Canto 1
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya (1.1.1)
janmādy asya yato ’nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ svarāṭ
tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ
tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ yathā vinimayo yatra tri-sargo ’mṛṣā
dhāmnā svena sadā nirasta-kuhakaṁ satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi
O my Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I meditate upon Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa because He is the Absolute Truth and the primeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance and destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no other cause beyond Him. It is He only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmājī, the original living being. By Him even the great sages and demigods are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by the illusory representations of water seen in fire, or land seen on water. Only because of Him do the material universes, temporarily manifested by the reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, although they are unreal. I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode, which is forever free from the illusory representations of the material world. I meditate upon Him, for He is the Absolute Truth.
dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo ’tra
paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satāṁ (1.1.2)
vedyaṁ vāstavam atra vastu śivadaṁ tāpa-trayonmūlanam
śrīmad-bhāgavate mahā-muni-kṛte kiṁ vā parair īśvaraḥ
sadyo hṛdy avarudhyate ’tra kṛtibhiḥ śuśrūṣubhis tat-kṣaṇāt
Completely rejecting all religious
activities which are materially motivated, this Bhāgavata Purāṇa propounds the
highest truth, which is understandable by those devotees who are fully pure in
heart. The highest truth is reality distinguished from illusion for the welfare
of all. Such truth uproots the threefold miseries. This beautiful Bhāgavatam,
compiled by the great sage Vyāsadeva [in his maturity], is sufficient in itself
for God realization. What is the need of any other scripture? As soon as one
attentively and submissively hears the message of Bhāgavatam, by this culture
of knowledge the Supreme Lord is established within his heart.
nigama-kalpa-taror galitaṁ
phalaṁ (1.1.3)
śuka-mukhād amṛta-drava-saṁyutam
pibata bhāgavataṁ rasam ālayam
muhur aho rasikā bhuvi bhāvukāḥ
O expert and thoughtful men, relish
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the mature fruit of the desire tree of Vedic literatures. It
emanated from the lips of Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Therefore this fruit has become
even more tasteful, although its nectarean juice was already relishable for
all, including liberated souls.
prāyeṇālpāyuṣaḥ sabhya (1.1.10)
kalāv asmin yuge janāḥ
mandāḥ sumanda-matayo
manda-bhāgyā hy upadrutāḥ
O learned one, in this iron Age of
Kali men almost always have but short lives. They are quarrelsome, lazy,
misguided, unlucky and, above all, always disturbed.
āpannaḥ saṁsṛtiṁ ghorāṁ (1.1.14)
yan-nāma vivaśo gṛṇan
tataḥ sadyo vimucyeta
yad bibheti svayaṁ bhayam
Living beings who are entangled in
the complicated meshes of birth and death can be freed immediately by even
unconsciously chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, which is feared by fear
personified.
yaḥ svānubhāvam akhila-śruti-sāram
ekam (1.2.3)
adhyātma-dīpam atititīrṣatāṁ tamo ’ndham
saṁsāriṇāṁ karuṇayāha purāṇa-guhyaṁ
taṁ vyāsa-sūnum upayāmi guruṁ munīnām
Let me offer my respectful obeisances
unto him [Śuka], the spiritual master of all sages, the son of Vyāsadeva, who,
out of his great compassion for those gross materialists who struggle to cross
over the darkest regions of material existence, spoke this most confidential
supplement to the cream of Vedic knowledge, after having personally assimilated
it by experience.
sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo (1.2.6)
yato bhaktir adhokṣaje
ahaituky apratihatā
yayātmā suprasīdati
The supreme occupation [dharma] for
all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto
the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and
uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self.
vāsudeve bhagavati (1.2.7)
bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ
janayaty āśu vairāgyaṁ
jñānaṁ ca yad ahaitukam
By rendering devotional service unto
the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, one immediately acquires causeless
knowledge and detachment from the world.
dharmaḥ svanuṣṭhitaḥ puṁsāṁ (1.2.8)
viṣvaksena-kathāsu yaḥ
notpādayed yadi ratiṁ
śrama eva hi kevalam
The occupational activities a man
performs according to his own position are only so much useless labor if they
do not provoke attraction for the message of the Personality of Godhead.
dharmasya hy āpavargyasya (1.2.9)
nārtho ’rthāyopakalpate
nārthasya dharmaikāntasya
kāmo lābhāya hi smṛtaḥ
All occupational engagements are
certainly meant for ultimate liberation. They should never be performed for
material gain. Furthermore, according to sages, one who is engaged in the
ultimate occupational service should never use material gain to cultivate sense
gratification.
kāmasya nendriya-prītir (1.2.10)
lābho jīveta yāvatā
jīvasya tattva-jijñāsā
nārtho yaś ceha karmabhiḥ
Life’s desires should never be
directed toward sense gratification. One should desire only a healthy life, or
self-preservation, since a human being is meant for inquiry about the Absolute
Truth. Nothing else should be the goal of one’s works.
vadanti tat tattva-vidas (1.2.11)
tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam
brahmeti paramātmeti
bhagavān iti śabdyate
Learned
transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance
Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān.
tac chraddadhānā munayo (1.2.12)
jñāna-vairāgya-yuktayā
paśyanty ātmani cātmānaṁ
bhaktyā śruta-gṛhītayā
The seriously inquisitive student or
sage, well equipped with knowledge and detachment, realizes that Absolute Truth
by rendering devotional service in terms of what he has heard from the
Vedānta-śruti.
ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhā (1.2.13)
varṇāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ
svanuṣṭhitasya dharmasya
saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam
O best among the twice-born, it is
therefore concluded that the highest perfection one can achieve by discharging
the duties prescribed for one’s own occupation according to caste divisions and
orders of life is to please the Personality of Godhead.
tasmād ekena manasā (1.2.14)
bhagavān sātvatāṁ patiḥ
śrotavyaḥ kīrtitavyaś ca
dhyeyaḥ pūjyaś ca nityadā
Therefore, with one-pointed
attention, one should constantly hear about, glorify, remember and worship the
Personality of Godhead, who is the protector of the devotees.
yad-anudhyāsinā yuktāḥ (1.2.15)
karma-granthi-nibandhanam
chindanti kovidās tasya
ko na kuryāt kathā-ratim
With sword in hand, intelligent men
cut through the binding knots of reactionary work [karma] by remembering the
Personality of Godhead. Therefore, who will not pay attention to His message?
śuśrūṣoḥ śraddadhānasya (1.2.16)
vāsudeva-kathā-ruciḥ
syān mahat-sevayā viprāḥ
puṇya-tīrtha-niṣevaṇāt
O twice-born sages, by serving those
devotees who are completely freed from all vice, great service is done. By such
service, one gains affinity for hearing the messages of Vāsudeva.
śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (1.2.17)
puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ
hṛdy antaḥ stho hy abhadrāṇi
vidhunoti suhṛt satām
Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of
Godhead, who is the Paramātmā [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the
benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from
the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which
are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.
naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu (1.2.18)
nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā
bhagavaty uttama-śloke
bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī
By regular attendance in classes on
the Bhāgavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is
troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service
unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is
established as an irrevocable fact.
tadā rajas-tamo-bhāvāḥ (1.2.19)
kāma-lobhādayaś ca ye
ceta etair anāviddhaṁ
sthitaṁ sattve prasīdati
As soon as irrevocable loving service
is established in the heart, the effects of nature’s modes of passion and
ignorance, such as lust, desire and hankering, disappear from the heart. Then
the devotee is established in goodness, and he becomes completely happy.
evaṁ prasanna-manaso (1.2.20)
bhagavad-bhakti-yogataḥ
bhagavat-tattva-vijñānaṁ
mukta-saṅgasya jāyate
Thus established in the mode of
unalloyed goodness, the man whose mind has been enlivened by contact with
devotional service to the Lord gains positive scientific knowledge of the
Personality of Godhead in the stage of liberation from all material association.
ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ (1.3.28)
kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam
indrāri-vyākulaṁ lokaṁ
mṛḍayanti yuge yuge
All of the above-mentioned
incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of
the Lord, but Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead. All of
them appear on planets whenever there is a disturbance created by the atheists.
The Lord incarnates to protect the theists.
idaṁ bhāgavataṁ nāma (1.3.40)
purāṇaṁ brahma-sammitam
uttama-śloka-caritaṁ
cakāra bhagavān ṛṣiḥ
niḥśreyasāya lokasya
dhanyaṁ svasty-ayanaṁ mahat
This Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the
literary incarnation of God, and it is compiled by Śrīla Vyāsadeva, the
incarnation of God. It is meant for the ultimate good of all people, and it is
all-successful, all-blissful and all-perfect.
kṛṣṇe sva-dhāmopagate (1.3.43)
dharma-jñānādibhiḥ saha
kalau naṣṭa-dṛśām eṣa
purāṇārko ’dhunoditaḥ
This Bhāgavata Purāṇa is as brilliant
as the sun, and it has arisen just after the departure of Lord Kṛṣṇa to His own
abode, accompanied by religion, knowledge, etc. Persons who have lost their
vision due to the dense darkness of ignorance in the Age of Kali shall get
light from this Purāṇa.
na yad vacaś citra-padaṁ harer
yaśo (1.5.10)
jagat-pavitraṁ pragṛṇīta karhicit
tad vāyasaṁ tīrtham uśanti mānasā
na yatra haṁsā niramanty uśik-kṣayāḥ
Those words which do not describe the
glories of the Lord, who alone can sanctify the atmosphere of the whole
universe, are considered by saintly persons to be like unto a place of
pilgrimage for crows. Since the all-perfect persons are inhabitants of the
transcendental abode, they do not derive any pleasure there.
tad-vāg-visargo
janatāgha-viplavo (1.5.11)
yasmin prati-ślokam abaddhavaty api
nāmāny anantasya yaśo ’ṅkitāni yat
śṛṇvanti gāyanti gṛṇanti sādhavaḥ
On the other hand, that literature
which is full of descriptions of the transcendental glories of the name, fame,
forms, pastimes, etc., of the unlimited Supreme Lord is a different creation,
full of transcendental words directed toward bringing about a revolution in the
impious lives of this world’s misdirected civilization. Such transcendental
literatures, even though imperfectly composed, are heard, sung and accepted by
purified men who are thoroughly honest.
tyaktvā sva-dharmaṁ caraṇāmbujaṁ
harer (1.5.17)
bhajann apakvo ’tha patet tato yadi
yatra kva vābhadram abhūd amuṣya kiṁ
ko vārtha āpto ’bhajatāṁ sva-dharmataḥ
One who has forsaken his material
occupations to engage in the devotional service of the Lord may sometimes fall
down while in an immature stage, yet there is no danger of his being
unsuccessful. On the other hand, a nondevotee, though fully engaged in
occupational duties, does not gain anything.
tasyaiva hetoḥ prayateta
kovido (1.5.18)
na labhyate yad bhramatām upary adhaḥ
tal labhyate duḥkhavad anyataḥ sukhaṁ
kālena sarvatra gabhīra-raṁhasā
Persons who are actually intelligent
and philosophically inclined should endeavor only for that purposeful end which
is not obtainable even by wandering from the topmost planet [Brahmaloka] down
to the lowest planet [Pātāla]. As far as happiness derived from sense enjoyment
is concerned, it can be obtained automatically in course of time, just as in
course of time we obtain miseries even though we do not desire them.
idaṁ hi puṁsas tapasaḥ
śrutasya vā (1.5.22)
sviṣṭasya sūktasya ca buddhi-dattayoḥ
avicyuto ’rthaḥ kavibhir nirūpito
yad-uttamaśloka-guṇānuvarṇanam
Learned circles have positively
concluded that the infallible purpose of the advancement of knowledge, namely
austerities, study of the Vedas, sacrifice, chanting of hymns and charity,
culminates in the transcendental descriptions of the Lord, who is defined in
choice poetry.
sat-sevayādīrghayāpi (1.6.23)
jātā mayi dṛḍhā matiḥ
hitvāvadyam imaṁ lokaṁ
gantā maj-janatām asi
By service of the Absolute Truth,
even for a few days, a devotee attains firm and fixed intelligence in Me.
Consequently he goes on to become My associate in the transcendental world
after giving up the present deplorable material worlds.
etad dhy ātura-cittānāṁ (1.6.34)
mātrā-sparśecchayā muhuḥ
bhava-sindhu-plavo dṛṣṭo
hari-caryānuvarṇanam
It is personally experienced by me
that those who are always full of cares and anxieties due to desiring contact
of the senses with their objects can cross the ocean of nescience on a most
suitable boat — the constant chanting of the transcendental activities of the
Personality of Godhead.
anarthopaśamaṁ sākṣād (1.7.6)
bhakti-yogam adhokṣaje
lokasyājānato vidvāṁś
cakre sātvata-saṁhitām
The material miseries of the living
entity, which are superfluous to him, can be directly mitigated by the linking
process of devotional service. But the mass of people do not know this, and
therefore the learned Vyāsadeva compiled this Vedic literature, which is in
relation to the Supreme Truth.
yasyāṁ vai śrūyamāṇāyāṁ (1.7.7)
kṛṣṇe parama-pūruṣe
bhaktir utpadyate puṁsaḥ
śoka-moha-bhayāpahā
Simply by giving aural reception to
this Vedic literature, the feeling for loving devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa,
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, sprouts up at once to extinguish the fire
of lamentation, illusion and fearfulness.
sūta uvāca (1.7.10)
ātmārāmāś ca munayo
nirgranthā apy urukrame
kurvanty ahaitukīṁ bhaktim
ittham-bhūta-guṇo hariḥ
Sūta Gosvāmī said: All different
varieties of ātmārāmas [those who take pleasure in the ātmā, or spirit self],
especially those established on the path of self-realization, though freed from
all kinds of material bondage, desire to render unalloyed devotional service
unto the Personality of Godhead. This means that the Lord possesses
transcendental qualities and therefore can attract everyone, including
liberated souls.
vipadaḥ santu tāḥ śaśvat (1.8.25)
tatra tatra jagad-guro
bhavato darśanaṁ yat syād
apunar bhava-darśanam
I wish that all those calamities
would happen again and again so that we could see You again and again, for
seeing You means that we will no longer see repeated births and deaths.
sarvaṁ kāla-kṛtaṁ manye (1.9.14)
bhavatāṁ ca yad-apriyam
sapālo yad-vaśe loko
vāyor iva ghanāvaliḥ
In my opinion, this is all due to
inevitable time, under whose control everyone in every planet is carried, just
as the clouds are carried by the wind.
na hy asya karhicid rājan (1.9.16)
pumān veda vidhitsitam
yad vijijñāsayā yuktā
muhyanti kavayo ’pi hi
O King, no one can know the plan of
the Lord [Śrī Kṛṣṇa]. Even though great philosophers inquire exhaustively, they
are bewildered.
anyonyam āsīt sañjalpa (1.10.20)
uttama-śloka-cetasām
kauravendra-pura-strīṇāṁ
sarva-śruti-mano-haraḥ
Absorbed in the thought of the
transcendental qualities of the Lord, who is sung in select poetry, the ladies
on the roofs of all the houses of Hastināpura began to talk of Him. This talk
was more attractive than the hymns of the Vedas.
natāḥ sma te nātha sadāṅghri-paṅkajaṁ (1.11.6)
viriñca-vairiñcya-surendra-vanditam
parāyaṇaṁ kṣemam ihecchatāṁ paraṁ
na yatra kālaḥ prabhavet paraḥ prabhuḥ
The citizens said: O Lord, You are
worshiped by all demigods like Brahmā, the four Sanas and even the King of heaven.
You are the ultimate rest for those who are really aspiring to achieve the
highest benefit of life. You are the supreme transcendental Lord, and
inevitable time cannot exert its influence upon You.
aho sanāthā bhavatā sma yad
vayaṁ (1.11.8)
traiviṣṭapānām api dūra-darśanam
prema-smita-snigdha-nirīkṣaṇānanaṁ
paśyema rūpaṁ tava sarva-saubhagam
Oh, it is our good luck that we have
come again today under Your protection by Your presence, for Your Lordship
rarely visits even the denizens of heaven. Now it is possible for us to look
into Your smiling face, which is full of affectionate glances. We can now see
Your transcendental form, full of all auspiciousness.
nityaṁ
nirīkṣamāṇānāṁ (1.11.25)
yad api dvārakaukasām
na vitṛpyanti hi dṛśaḥ
śriyo dhāmāṅgam acyutam
The inhabitants of
Dvārakā were regularly accustomed to look upon the reservoir of all beauty, the
infallible Lord, yet they were never satiated.
uddāma-bhāva-piśunāmala-valgu-hāsa- (1.11.36)
vrīḍāvaloka-nihato madano ’pi yāsām
sammuhya cāpam ajahāt pramadottamās tā
yasyendriyaṁ vimathituṁ kuhakair na śekuḥ
Although
the queens’ beautiful smiles and furtive glances were all spotless and
exciting, and although they could conquer Cupid himself by making him give up
his bow in frustration, and although even the tolerant Śiva could fall victim
to them, still, despite all their magical feats and attractions, they could not
agitate the senses of the Lord.
aṅguṣṭha-mātram amalaṁ (1.12.8)
sphurat-puraṭa-maulinam
apīvya-darśanaṁ śyāmaṁ
taḍid vāsasam acyutam
He [the Lord] was only thumb high,
but He was all transcendental. He had a very beautiful, blackish, infallible
body, and He wore a dress of lightning yellow and a helmet of blazing gold.
Thus He was seen by the child.
bhavad-vidhā bhāgavatās (1.13.10)
tīrtha-bhūtāḥ svayaṁ vibho
tīrthī-kurvanti tīrthāni
svāntaḥ-sthena gadābhṛtā
My lord, devotees like your good self
are verily holy places personified. Because you carry the Personality of
Godhead within your heart, you turn all places into places of pilgrimage.
evaṁ gṛheṣu
saktānāṁ (1.13.17)
pramattānāṁ tad-īhayā
atyakrāmad avijñātaḥ
kālaḥ parama-dustaraḥ
Insurmountable
eternal time imperceptibly overcomes those who are too much attached to family
affairs and are always engrossed in their thought.
pratikriyā
na yasyeha (1.13.19)
kutaścit karhicit prabho
sa eṣa bhagavān kālaḥ
sarveṣāṁ naḥ samāgataḥ
This frightful
situation cannot be remedied by any person in this material world. My lord, it
is the Supreme Personality of Godhead as eternal time [kāla] that has
approached us all.
kāla-karma-guṇādhīno (1.13.46)
deho ’yaṁ pāñca-bhautikaḥ
katham anyāṁs tu gopāyet
sarpa-grasto yathā param
This
gross material body made of five elements is already under the control of
eternal time [kāla], action [karma] and the modes of material nature [guṇa].
How then can it, being already in the jaws of the serpent, protect others?
ahastāni sahastānām (1.13.47)
apadāni catuṣ-padām
phalgūni tatra mahatāṁ
jīvo jīvasya jīvanam
Those who are devoid of hands are
prey for those who have hands; those devoid of legs are prey for the
four-legged. The weak are the subsistence of the strong, and the general rule
holds that one living being is food for another.
bhagavān api govindo (1.14.34)
brahmaṇyo bhakta-vatsalaḥ
kaccit pure sudharmāyāṁ
sukham āste suhṛd-vṛtaḥ
Is Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, who gives pleasure to the cows, the senses and the
brāhmaṇas, who is very affectionate towards His devotees, enjoying the pious
assembly at Dvārakā Purī surrounded by friends?
arjuna uvāca (1.15.5)
vañcito ’haṁ mahā-rāja
hariṇā bandhu-rūpiṇā
yena me ’pahṛtaṁ tejo
deva-vismāpanaṁ mahat
Arjuna said: O King! The Supreme
Personality of Godhead, Hari, who treated me exactly like an intimate friend,
has left me alone. Thus my astounding power, which astonished even the
demigods, is no longer with me.
yasya kṣaṇa-viyogena (1.15.6)
loko hy apriya-darśanaḥ
ukthena rahito hy eṣa
mṛtakaḥ procyate yathā
I have just lost Him whose separation
for a moment would render all the universes unfavorable and void, like bodies
without life.
tad vai dhanus ta iṣavaḥ sa
ratho hayās te (1.15.21)
so ’haṁ rathī nṛpatayo yata ānamanti
sarvaṁ kṣaṇena tad abhūd asad īśa-riktaṁ
bhasman hutaṁ kuhaka-rāddham ivoptam ūṣyām
I have the very same Gāṇḍīva bow, the
same arrows, the same chariot drawn by the same horses, and I use them as the
same Arjuna to whom all the kings offered their due respects. But in the
absence of Lord Kṛṣṇa, all of them, at a moment’s notice, have become null and
void. It is exactly like offering clarified butter on ashes, accumulating money
with a magic wand or sowing seeds on barren land.
Sārathya-pāraṣada-sevana-sakhya-dautya-
(1.16.16)
vīrāsanānugamana-stavana-praṇāmān
snigdheṣu pāṇḍuṣu jagat-praṇatiṁ ca viṣṇor
bhaktiṁ karoti nṛ-patiś caraṇāravinde
Mahārāja Parīkṣit heard that out of His causeless mercy Lord Kṛṣṇa [Viṣṇu],
who is universally obeyed, rendered all kinds of service to the malleable sons
of Pāṇḍu by accepting posts ranging from chariot driver to president to
messenger, friend, night watchman, etc., according to the will of the Pāṇḍavas,
obeying them like a servant and offering obeisances like one younger in years.
When he heard this, Mahārāja Parīkṣit became overwhelmed with devotion to the
lotus feet of the Lord.
kā vā saheta virahaṁ puruṣottamasya (1.16.35)
premāvaloka-rucira-smita-valgu-jalpaiḥ
sthairyaṁ samānam aharan madhu-māninīnāṁ
romotsavo mama yad-aṅghri-viṭaṅkitāyāḥ
Who, therefore, can tolerate the pangs of separation from that Supreme
Personality of Godhead? He could conquer the gravity and passionate wrath of
His sweethearts like Satyabhāmā by His sweet smile of love, pleasing glance and
hearty appeals. When He traversed my [earth’s] surface, I would be immersed in
the dust of His lotus feet and thus would be sumptuously covered with grass
which appeared like hairs standing on me out of pleasure.
tapaḥ
śaucaṁ dayā satyam (1.17.24)
iti pādāḥ kṛte kṛtāḥ
adharmāṁśais trayo bhagnāḥ
smaya-saṅga-madais tava
In the age of Satya
[truthfulness] your four legs were established by the four principles of
austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness. But it appears that three of
your legs are broken due to rampant irreligion in the form of pride, lust for
women, and intoxication.
nottamaśloka-vārtānāṁ
juṣatāṁ tat-kathāmṛtam
syāt sambhramo ’nta-kāle ’pi
smaratāṁ tat-padāmbujam
This was so because those who have dedicated
their lives to the transcendental topics of the Personality of Godhead, of whom
the Vedic hymns sing, and who are constantly engaged in remembering the lotus
feet of the Lord, do not run the risk of having misconceptions even at the last
moment of their lives.
ko nāma tṛpyed rasavit kathāyāṁ
(1.18.14)
mahattamaikānta-parāyaṇasya
nāntaṁ guṇānām aguṇasya jagmur
yogeśvarā ye bhava-pādma-mukhyāḥ
The Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa
[Govinda], is the exclusive shelter for all great living beings, and His
transcendental attributes cannot even be measured by such masters of mystic
powers as Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā. Can anyone who is expert in relishing
nectar [rasa] ever be fully satiated by hearing topics about Him?
tan no bhavān vai
bhagavat-pradhāno (1.18.15)
mahattamaikānta-parāyaṇasya
harer udāraṁ caritaṁ viśuddhaṁ
śuśrūṣatāṁ no vitanotu vidvan
O Sūta Gosvāmī, you are a learned and pure
devotee of the Lord because the Personality of Godhead is your chief object of
service. Therefore please describe to us the pastimes of the Lord, which are
above all material conception, for we are anxious to receive such messages.
tiraskṛtā vipralabdhāḥ
(1.18.48)
śaptāḥ kṣiptā hatā api
nāsya tat pratikurvanti
tad-bhaktāḥ prabhavo ’pi hi
The devotees of the Lord are so forbearing
that even though they are defamed, cheated, cursed, disturbed, neglected or
even killed, they are never inclined to avenge themselves.
yeṣāṁ saṁsmaraṇāt puṁsāṁ
(1.19.33)
sadyaḥ śuddhyanti vai gṛhāḥ
kiṁ punar darśana-sparśa-
pāda-śaucāsanādibhiḥ
Simply by our remembering you, our houses
become instantly sanctified. And what to speak of seeing you, touching you,
washing your holy feet and offering you a seat in our home?
sānnidhyāt te mahā-yogin
(1.19.34)
pātakāni mahānty api
sadyo naśyanti vai puṁsāṁ
viṣṇor iva suretarāḥ
Just as the atheist cannot remain in the presence of the Personality of Godhead, so also the invulnerable sins of a man are immediately vanquished in your presence, O saint! O great mystic!