TEXT 4
नारायणं नमस्कृत्य नरं चैव नरोत्तमम्।
देवीं सरस्वती॔ व्यासं ततो जयमुदीरयेत्॥४॥
TRANSLATION
"Before reciting this Srimad-Bhagavatam, which is our very means of conquest, I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Personality of Godhead, Narayana, unto Nara-narayana rsi, the supermost human beings, unto Mother Sarasvati, the goddess of learning, and unto Srila Vyasadeva, the author"
PURPORT
All the Vedic literatures and the Puranas are meant for conquering the darkest region of material existence. The living being is in the state of forgetfulness of his relation with God due to his being overly attracted to material sense gratification from time immemorial.
His struggle for existence in the material world is perpetual, and it is not possible for him to get out of it by making plans. If he at all wants to conquer this perpetual struggle for existence, he must reestablish his eternal relation with God. And one who wants to adopt such remedial measures must take shelter of literatures such as the Vedas and the Puranas.
Foolish people say that the Puranas have no connection with the Vedas. However, the Puranas are suplementart explanations of the Vedas intended for different types of men. All men are not equal. There are men who are conducted by the mode of goodness, others who are under the mode of passion and others who under the mode of ignorance.
The Puranas are so divided that any class of men can take advantage of them and gradually regain their lost position and get out of the hard struggle for existence. Srila Suta Gosvami shows the way of chanting the Puranas. This may be followed by persons who aspire to be preachers of the Vedic literatures and the Puranas. Srimad-Bhagavatam is the spotless Purana, and it is especially meant for them who are desirous to get out of the material entanglement permanently.
TEXT 5
मुनयः साधु पृष्टोऽहं भवद्भलोकमङ्गलम्।
यत्कृतः कृष्णसंप्रश्रो येनात्मा सुप्रसीदति॥५॥
TRANSLATION
"O sages, I have been justly questioned by you. Your questions are worthy because they relate to Lord Krsna and so are of relevance to the world's welfare. Only questions of this sort are capable of completely satisfying the self."
PURPORT
As it is stated hereinbefore, in the Bhagavatam the Absolute Truth is to be known, so the questions of the sages of Naimisaranya are proper and just because they pertain to Krsna, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth.
In Bhagavad-gita the Personality of Godhead says that in all the Vedas there is nothing but the urge for searching after Him, Lord Krsna(Bg.15.15). Thus the questions that pertain to Krsna are the sum and substance of all the Vedic inquires.
The whole world is full of questions and answers. The birds, beasts and men are all busy in the matter of perpetual questions and answers. In the morning the birds in the nest become busy with questions and answers, and in the evening also the same bird come back and again become busy with questions and answers.
The human being, unless he is fast asleep at night, is busy with questions and answers. The businessmen in the market are busy with questions and answers, and so also the lawyers in the court and the students in the schools and colleges. The legislators in the parliament are also busy with questions and answers, and the politicians and the press representatives are all busy with questions and answers. Although they go on making such questions and answers for their whole lives, they are not at all satisfied.
Satisfaction of the soul can only be obtained by questions and answers on the subject of Krsna.
Krsna is our most intimate master, friend, father or son and object of conjugal love. Forgetting Krsna, we have created so many objects of questions and answers, but none of them are able to give us complete satisfaction.
All-things-but Krsna-give temporary satisfaction only, so if we are to have complete satisfaction we must take to the questions and answers about Krsna.
We cannot live for a moment without being questioned or without giving answers. Because the Srimad-Bhagavatam deals with questions and answers that are related to Krsna, we can derive the highest satisfaction only by reading and hearing this transcendental literature.
One should learn the Srimad-Bhagavatam and make an all-around soution to all problems pertaining to socail, political or religious matters. Srimad-Bhagavatam and Krsna are the sum total of all things.
TEXT 6
स वै पुंसां परो धमो॔ यतो भक्तिरधोक्षजे।
अहैतुक्यप्रतिहता ययाऽऽत्मा सुप्रसीदति॥६॥
TRANSLATION
"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 in order to completely satisfy the self. "
PURPORT
In this statement, Sri Suta Gosvami answers the first question of the sages of Naimisaranya. The sages asked him to summarize the whole range of revealed scriptures and present the most essential part so that fallen people or the people in general might easily take it up.
The Vedas prescribe two different types of occupation for the human being. One is called the nivrtti-marga or the path of renunciation. The path of enjoyment is inferior, but the path of scarifice for the supreme cause is superior. The material existence of the living being is a diseased condition of acutal life.
Actual life is spiritual existence, or brahma-bhuta existence where life is eternal, blissful and full of knowledge. Material existence is temporary, illusory and full of miseries. There is no happiness at all. There is just the futile attempt to get rid of the misries, and temporary cessation of misery is falsely called happiness.
Therefore, the path of progressive material enjoyment, which is temporary, misreable and illusory, is inferior. But devotional service of the Supreme Lord, which leads one to eternal, blissful and all-conginzant life, is called the superior quality of occupation.
This is sometimes polluted when mixed with the inferior quality. For example, adoption of devotional service for material gain is certainly an obastruction to the progressive path of renunciation.
Renunciation or abnegation for ultimate good is certainly a better occupation than enjoyment in the diseased condition life.
Such enjoyment onl aggravates the symptoms of disease and increases its duration. Therefore devotional service of the Lord must be pure in quality, i.e., without the least desire for material enjoyment. One should, therefore, accept the superior quality of occupation in the form of devotional service of the Lord without any tinge of unneccessary desire, fruitive action and philosophical speculation. This alone can lead one to perpetual solace in His service.
We have purposely denoted dharma as occupation because the root meaning of the word dharma is "that which sustains one's existence." A living being's sustenance of existence is to coordinate his activities with his eternal relation with the Supreme Lord Krsna.
Krsna is the central pivot of living beings, and He is the all-attractive living entity or eternal form amongst all other living beings or eternal forms. Each and every living being has his eternal form in the spiritual existence, and Krsna is the eternal attraction for all of them.
Krsna is the complete whole, and everything else is His part and parcel. The relation is one of the servant and the served, and it is transcendental and is completely distinguished from our experience in material existence. This relation of servant and the served is the most congenial form of intimacy.
One can realize it as devotional service progresses. Everyone should engage himself in that transcendental loving service of the Lord, even in the present conditioned state of material existence. That will gradually give one the clue of actual life and please him to complete satisfaction.
TEXT 7
वासुदेवे भगवति भक्तियोगः प्रयोजितः।
जनयत्याशु वैराग्यं ज्ञानं च यदहैतुकम्॥७॥
TRANSLATION
"By rendering devotional service unto the Persnality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, one immediately acquires casueless knowledge and detachment from the world."
PURPORT
Those who consider devotional service of the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna to be something like material emotional affairs may argue that in the revealed scriptures, sacrifice, charity, austerity, knowledge, mystic powers and similar other processes of transcendental realization are recommended.
According to them, bhakti, or devotional service of the Lord, is meant for those who cannot perform the high-grade activities. Generally it is said that the bhakti cult is meant for the sudras, vaisyas and the less intelligent woman class. But that is not the actual fact. The bhakti cult is the topmost of all transcendental activities, and therefore it is simultaneoulsy sublime and easy.
It is sublime for the pure devotees who are serious about getting in contact with the Supreme Lord, and it is easy for the neophytes who are just on the treshold of the house of bhakti. It is a great science to achieve the contact of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna, and it is open for all living beings, including the sudras, vaisyas, women or even those lower than the sudras who are called low-born-so what to speak of the high-class men like the qualified brahmanas and the great self-realized kings.
The other high-grade activities designated as sacrifice, charity, austerity, etc..., are all corollary factors following the pure and scientific bhakti cult.
The principles of knowledge and detachment are two important factors on the path of transcendental realization. The whole spiritual process leads to perfect knowledge of everything material and spiritual, and the results of such perfect knowledge are that one becomes detached from material affection and becomes attached to spiritual activities.
Becoming detached from material things does not mean becoming inert altogether, as men with a poor fund of knowledge think. Naiskarma means not undertaking such activities that will produce good or bad effects.
Negation does not mean negation of the positive. Negation of the nonessentials does not mean negation of the essential. Similarly, detachment from material forms does not mean nullifying the positive form. The bhakti cult is meant for realization of the positive form.
When the positive form is realized, the negative forms are automatically eleiminated. Therefore, with the development of the bhakti cult, with the application of the positive service to the positive form, one naturally becomes detached from inferior things, and he becomes attached to superior things.
Similarly, the bhakti cult, being the supermost occupation of the living being, leads him out of material sense enjoyment. That is the sign of a pure devotee. He is neither a fool, nor is he engaged in the inferior energies, nor does he have material values.
This is not possible by dry reasoning. It actually happens by the grace of the Almighty. In conclusion, one who is a pure devotee has all other good qualities, namely knowledge, detachment, etc, but one who has only knowledge or detachment is not necessarily well acquainted with the principles of the bhakti bult. Bhakti is the supermost occupation of the human being.