kathā imās te kathitā mahīyasāṁ
vitāya lokeṣu yaśaḥ pareyuṣām |
vijñāna-vairāgya-vivakṣayā vibho
vaco-vibhūtīr na tu pāramārthyam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.3.14)
[Translation based on the ṭīkās of Śrīdhara Svāmī and Jīva Gosvāmī:] “[Śukadeva Gosvāmī to Parīkṣit Mahārāja:] O King, these narrations narrated [by me] for the purpose of [teaching] knowledge [i.e., knowledge of the insubstantiality of sense objects (viṣayāsāra-jñānam)] and [subsequent] non-attachment (vairāgyam), which extend the fame of departed great personages [i.e., prominent kings and so forth other than avatāras of Bhagavān] throughout the worlds, are splendors of speech and not, rather, ultimate truth.”
[Translation based on the ṭīkā of Viśvanātha Cakravartī:] “[Śukadeva Gosvāmī to Parīkṣit Mahārāja:] O King, these narrations narrated [by me] for the purpose of [teaching] knowledge [i.e., experience of Bhagavān] and [subsequent] non-attachment, which extend the fame of great personages who attained the Supreme throughout the worlds, are not splendors of speech, but rather, ultimate truth.”
Read on →