Srimad Bhagavatam — Prathama Skandha, Shloka 1
Questions by the Sages of Naimiṣāraṇya (Śaunaka’s Inquiries and the Bhāgavata Thesis)
ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय जन्माद्यस्य यतोऽन्वयादितरतश्चार्थेष्वभिज्ञ: स्वराट् तेने ब्रह्म हृदा य आदिकवये मुह्यन्ति यत्सूरय: । तेजोवारिमृदां यथा विनिमयो यत्र त्रिसर्गोऽमृषा धाम्ना स्वेन सदा निरस्तकुहकं सत्यं परं धीमहि ॥ १ ॥
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya janmādy asya yato ’nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ svarāṭ tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ yathā vinimayo yatra tri-sargo ’mṛṣā dhāmnā svena sadā nirasta-kuhakaṁ satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi
唵，礼敬薄伽梵瓦苏戴瓦。吾观想圣奎师那——至上真实，万有之生、住、灭之本因；祂直接与间接遍知一切，且独立自在。祂最初将吠陀智慧注入梵天之心；因祂的幻力，诸天与圣贤亦会迷惑；而祂自性之圣境恒常无欺无幻——我顶礼并忆念此至上真理。
Obeisances unto the Personality of Godhead Vāsudeva directly indicate Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is the divine son of Vasudeva and Devakī. This fact will be more explicitly explained in the text of this work. Śrī Vyāsadeva asserts herein that Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead, and all others are His direct or indirect plenary portions or portions of the portion. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has even more explicitly explained the subject matter in his Kṛṣṇa-sandarbha. And Brahmā, the original living being, has explained the subject of Śrī Kṛṣṇa substantially in his treatise named Brahma-saṁhitā. In an Upaniṣad in the Sāma-veda, it is also stated that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the divine son of Devakī. Therefore, in this prayer, the first proposition holds that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the primeval Lord, and if any transcendental nomenclature is to be understood as belonging to the Absolute Personality of Godhead, it must be the name indicated by the word Kṛṣṇa, which means the all-attractive. In Bhagavad-gītā, in many places, the Lord asserts Himself to be the original Personality of Godhead, and this is confirmed by Arjuna, and also by great sages like Nārada, Vyāsa, and many others. In the Padma Purāṇa, it is also stated that out of the innumerable names of the Lord, the name of Kṛṣṇa is the principal one. Vāsudeva indicates the plenary portion of the Personality of Godhead, and all the different forms of the Lord, being identical with Vāsudeva, are indicated in this text. The name Vāsudeva particularly indicates the divine son of Vasudeva and Devakī. Śrī Kṛṣṇa is always meditated upon by the paramahaṁsas, who are the perfected ones among those in the renounced order of life.
FAQs
It declares that the Supreme Truth (Vāsudeva) is the ultimate source from whom creation, maintenance, and dissolution of the universe arise.
To show that Vedic wisdom originates from the Supreme Lord, who revealed it internally to Brahmā, the first created being and original teacher of the cosmos.
It guides one to center life on the Supreme Reality—seeking clarity beyond illusion—by cultivating remembrance and meditation on the Lord as the source and controller of all.