akleśenaivārtha-viśeṣa-sphūrteḥ śrī-bhāgavatasya vicitrārthatvaṁ vidvat-kāma-dhenu-rūpatvāt |
(Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 182)
“Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, wherein special signification is manifest without difficulty, contains astonishing signification, as it is a desire-cow for the learned.”
kṛṣṇa-bhakti rasa-svarūpa śrī-bhāgavata |
tāte veda-śāstra haite parama-mahattva ||
ataeva bhāgavata karaha vicāra |
ihā haite pābe sūtra-śrutira artha sāra ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.25.150, 153)
“Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is a manifestation of Kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasa and, therefore, is of greatness superior to [even] the Veda-śāstra. Therefore, engage in deliberation upon Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. From this you will find the essence of the meaning of the sūtra [i.e., Vedānta-sūtra] and the Śrutis [i.e., the Vedas].”
asāre saṁsāre viṣaya-viṣa-saṅgākula-dhiyaḥ
kṣaṇārdhaṁ kṣemārthaṁ pibata śuka-gāthātula-sudhām |
kim arthaṁ vyarthaṁ bho vrajata kupathe kutsita-kathe
parīkṣit-sākṣī yac-chravaṇa-gata-mukty-ukti-kathane ||
(Padma Purāṇa: Bhāgavata-māhātmya, 6.100)
“O all of you whose minds are bewildered by attachment to the poison of sensory experience in the insubstantial world of saṁsāra! For your own good, drink [even] for half a moment the incomparable nectar of Śuka’s narration. Bho! Why walk down the rough [alt., misdirected] road of odious blather in vain? Parīkṣit is the witness that hearing narration of this speech [i.e., of Śuka’s message] results in mukti.”
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.”
mūrtimanta bhāgavata—bhakti-rasa mātra |
ihā bujhe—ye haya kṛṣṇera kṛpā-pātra ||
(Caitanya-bhāgavata: 3.3.529)
“Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is simply manifest bhakti-rasa. One who is a recipient of Kṛṣṇa’s grace understands this.”
idaṁ bhagavatā pūrvaṁ brahmaṇe nābhi-paṅkaje |
sthitāya bhava-bhītāya kāruṇyāt samprakāśitam ||
ādi-madhyāvasāneṣu vairāgyākhyāna-saṁyutam |
hari-līlā-kathā-vrātāmṛtānandita-sat-suram ||
sarva-vedānta-sāraṁ yad brahmātmaikatva-lakṣaṇam |
vastv advitīyaṁ tan-niṣṭhaṁ kaivalyaika-prayojanam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.13.10–12)
“At the beginning, middle, and end replete with narrations productive of non-attachment (vairāgya); filled with the amṛta of discussion of Hari’s līlā by which the sādhu suras [i.e., Hari’s bhaktas, or, the self-satisfied (ātmārāmas)] become blissful; focused on that non-dual Reality (advitīya Vastu) which is the essence of the entire Vedānta [i.e., of the Upaniṣads] and has the characteristic of oneness of [i.e., the characteristic of non-excessive non-difference between] the ātmā with Brahman; and possessed of the singular aim of kaivalya [i.e., purity, meaning, pure bhakti, Bhagavat-prema, or, direct perception of Supreme Entity]—this [i.e., Śrīmad Bhāgavatam] was previously manifested in full [i.e., taught] out of compassion by Bhagavān [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa] to Brahmā, who was situated on the navel-lotus [of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu] and frightened of material existence.”
purā mayā proktam ajāya nābhye
padme niṣaṇṇāya mamādi-sarge |
jñānaṁ paraṁ man-mahimāvabhāsaṁ
yat sūrayo bhāgavataṁ vadanti ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.4.13)
[Bhagavān:] “The supreme knowledge, by which my greatness [i.e., my līlā] is illuminated, and which the wise call Bhāgavatam [i.e., the four verses (SB 2.9.32–35)] was previously spoken by me at the beginning of creation to Aja [i.e., Brahmā] seated on the lotus of my navel.”
oṁ namaḥ paramahaṁsāsvādita-caraṇa-kamala-cin-makarandāya bhakta-jana-mānasa-nivāsāya śrī-rāmacandrāya |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.1.1)
“Om. Obeisance unto Śrī Rāmacandra, whose dwelling place is the bhaktas’ minds and the spiritual nectar of whose lotus feet is tasted by the paramahaṁsas.”
nigama-kalpa-taror galitaṁ phalaṁ
śuka-mukhād amṛta-drava-saṁyutam |
pibata bhāgavataṁ rasam ālayaṁ
muhur aho rasikā bhuvi bhāvukāḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.1.3)
“O relishers of rasa! O aesthetes! Drink continuously and [even] beyond [the attainment of] liberation the rasa of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, the fruit of the wish-fulfilling tree of the Vedas, which has fallen from the mouth of Śuka [i.e., Śukadeva Gosvāmī] and is constituted of liquid nectar.”
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 ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.1.1)
“Let us meditate on the eternal Supreme Being, because of whom the manifestation, maintenance, and dissolution of this [perceptible universe] occur; who is fully aware of all matters and autonomous; who revealed the Veda, about which even the sages are bewildered, to the first seer [i.e., Lord Brahmā] through the heart; in whom exists the real threefold creation like a combination of fire, water, and earth; and by whose own power deception [i.e., māyā] is forever dispelled.”
