Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 48
Nimi Questions the Yogendras: Varṇāśrama’s Purpose, Ritualism’s Fall, and Yuga-Avatāras with Kali-yuga Saṅkīrtana
वैरेण यं नृपतय: शिशुपालपौण्ड्र- शाल्वादयो गतिविलासविलोकनाद्यै: । ध्यायन्त आकृतधिय: शयनासनादौ तत्साम्यमापुरनुरक्तधियां पुन: किम् ॥ ४८ ॥
vaireṇa yaṁ nṛpatayaḥ śiśupāla-pauṇḍra- śālvādayo gati-vilāsa-vilokanādyaiḥ dhyāyanta ākṛta-dhiyaḥ śayanāsanādau tat-sāmyam āpur anurakta-dhiyāṁ punaḥ kim
シシュパーラ、パウンドラカ、シャールヴァら敵対する王たちでさえ、常に主クリシュナを思っていた。横たわる時も座す時も、他の行いの最中も、彼らは嫉妬をもって主の身の動き、遊戯のリーラー、 भक्तへの慈愛の眼差しなどを観想した。かくして常にクリシュナに没入したゆえ、彼らは主の住処において解脱を得た。ましてや、好意と愛の心で絶えずクリシュナに心を定める者に与えられる恩寵は、いかばかりであろうか。
On the eve of the disappearance of Lord Kṛṣṇa from this world, Vasudeva became filled with lamentation thinking that he had not properly utilized the opportunity of the Lord’s personal presence to become perfectly Kṛṣṇa conscious. However, Nārada Muni assured Śrī Vasudeva that the glories of Vasudeva and his good wife Devakī were chanted throughout the universe because even the demigods worshiped the exalted status of the Lord’s own parents. Vasudeva was not only concerned about his own spiritual position, but he also lamented for the Yadu dynasty, which had left the world in an apparently inauspicious way, being cursed by great brāhmaṇas such as Nārada and dying in a fratricidal war. Although the members of the Yadu dynasty were personal associates of the Lord, their disappearance from the earth was apparently inauspicious, and therefore Vasudeva was concerned about their eventual destination. So Nārada here assures Vasudeva that even the demons who opposed Kṛṣṇa, such as Śiśupāla, Pauṇḍraka and Śālva, achieved promotion to the Lord’s own abode because of their constant absorption in thinking of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore what to speak of the exalted members of the Yadu dynasty who actually loved Kṛṣṇa more than anything ( anurakta-dhiyāṁ punaḥ kim )? Similarly, it is stated in the Garuḍa Purāṇa:
FAQs
This verse teaches that even enemies who constantly contemplated Krishna—His gait, pastimes, and glances—became spiritually elevated by that absorption; therefore loving remembrance in bhakti is even more powerful.
Narada cites well-known anti-devotee kings who were always thinking of Krishna out of hatred, to show that intense fixation on the Lord affects the consciousness profoundly—so devotees who remember Him with love attain the highest result.
Keep the mind repeatedly returning to Krishna—through hearing, chanting, and reflecting on His qualities and pastimes—so that daily activities (resting, working, commuting) become linked to devotional remembrance rather than distraction.