Srimad Bhagavatam — Dvitiya Skandha, Shloka 2
The First Step in God Realization: The Glory of Hearing and the Virāṭ-Rūpa Meditation
श्रोतव्यादीनि राजेन्द्र नृणां सन्ति सहस्रश: । अपश्यतामात्मतत्त्वं गृहेषु गृहमेधिनाम् ॥ २ ॥
śrotavyādīni rājendra nṛṇāṁ santi sahasraśaḥ apaśyatām ātma-tattvaṁ gṛheṣu gṛha-medhinām
Ô Rajendra, pour ceux qui, en gṛhamedhī, sont absorbés par le matériel et ne voient pas l’ātma-tattva, il existe dans la société humaine des milliers de sujets à entendre, et ainsi de suite.
In the revealed scriptures there are two nomenclatures for the householder’s life. One is gṛhastha, and the other is gṛhamedhī. The gṛhasthas are those who live together with wife and children but live transcendentally for realizing the ultimate truth. The gṛhamedhīs, however, are those who live only for the benefit of the family members, extended or centralized, and thus are envious of others. The word medhī indicates jealousy of others. The gṛhamedhīs, being interested in family affairs only, are certainly envious of others. Therefore, one gṛhamedhī is not on good terms with another gṛhamedhī, and in the extended form, one community, society or nation is not on good terms with another counterpart of selfish interest. In the Age of Kali, all the householders are jealous of one another because they are blind to the knowledge of ultimate truth. They have many subject matters for hearing — political, scientific, social, economic and so on — but due to a poor fund of knowledge, they set aside the question of the ultimate miseries of life, namely miseries of birth, death, old age and disease. Factually, the human life is meant for making an ultimate solution to birth, death, old age and disease, but the gṛhamedhīs, being illusioned by the material nature, forget everything about self-realization. The ultimate solution to the problems of life is to go back home, back to Godhead, and thus, as stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (8.16) , the miseries of material existence — birth, death, old age and disease — are removed.
FAQs
This verse states that countless subjects occupy human attention, especially for materialistic householders, but such absorption prevents seeing ātma-tattva—the truth of the self.
Parīkṣit had asked about what a person should hear, chant, remember, and do at the time of death; Śukadeva contrasts endless worldly talk with the urgent need for self-realization and devotion.
Reduce nonessential media and gossip, prioritize daily śravaṇa (hearing) of Bhagavatam and nāma-japa, and evaluate activities by whether they awaken remembrance of the soul and Bhagavān.