Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 37
Nimi Questions the Yogendras: Varṇāśrama’s Purpose, Ritualism’s Fall, and Yuga-Avatāras with Kali-yuga Saṅkīrtana
न ह्यत: परमो लाभो देहिनां भ्राम्यतामिह । यतो विन्देत परमां शान्तिं नश्यति संसृति: ॥ ३७ ॥
na hy ataḥ paramo lābho dehināṁ bhrāmyatām iha yato vindeta paramāṁ śāntiṁ naśyati saṁsṛtiḥ
En vérité, pour les êtres incarnés errant en ce monde, il n’est pas de gain plus élevé que le saṅkīrtana du Seigneur; par lui on obtient la paix suprême et le cycle des naissances et des morts s’éteint.
In the Skanda Purāṇa, as well as in other Purāṇas, there is the following statement: mahā-bhāgavatā nityaṁ kalau kurvanti kīrtanam. “During Kali-yuga the great devotees of the Lord always engage in kīrtana, chanting the Lord’s holy names.” It is the nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be merciful, and He is especially merciful to those who, in a helpless condition, take complete shelter of His lotus feet. One can immediately take shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord by chanting His holy names. According to Śrīdhara Svāmī, even in previous ages such as Satya-yuga it was not possible for the living entities to achieve the perfection that is available in Kali-yuga. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has explained this as follows. In former ages such as Satya-yuga human beings were perfectly qualified and easily performed even the most difficult spiritual processes, meditating for many thousands of years practically without eating or sleeping. Thus, although in any age one who completely takes shelter of the Lord’s holy name gets all perfection, the highly qualified inhabitants of Satya-yuga do not consider that merely moving the tongue and lips, chanting the Lord’s holy name, is a complete process and that the Lord’s holy name is the only shelter within the universe. They are more attracted to the difficult and elaborate yoga system of meditation, complete with sophisticated sitting postures, painstaking control of the breath and deep, extended meditations in trance on the Personality of Godhead within the heart. In Satya-yuga sinful life is practically unheard of, and therefore people are not afflicted with the terrible reactions seen in Kali-yuga, such as world war, famine, plague, drought, insanity, etc. Although in Satya-yuga people always worship the Personality of Godhead as the ultimate goal of life and meticulously follow His laws, called dharma, they do not feel themselves to be in a helpless condition, and thus they do not always experience intense love for the Lord.
FAQs
It teaches that the supreme gain is that practice by which one attains the highest peace and the cycle of transmigration (saṁsṛti) is destroyed.
Nārada is instructing Vasudeva on Bhāgavata-dharma—showing that spiritual practice aimed at devotion and liberation is the greatest benefit for embodied beings lost in worldly wandering.
Prioritize daily sādhana that brings inner peace and detachment—especially hearing/chanting about the Lord and living with spiritual purpose—so life moves toward liberation rather than repeated anxiety and distraction.