Invocation
Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya
narayanam namaskrtya
naram caiva narottamam
devim sarasvatim vyasam
tato jayam udirayet
munayah sadhu prsto 'ham
bhavadbhir loka-mangalam
yat krtah krsna-samprasno
yenatma suprasidati
O sages, I have been justly questioned by you. Your
questions are
worthy because they relate to Lord Krsna and so are of
relevance to the
world's welfare. Only questions of this sort are capable
of completely
satisfying the self.
sa vai pumsam paro dharmo
yato bhaktir adhoksaje
ahaituky apratihata
yayatma suprasidati
The supreme occupation [dharma] for all humanity is that
by which men
can attain to loving devotional service unto the
transcendent Lord. Such
devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted
to completely
satisfy the self.
vasudeve bhagavati
bhakti-yogah prayojitah
janayaty asu vairagyam
jnanam ca yad ahaitukam
By rendering devotional service unto the Personality of
Godhead, Sri
Krsna, one immediately acquires causeless knowledge and
detachment from
the world.
dharmah svanusthitah pumsam
visvaksena-kathasu yah
notpadayed yadi ratim
srama eva hi kevalam
The occupational activities a man performs according to
his own
position are only so much useless labor if they do not
provoke attraction
for the message of the Personality of Godhead.
dharmasya hy apavargyasya
nartho 'rthayopakalpate
narthasya dharmaikantasya
kamo labhaya hi smrtah
All occupational engagements are certainly meant for
ultimate
liberation. They should never be performed for material
gain.
Furthermore, according to sages, one who is engaged in
the ultimate
occupational service should never use material gain to
cultivate sense
kamasya nendriya-pritir
labho jiveta yavata
jivasya tattva-jijnasa
nartho yas ceha karmabhih
Life's desires should never be directed toward sense
gratification.
One should desire only a healthy life, or
self-preservation, since a
human being is meant for inquiry about the Absolute
Truth. Nothing else
should be the goal of one's works.
vadanti tat tattva-vidas
tattvam yaj jnanam advayam
brahmeti paramatmeti
bhagavan iti sabdyate
Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth
call this
nondual substance Brahman, Paramatma or Bhagavan.
tac chraddadhana munayo
jnana-vairagya-yuktaya
pasyanty atmani catmanam
bhaktya sruta-grhitaya
The seriously inquisitive student or sage, well equipped
with
knowledge and detachment, realizes that Absolute Truth by
rendering
devotional service in terms of what he has heard from the
Vedanta-sruti.
atah pumbhir dvija-srestha
varnasrama-vibhagasah
svanusthitasya dharmasya
samsiddhir hari-tosanam
O best among the twice-born, it is therefore concluded
that the
highest perfection one can achieve by discharging the
duties prescribed
for one's own occupation according to caste divisions and
orders of life
is to please the Personality of Godhead.
tasmad ekena manasa
bhagavan satvatam patih
srotavyah kirtitavyas ca
dhyeyah pujyas ca nityada
Therefore, with one-pointed attention, one should
constantly hear
about, glorify, remember and worship the Personality of
Godhead, who is
the protector of the devotees.
yad-anudhyasina yuktah
karma-granthi-nibandhanam
chindanti kovidas tasya
ko na kuryat katha-ratim
With sword in hand, intelligent men cut through the
binding knots of
reactionary work [karma] by remembering the Personality
of Godhead.
Therefore, who will not pay attention to His message?
susrusoh sraddadhanasya
vasudeva-katha-rucih
syan mahat-sevaya viprah
punya-tirtha-nisevanat
O twice-born sages, by serving those devotees who are
completely freed
from all vice, great service is done. By such service,
one gains affinity
for hearing the messages of Vasudeva.
srnvatam sva-kathah krsnah
punya-sravana-kirtanah
hrdy antah stho hy abhadrani
vidhunoti suhrt satam
Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the
Paramatma
[Supersoul] in everyone's heart and the benefactor of the
truthful
devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the
heart of the
devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages,
which are in
themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.
nasta-prayesv abhadresu
nityam bhagavata-sevaya
bhagavaty uttama-sloke
bhaktir bhavati naisthiki
By regular attendance in classes on the Bhagavatam and by
rendering of
service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to
the heart is
almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the
Personality of
Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is
established as an
irrevocable fact.
tada rajas-tamo-bhavah
kama-lobhadayas ca ye
ceta etair anaviddham
sthitam sattve prasidati
As soon as irrevocable loving service is established in
the heart, the
effects of nature's modes of passion and ignorance, such
as lust, desire
and hankering, disappear from the heart. Then the devotee
is established
in goodness, and he becomes completely happy.
evam prasanna-manaso
bhagavad-bhakti-yogatah
bhagavat-tattva-vijnanam
mukta-sangasya jayate
Thus established in the mode of unalloyed goodness, the
man whose mind
has been enlivened by contact with devotional service to
the Lord gains
positive scientific knowledge of the Personality of Godhead
in the stage
of liberation from all material association.
bhidyate hrdaya-granthis
chidyante sarva-samsayah
ksiyante casya karmani
drsta evatmanisvare
Thus the knot in the heart is pierced, and all misgivings
are cut to
pieces. The chain of fruitive actions is terminated when
one sees the
self as master.
ato vai kavayo nityam
bhaktim paramaya muda
vasudeve bhagavati
kurvanty atma-prasadanim
Certainly, therefore, since time immemorial, all
transcendentalists
have been rendering devotional service to Lord Krsna, the
Personality of
Godhead, with great delight, because such devotional
service is
enlivening to the self.