Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 4 Chapter 29 Verses 39-40

Canto 4: Creation of the Fourth Order | Chapter 29: Talks Between Nārada and King Prācīnabarhi

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.29.39-40

yatra bhāgavatā rājan

sādhavo viśadāśayāḥ

bhagavad-guṇānukathana-

śravaṇa-vyagra-cetasaḥ

tasmin mahan-mukharitā madhubhic-caritra-

pīyūṣa-śeṣa-saritaḥ paritaḥ sravanti

tā ye pibanty avitṛṣo nṛpa gāḍha-karṇais

tān na spṛśanty aśana-tṛḍ-bhaya-śoka-mohāḥ

SYNONYMS

yatra — where; bhāgavatāḥ — great devotees; rājan — O King; sādhavaḥ — saintly persons; viśada-āśayāḥ — broad-minded; bhagavat — of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; guṇa — the qualities; anukathana — to regularly recite; śravaṇa — to hear; vyagra — eager; cetasaḥ — whose consciousness; tasmin — there; mahat — of great saintly persons; mukharitāḥ — emanating from the mouths; madhu-bhit — of the killer of the Madhu demon; caritra — the activities or the character; pīyūṣa — of nectar; śeṣa — surplus; saritaḥ — rivers; paritaḥ — all around; sravanti — flow; tāḥ — all of them; ye — they who; pibanti — drink; avitṛṣaḥ — without being satisfied; nṛpa — O King; gāḍha — attentive; karṇaiḥ — with their ears; tān — them; na — never; spṛśanti — touch; aśana — hunger; tṛṭ — thirst; bhaya — fear; śoka — lamentation; mohāḥ — illusion.

TRANSLATION

My dear King, in the place where pure devotees live, following the rules and regulations and thus purely conscious and engaged with great eagerness in hearing and chanting the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in that place if one gets a chance to hear their constant flow of nectar, which is exactly like the waves of a river, one will forget the necessities of life — namely hunger and thirst — and become immune to all kinds of fear, lamentation and illusion.

PURPORT

The cultivation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is possible where great devotees live together and constantly engage in hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord. In a holy place like Vṛndāvana, there are many devotees constantly engaged in chanting and hearing the glories of the Lord. If one gets the chance to hear from pure devotees in such a place, allowing the constant flow of the river of nectar to come from the mouths of pure devotees, then the cultivation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness becomes very easy. When one is engaged in constantly hearing the glories of the Lord, he certainly rises above the bodily conception. When one is in the bodily conception, he feels the pangs of hunger and thirst, fear, lamentation and illusion. But when one is engaged in hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord, he transcends the bodily conception.

The word bhagavad-guṇānukathana-śravaṇa-vyagra-cetasaḥ, meaning "always eager to find the place where the glories of the Lord are being heard and chanted," is significant in this verse. A businessman is always very eager to go to a place where business is transacted. Similarly, a devotee is very eager to hear from the lips of liberated devotees. As soon as one hears the glories of the Lord from the liberated devotees, he immediately becomes impregnated with Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is also confirmed in another verse:

satāḿ prasańgān mama vīrya-saḿvido

bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ kathāḥ

taj-joṣaṇād āśv apavarga-vartmani

śraddhā ratir bhaktir anukramiṣyati

"In the association of pure devotees, discussion of the pastimes and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very pleasing and satisfying to the ear and to the heart. By cultivating such knowledge one gradually becomes advanced on the path of liberation, and thereafter he is freed, and his attraction becomes fixed. Then real devotion and devotional service begin." (Bhāg. 3.25.25) In the association of pure devotees, one becomes attached to hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord. In this way one can cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and as soon as this cultivation is advanced, one can become faithful to the Lord, devoted to the Lord and attached to the Lord, and thus one can very quickly attain full Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The secret of success in the cultivation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is hearing from the right person. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person is never disturbed by the bodily necessities — namely eating, sleeping, mating and defending.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness