Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 20
Bondage and Liberation Under Māyā; Two Birds Analogy; Marks of the Saintly Devotee
यस्यां न मे पावनमङ्ग कर्म स्थित्युद्भवप्राणनिरोधमस्य । लीलावतारेप्सितजन्म वा स्याद् वन्ध्यां गिरं तां बिभृयान्न धीर: ॥ २० ॥
yasyāṁ na me pāvanam aṅga karma sthity-udbhava-prāṇa-nirodham asya līlāvatārepsita-janma vā syād vandhyāṁ giraṁ tāṁ bibhṛyān na dhīraḥ
O Uddhava, Schriften, die Meine reinigenden Taten und Līlās nicht schildern—durch die sich Schöpfung, Erhaltung und Auflösung des Universums offenbaren, und die Meine liebsten Erscheinungen, Kṛṣṇa und Balarāma, nicht anerkennen—sind unfruchtbare Rede; der Weise nimmt sie nicht an.
The words līlāvatārepsita-janma are very significant here. The Lord’s incarnation for executing wonderful pastimes is called līlāvatāra, and such wonderful forms of Viṣṇu are glorified by the names Rāmacandra, Nṛsiṁhadeva, Kūrma, Varāha, and so on. Among all such līlāvatāras, however, the most beloved, even to this day, is Lord Kṛṣṇa, the original source of the viṣṇu-tattva. The Lord appears in the prison house of Kaṁsa and is immediately transferred to the rural setting of Vṛndāvana, where He exhibits unique childhood pastimes with His cowherd boyfriends, girlfriends, parents and well-wishers. After some time, the Lord’s pastimes are transferred to Mathurā and Dvārakā, and the extraordinary love of the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana is exhibited in their anguished separation from Lord Kṛṣṇa. Such pastimes of the Lord are īpsita, or the reservoir of all loving exchanges with the Absolute Truth. The pure devotees of the Lord are most intelligent and expert and do not pay any attention to useless, fruitless literatures that neglect the highest truth, Lord Kṛṣṇa. Although such literatures are very popular among materialistic persons all over the world, they are completely neglected by the community of pure Vaiṣṇavas. In this verse the Lord explains that the literatures approved for the devotees are those that glorify the Lord’s pastimes as the puruṣa-avatāra and the līlāvatāras, culminating in the personal appearance of Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself, as confirmed in Brahma-saṁhitā (5.39) :
FAQs
This verse says a sober person should reject speech that does not glorify Krishna’s purifying deeds and His līlā-avatāras, because such talk is “barren” and yields no true spiritual fruit.
In the Uddhava Gita, Krishna instructs Uddhava on bhakti and inner discipline; here He emphasizes that a devotee’s speech should be aligned with Krishna-kathā, not worldly, non-purifying topics.
Reduce gossip and distraction-based media, and intentionally fill speech and listening time with Bhagavatam study, kirtan, and discussions of Krishna’s qualities and pastimes.