurau mayi bhaktyānuvṛtyā
vitṛṣṇayā dvandva-titikṣayā ca
sarvatra jantor vyasanāvagatyā
jijñāsayā tapasehā-nivṛttyā
mat-karmabhir mat-kathayā ca nityaṁ
mad-deva-saṅgād guṇa-kīrtanān me
nirvaira-sāmyopaśamena putrā
jihāsayā deha-gehātma-buddheḥ
adhyātma-yogena vivikta-sevayā
prāṇendriyātmābhijayena sadhryak
sac-chraddhayā brahmacaryeṇa śaśvad
asampramādena yamena vācām
sarvatra mad-bhāva-vicakṣaṇena
jñānena vijñāna-virājitena
yogena dhṛty-udyama-sattva-yukto
liṅgaṁ vyapohet kuśalo ’ham-ākhyam
Translation
O My sons, you should accept a highly elevated paramahaṁsa, a spiritually advanced spiritual master. In this way, you should place your faith and love in Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. You should detest sense gratification and tolerate the duality of pleasure and pain, which are like the seasonal changes of summer and winter. Try to realize the miserable condition of living entities, who are miserable even in the higher planetary systems. Philosophically inquire about the truth. Then undergo all kinds of austerities and penances for the sake of devotional service. Give up the endeavor for sense enjoyment and engage in the service of the Lord. Listen to discussions about the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and always associate with devotees. Chant about and glorify the Supreme Lord, and look upon everyone equally on the spiritual platform. Give up enmity and subdue anger and lamentation. Abandon identifying the self with the body and the home, and practice reading the revealed scriptures. Live in a secluded place and practice the process by which you can completely control your life air, mind and senses. Have full faith in the revealed scriptures, the Vedic literatures, and always observe celibacy. Perform your prescribed duties and avoid unnecessary talks. Always thinking of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, acquire knowledge from the right source. Thus practicing bhakti-yoga, you will patiently and enthusiastically be elevated in knowledge and will be able to give up the false ego.
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aho bata śva-paco ’to garīyān
yaj-jihvāgre vartate nāma tubhyam
tepus tapas te juhuvuḥ sasnur āryā
brahmānūcur nāma gṛṇanti ye te
(Srimad Bhagavatam: 3.33.7)
“How glorious! An outcast on the tip of whose tongue Your Name appears is exalted. Those who chant Your Name have performed all austerities and sacrifices, bathed in all the holy places, attained all virtues, and studied all the scriptures.”
After the Battle of Kurukṣetra, Śrī Bhīṣmadeva described to King Yudhiṣṭhira his wonder at this:
yatra dharma-suto rājā
gadā-pāṇir vṛkodaraḥ
kṛṣṇo ’strī gāṇḍivaṁ cāpaṁ
suhṛt kṛṣṇas tato vipat
na hy asya karhicid rājan
pumān vetti vidhitsitam
yad-vijijñāsayā yuktā
muhyanti kavayo ’pi hi
“Oh, how wonderful is the influence of inevitable time! It is irreversible — otherwise, how can there be reverses in the presence of King Yudhiṣṭhira, the son of the demigod controlling religion; Bhīma, the great fighter with a club; the great bowman Arjuna with his mighty weapon Gāṇḍīva; and above all, the Lord, the direct well-wisher of the Pāṇḍavas? O King, no one can know the plan of the Lord [Śrī Kṛṣṇa]. Even though great philosophers inquire exhaustively, they are bewildered.” (Bhāg. 1.9.15-16)
श्रीराजोवाच
येन येनावतारेण भगवान् हरिरीश्वर: ।
करोति कर्णरम्याणि मनोज्ञानि च न: प्रभो ॥ १ ॥
यच्छृण्वतोऽपैत्यरतिर्वितृष्णा
सत्त्वं च शुद्ध्यत्यचिरेण पुंस: ।
भक्तिर्हरौ तत्पुरुषे च सख्यं
तदेव हारं वद मन्यसे चेत् ॥ २ ॥
śrī-rājovāca
yena yenāvatāreṇa
bhagavān harir īśvaraḥ
karoti karṇa-ramyāṇi
mano-jñāni ca naḥ prabho
yac-chṛṇvato ’paity aratir vitṛṣṇā
sattvaṁ ca śuddhyaty acireṇa puṁsaḥ
bhaktir harau tat-puruṣe ca sakhyaṁ
tad eva hāraṁ vada manyase cet
TRANSLATION
King Parīkshit said: My lord, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, all the various activities exhibited by the incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are certainly pleasing to the ear and to the mind. Simply by one’s hearing of these activities, the dirty things in one’s mind immediately vanish. Generally we are reluctant to hear about the activities of the Lord, but Krishna’s childhood activities are so attractive that they are automatically pleasing to the mind and ear. Thus one’s attachment for hearing about material things, which is the root cause of material existence, vanishes, and one gradually develops devotional service to the Supreme Lord, attachment for Him, and friendship with devotees who give us the contribution of Krishna consciousness. If you think it fit, kindly speak about those activities of the Lord.
ati-vādāṁs titikṣeta nāvamanyeta kañcana
na cemaṁ deham āśritya vairaṁ kurvīta kenacit
“One should tolerate all insults and never fail to show proper respect to any person. Avoiding identification with the material body, one should not create enmity with anyone. (Bhāg. 12.6.34)
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
kṛpālur akṛta-drohas titikṣuḥ sarva-dehinām
satya-sāro ‘nvadyātma samaḥ sarvopakārakaḥ
“The Lord said: O Uddhava, a saintly person is merciful and never injures others. Even if others are aggressive he is tolerant and forgiving toward all living entities. His strength and meaning in life come from the truth itself, he is free from all envy and jealousy, and his mind is equal in material happiness and distress. Thus, he dedicates his time to work for the welfare of all others.”
yāvat te māyayā spṛṣṭā
bhramāma iha karmabhiḥ
tāvad bhavat-prasańgānāḿ
sańgaḥ syān no bhave bhave
TRANSLATION
Dear Lord, as long as we have to remain within this material world due to our material contamination and wander from one type of body to another and from one planet to another, we pray that we may associate with those who are engaged in discussing Your pastimes. We pray for this benediction life after life, in different bodily forms and on different planets.
yatra bhāgavatā rājan
sādhavo viśadāśayāḥ
bhagavad-guṇānukathana-
śravaṇa-vyagra-cetasaḥ
tasmin mahan-mukharitā madhubhic-caritra-
pīyūṣa-śeṣa-saritaḥ paritaḥ sravanti
tā ye pibanty avitṛṣo nṛpa gāḍha-karṇais
tān na spṛśanty aśana-tṛḍ-bhaya-śoka-mohāḥ
TRANSLATION
My dear King, in the place where pure devotees live, following the rules and regulations and thus purely conscious and engaged with great eagerness in hearing and chanting the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in that place if one gets a chance to hear their constant flow of nectar, which is exactly like the waves of a river, one will forget the necessities of life — namely hunger and thirst — and become immune to all kinds of fear, lamentation and illusion.
भवापवर्गो भ्रमतो यदा भवे-
ज्जनस्य तर्ह्यच्युत सत्समागम: ।
सत्सङ्गमो यर्हि तदैव सद्गतौ
परावरेशे त्वयि जायते मति: ॥ ५३ ॥
bhavāpavargo bhramato yadā bhavej
janasya tarhy acyuta sat-samāgamaḥ
sat-saṅgamo yarhi tadaiva sad-gatau
parāvareśe tvayi jāyate matiḥ
Synonyms
bhava — of material existence; apavargaḥ — the cessation; bhramataḥ — who has been wandering; yadā — when; bhavet — occurs; janasya — for a person; tarhi — at that time; acyuta — O infallible Lord; sat — of saintly devotees; samāgamaḥ — the association; sat-saṇgamaḥ — saintly association; yarhi — when; tadā — then; eva — only; sat — of the saintly; gatau — who is the goal; para — of superior (the causes of material creation); avara — and inferior (their products); īśe — for the Supreme Lord; tvayi — Yourself; jāyate — is born; matiḥ — devotion.
Translation
When the material life of a wandering soul has ceased, O Acyuta, he may attain the association of Your devotees. And when he associates with them, there awakens in him devotion unto You, who are the goal of the devotees and the Lord of all causes and their effects.