śrīvatso nāma vakṣaso dakṣiṇa-bhāge romṇāṁ pradakṣiṇāvartaḥ … |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.28.25)
“The right-curling hair on the right side of the chest [of Bhagavān] known as the śrīvatsa …”
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.”
sarva-vedānta-sāraṁ hi śrī-bhāgavatam iṣyate |
tad-rasāmṛta-tṛptasya nānyatra syād ratiḥ kvacit ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.13.15)
“Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is accepted as the essence of the entire Vedānta. One who has been satiated by the nectar of its rasa can have no fondness for [alt., can find no pleasure in] anything else.”
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.”
yena rūpa matsya-kūrma-ādi avatāra |
āvirbhāva-tirobhāva yena tā’-sabāra ||
ei mata bhāgavata kāro kṛta naya |
āvirbhāva tirobhāva āpanei haya ||
bhakti-yoge bhāgavata vyāsera jihvāya |
sphūrti se haila mātra kṛṣṇera kṛpāya ||
(Caitanya-bhāgavata: 3.3.510–512)
“As the forms of all the avatāras beginning with Matsya and Kūrma appear and disappear [i.e., are not created and destroyed], so too the Bhāgavata is not composed by anyone and rather appears and disappears of its own accord. By virtue of bhakti-yoga, the Bhāgavata appeared on Vyāsa’s tongue, and this happened only by Kṛṣṇa’s grace.”
yasyāṁ vai śrūyamāṇāyāṁ kṛṣṇe parama-pūruṣe |
bhaktir utpadyate puṁsaḥ śoka-moha-bhayāpahā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.7.7)
“Indeed, as it [i.e., Śrīmad Bhāgavatam] is heard, [prema-] bhakti to the Supreme Puruṣa, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, which dispels lamentation, delusion, and fear, arises in a person.”
anarthopaśamaṁ sākṣād bhakti-yogam adhokṣaje |
lokasyājānato vidvāṁś cakre sātvata-saṁhitām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.7.6)
“Bhakti-yoga [i.e., sādhana-bhakti] to Adhokṣaja [i.e., Bhagavān, the Transcendent] is itself the cessation of misfortune (anartha). The learned one [i.e., Vyāsadeva] then composed this Sātvata-saṁhitā [i.e., Śrīmad Bhāgavatam] for the unknowing people.”
yayā sammohito jīva ātmānaṁ tri-guṇātmakam |
paro’pi manute’narthaṁ tat-kṛtaṁ cābhipadyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.7.5)
“Bewildered by māyā, the jīva, although superior [to the guṇas], thinks himself to be constituted of the three guṇas and [thus] undergoes the misfortune (anartha) [i.e., the plight of saṁsāra] which results from this [i.e., from misidentification of self].”
bhakti-yogena manasi samyak praṇihite’male |
apaśyat puruṣaṁ pūrṇaṁ māyāñ ca tad-apāśrayam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.7.4)
“In his pure heart, which was perfectly fixed by virtue of the yoga of bhakti, Vyāsadeva saw the complete Puruṣa, as well as māyā sheltered behind him.”
yāha bhāgavata paḍa vaiṣṇavera sthāne |
ekānta āśraya kara caitanya-caraṇe ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.5.131)
“Go and study Śrīmad Bhāgavatam from a Vaiṣṇava and take shelter exclusively at the feet of Śrī Caitanya.”
