Srimad Bhagavatam — Dvitiya Skandha, Shloka 3
Parīkṣit’s Full Surrender and Śukadeva’s Maṅgalācaraṇa to Kṛṣṇa
Inquiry into Creation, Maintenance, and Dissolution
पप्रच्छ चेममेवार्थं यन्मां पृच्छथ सत्तमा: । कृष्णानुभावश्रवणे श्रद्दधानो महामना: ॥ ३ ॥ संस्थां विज्ञाय संन्यस्य कर्म त्रैवर्गिकं च यत् । वासुदेवे भगवति आत्मभावं दृढं गत: ॥ ४ ॥
papraccha cemam evārthaṁ yan māṁ pṛcchatha sattamāḥ kṛṣṇānubhāva-śravaṇe śraddadhāno mahā-manāḥ
Ô sages éminents : le magnanime Mahārāja Parīkṣit, plein de foi dans l’écoute des gloires de Kṛṣṇa, sachant sa mort imminente, renonça aux actes intéressés—dharma, artha et kāma—et, fermement établi dans son amour naturel pour Bhagavān Vāsudeva, posa ces questions comme vous me les posez.
The three activities of religion, economic development and sense gratification are generally attractive for conditioned souls struggling for existence in the material world. Such regulated activities prescribed in the Vedas are called the karma-kāṇḍīya conception of life, and householders are generally recommended to follow the rules just to enjoy material prosperity both in this life and in the next. Most people are attracted by such activities. Even in the activities of their modern godless civilization, people are more concerned with economic development and sense gratification without any religious sentiments. As a great emperor of the world, Mahārāja Parīkṣit had to observe such regulations of the Vedic karma-kāṇḍīya section, but by his slight association with Śukadeva Gosvāmī he could perfectly understand that Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Absolute Personality of Godhead (Vāsudeva), for whom he had a natural love since his birth, is everything, and thus he fixed his mind firmly upon Him, renouncing all modes of Vedic karma-kāṇḍīya activities. This perfectional stage is attained by a jñānī after many, many births. The jñānīs, or the empiric philosophers endeavoring for liberation, are thousands of times better than the fruitive workers, and out of hundreds of thousands of such jñānīs one is liberated factually. And out of hundreds of thousands of such liberated persons, even one person is rarely found who can firmly fix his mind unto the lotus feet of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, as declared by the Lord Himself in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.19) . Mahārāja Parīkṣit is specially qualified with the word mahā-manāḥ, which puts him on an equal level with the mahātmās described in the Bhagavad-gītā. In the later age also there have been many mahātmās of this type, and they also gave up all karma-kāṇḍīya conceptions of life, solely and wholly depending on the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya, who is Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself, taught us in His Śikṣāṣṭaka (8):
FAQs
This verse praises faithful hearing of Kṛṣṇa’s glories as the right inquiry and the proper mood for receiving transcendental knowledge.
Parīkṣit’s questions were focused on Kṛṣṇa and asked with faith; Śukadeva affirms that such inquiry is ideal for spiritual realization.
Regularly hear or read Bhāgavatam with attention and faith, making time daily for Kṛṣṇa-kathā to strengthen devotion and clarity.