इदं भागवतं नाम पुराणं ब्रह्मसम्मितम् ।
उत्तमश्लोकचरितं चकार भगवानृषि: ।
नि:श्रेयसाय लोकस्य धन्यं स्वस्त्ययनं महत् ॥
तदिदं ग्राहयामास सुतमात्मवतां वरम् ।
सर्ववेदेतिहासानां सारं सारं समुद्धृतम् ॥
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.”
Commentary
Jīva Gosvāmīpāda comments that ‘propitious’ (dhanyaṁ) means that Śrīmad Bhāgavatam produces all desired ends for a living being (sarva-puruṣārthāvaham), ‘auspicious’ (svasty-ayanaṁ) means that Śrīmad Bhāgavatam bestows all good fortune (sarva-maṅgalāvahaṁ), and ‘supreme’ (mahat) means that Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is superior in all respects [to all other śāstras] (sarvataḥ śreṣṭhaṁ).
Śrīdhara Svāmīpāda comments that ‘equal to Brahman’ (brahma-saṁmitaṁ) means equal to all the Vedas (sarva-veda-tulyam), and Jīva Gosvāmīpāda comments that ‘equal to Brahman’ means equal to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is Parabrahman in human form (narākṛti-para-brahmaṇā śrī-kṛṣṇena tulyam).
dadhi-mathanād udbhūtaṁ navanītam iva yad vedādīnāṁ sāraṁ sāraṁ vastu tad evedaṁ śrī-bhāgavatākhyaṁ snehena sutaṁ śukaṁ grāhayāmāsa | vedādi-dadhi-mathana-śramaṁ ca saphalīcakāreti bhāvaḥ | ātmavatāṁ varam iti tādṛśo’pi sutaḥ svādādhikyenaivedaṁ lobhād gṛhṇāti smeti bhāvaḥ |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“As though it was butter produced from churning yogurt, Vyāsa affectionately fed his son Śukadeva this essence of the essence of the Vedas known as Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. He thus made his effort at churning the yogurt of the Vedas and so forth successful. This is the implied sense. Although his son was self-realized, he accepted it out of greed because of its superior taste [to his absorption in Brahmānanda]. This is the implied sense.”