īśvare tad-adhīneṣu bāliśeṣu dviṣatsu ca |
prema-maitrī-kṛpopekṣā yaḥ karoti sa madhyamaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.2.46; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.25, 10.75; Bhakti Sandarbha: 189; Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.73)
“One who fosters prema, friendship, grace, and disregard [respectively] in relation to Īśvara, his dependents, the unwise, and the inimical is an intermediate [bhāgavata].”
īśvare tad-adhīneṣu bāliśeṣu dviṣatsu ca Read on →
asyānyatrātma-paryante syāt sarvatraiva mūḍhatā |
kṛṣṇa-sphūrti-viśeṣas tu na kadāpy atra līyate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.4.98)
“One’s [i.e., one who has entered the state of moha’s] stupor in regard to everything otherwise, including one’s self [i.e., body] can occur, but herein [i.e., in this state of moha, that is, stupor of the mind (hṛn-mūḍhatā), as defined previously in BRS 2.4.82] a particular manifestation (sphūrti) of Kṛṣṇa is never withdrawn.”
asyānyatrātma-paryante syāt sarvatraiva mūḍhatā Read on →
itthaṁ sma pṛṣṭaḥ sa tu bādarāyaṇis
tat-smāritānanta-hṛtākhilendriyaḥ |
kṛcchrāt punar labdha-bahir-dṛśiḥ śanaiḥ
pratyāha taṁ bhāgavatottamottama ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.12.44)
[Sūta Gosvāmī to Śaunaka Ṛṣi:] “O best of the best of the bhāgavatas, so questioned, that Bādrarāyaṇi [i.e., Śukadeva Gosvāmī], all his senses seized by Ananta [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa] as he was reminded [of Ananta] thereby, with difficulty gradually regained external awareness and spoke to him [i.e., Parīkṣit Mahārāja].”
itthaṁ sma pṛṣṭaḥ sa tu bādarāyaṇis Read on →
pariniṣṭhito’pi nairguṇya uttama-śloka-līlayā |
gṛhīta-cetā rājarṣe ākhyānaṁ yad adhītavān ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.1.9)
“O royal sage! Although I was completely immersed in that which is beyond the guṇas, my consciousness was captivated by the līlā of he of highest praise [i.e., Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa], and [thus] I studied this narration [i.e., Śrīmad Bhāgavatam]”
pariniṣṭhito’pi nairguṇya uttama-śloka-līlayā Read on →
harer guṇākṣipta-matir bhagavān bādarāyaṇiḥ |
adhyagān mahad ākhyānaṁ nityaṁ viṣṇu-jana-priyaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.7.11)
“Bhagavān Bādarāyaṇi [i.e., the son of Vyāsadeva, Śukadeva Gosvāmī], whose mind was captivated by the qualities of Hari and who held the Vaiṣṇavas most dear [alt., who was held dear by the Vaiṣṇavas], studied this great narration [Śrīmad Bhāgavatam].”
harer guṇākṣipta-matir bhagavān bādarāyaṇiḥ Read on →
sva-sukha-nibhṛta-cetās tad-vyudastānya-bhāvo
’py ajita-rucira-līlākṛṣṭa-sāras tadīyam |
vyatanuta kṛpayā yas tattva-dīpaṁ purāṇaṁ
tam akhila-vṛjina-ghnaṁ vyāsa-sūnuṁ nato’smi ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.12.69)
“I offer obeisance unto him, the destroyer of all adversity, the son of Vyāsa [i.e., Śukadeva Gosvāmī]. Although his consciousness was filled with the bliss of the self and he had thus cast away all other affects, his heart was attracted by the brilliant līlā of the Unconquerable One [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa], and he graciously disseminated this Purāṇa dedicated to him [i.e., Śrīmad Bhāgavatam] which illuminates Tattva.”
sva-sukha-nibhṛta-cetās tad-vyudastānya-bhāvo Read on →
yaṁ pravrajantam anupetam apeta-kṛtyaṁ
dvaipāyano viraha-kātara ājuhāva |
putreti tan-mayatayā taravo’bhinedus
taṁ sarva-bhūta-hṛdayaṁ munim ānato’smi ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.2.2)
“[Sūta Gosvāmī:] I bow to him [i.e., Śukadeva Gosvāmī], the sage upon whom the hearts of all beings are fixed [alt., the sage who is present in the hearts of all beings], he whom Dvaipāyana [i.e., Vyāsadeva], despairing in separation, called out to, ‘O son!’ as he withdrew [i.e., as Śukadeva departed from household life into seclusion to live as a renunciant just after his birth] unattained [i.e., not attained by Vyāsa; alt., alone] without rites [i.e., without receiving the upanaya and other customary saṁskāras], and, because of being absorbed [in whom], the trees echoed [‘O son!’ in return].”
yaṁ pravrajantam anupetam apeta-kṛtyaṁ Read on →
idaṁ bhāgavataṁ nāma purāṇaṁ brahma-sammitam |
uttama-śloka-caritaṁ cakāra bhagavān ṛṣiḥ |
niḥśreyasāya lokasya dhanyaṁ svasty-ayanaṁ mahat ||
tad idaṁ grāhayām āsasutam ātmavatāṁ varam |
sarva-vedetihāsānāṁ sāraṁ sāraṁ samuddhṛtam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.3.40–41)
“For the ultimate welfare of the world, the fortunate ṛṣi [i.e., Vyāsa] composed this propitious, auspicious, and supreme Purāṇa known as Bhāgavatam, which is equal to Brahman, and which describes the activities of he of highest praise [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa]. Vyāsa then fed his son, the best of the self-realized, this extracted essence of the essence of all the Vedas and Itihāsas.”
idaṁ bhāgavataṁ nāma purāṇaṁ brahma-sammitam Read on →
sa saṁhitāṁ bhāgavatīṁ kṛtvānukramya cātma-jam |
śukam adhyāpayāmāsa nivṛtti-nirataṁ muniḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.7.8)
“After composing and revising this Bhāgavata-saṁhitā [i.e., Śrīmad Bhāgavatam], he [i.e., Vyāsadeva] taught it to his son, the sage Śuka, who delighted in detachment.”
sa saṁhitāṁ bhāgavatīṁ kṛtvānukramya cātma-jam Read on →
yaḥ svānubhāvam akhila-śruti-sāram ekam
adhyātma-dīpam atititīrṣatāṁ tamo’ndham |
saṁsāriṇāṁ karuṇayāha purāṇa-guhyaṁ
taṁ vyāsa-sūnum upayāmi guruṁ munīnām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.2.3)
“I take shelter in him, Vyāsa’s son [i.e., Śukadeva Gosvāmī], the guru of the sages [i.e., he who spoke instructions even in the presence of his gurus Nārada and Vyāsa], who compassionately spoke for saṁsārīs [i.e., people of all times] desiring to completely cross over the blinding darkness [i.e., avidyā] this confidential Purāṇa [i.e., Śrīmad Bhāgavatam], which is self-endowed with magnificence [i.e., which conveys the supremacy of rasa and is the cause of Śukadeva being most exalted among all the sages], the essence of all the Śrutis [alt., the essence of all that can be heard], unparalleled, and the illuminator of the higher self.”
yaḥ svānubhāvam akhila-śruti-sāram ekam Read on →
