Shloka 37
Nārada’s Instruction to Vyāsa: The Defect of Bhakti-less Literature and the Mandate of Kṛṣṇa-kathā
ॐ नमो भगवते तुभ्यं वासुदेवाय धीमहि । प्रद्युम्नायानिरुद्धाय नम: सङ्कर्षणाय च ॥ ३७ ॥
oṁ namo bhagavate tubhyaṁ vāsudevāya dhīmahi pradyumnāyāniruddhāya namaḥ saṅkarṣaṇāya ca
Om, obeisance to Bhagavān Vāsudeva; let us meditate upon Him. Obeisance also to Pradyumna, Aniruddha, and Saṅkarṣaṇa.
According to Pañcarātra, Nārāyaṇa is the primeval cause of all expansions of Godhead. These are Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. Vāsudeva and Saṅkarṣaṇa are on the middle left and right, Pradyumna is on the right of Saṅkarṣaṇa, and Aniruddha is on the left of Vāsudeva, and thus the four Deities are situated. They are known as the four aides-de-camp of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
FAQs
This verse offers reverential meditation and obeisances to Vāsudeva and His expansions—Pradyumna, Aniruddha, and Saṅkarṣaṇa—presenting them as worshipable manifestations of the one Supreme Lord.
While instructing Vyāsadeva on the essence of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Nārada anchors the teaching in devotion by invoking the Supreme Lord and His principal expansions as the focus of meditation and surrender.
Begin daily practice with a short prayer of surrender, then steady the mind by remembering the Lord’s names and forms; this cultivates clarity, humility, and devotion amid distraction.