2016-11-12Srimad Bhagavatam 10.87.21 - Glories of Chanting and Hearing (download mp3) by Radhika Vallabha Prabhu at ISKCON Chowpatty www.iskcondesiretree.com SB 10.87.21 duravagamatma-tattva-nigamaya tavatta-tanos carita-mahamrtabdhi-parivarta-parisramanah  na parilasanti kecid apavargam apisvara te carana-saroja-hamsa-kula-sanga-visrsta-grhah Translation: My Lord, some fortunate souls have gotten relief from the fatigue of material life by diving into the vast nectar ocean of Your pastimes, which You enact when You manifest Your personal forms to propagate the unfathomable science of the self. These rare souls, indifferent even to liberation, renounce the happiness of home and family because of their association with devotees who are like flocks of swans enjoying at the lotus of Your feet. Purport: Ritualistic brahmanas (smartas) and impersonalists (Mayavadis) always try to relegate the process of bhakti-yoga to a relative or minor role. They say that devotion to the Personality of Godhead is for sentimental persons who lack the maturity to observe strict rituals or pursue the rigorous culture of knowledge. In this verse, however, the personified Vedas most emphatically declare the superexcellence of devotional service, clearly identifying it with atma-tattva, the science of the self that impersonalists so proudly claim as their own domain. Srila Jiva Gosvami here defines atma-tattva as the confidential mystery of the Supreme Lord’s personal forms, qualities and pastimes. He also gives a second meaning for the phrase atta-tanoh. Instead of meaning “who assumes various bodies,” the phrase can also mean “He who attracts everyone to His transcendental body.” The pastimes of Lord Krsna and His various expansions and incarnations are an unfathomable ocean of enjoyment. When a person comes to the point of complete exhaustion in his materialistic pursuits — whether he has been searching after material success or some impersonal notion of spiritual annihilation — he can gain relief by submerging himself in this nectar. As Srila Rupa Gosvami explains in his textbook on the science of bhakti-yoga, Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (rendered into English by Srila Prabhupada as The Nectar of Devotion), one who tastes even a single drop of this vast ocean will forever lose all desire for anything else. Giving an alternative interpretation of the word parisramanah, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti comments that although the devotees of the Lord become fatigued after repeatedly diving into the endless waves and undercurrents in the ocean of the Lord’s pleasure pastimes, these devotees never desire any happiness other than the Lord’s service, even the happiness of liberation. Rather, their very fatigue becomes pleasure for them, just as the fatigue produced by sex indulgence is pleasurable to those addicted to sex. The Supreme Lord’s pure devotees become enthused by hearing the charming narrations of His pastimes and feel impelled to dance, sing, shout out loud, kick their heels together, faint, sob and run about like madmen. Thus they become too absorbed in ecstasy to notice any bodily discomfort. Pure Vaisnavas do not want even liberation, what to speak of other desirable goals, such as an exalted position as ruler of the heavenly planets. This degree of exclusive dedication is admittedly only rarely achieved in this world, as the srutis speaking this verse indicate by the word kecit (“a few”). Not only do pure devotees abandon their hankering for future gain, but they also lose all their attraction for what they already possess — the common comforts of home and family life. The association of saintly Vaisnavas — the disciplic succession of masters, disciples and granddisciples — becomes for them their real family, filled with swanlike personalities like Sri Sukadeva Gosvami. These great personalities always drink the sweet nectar of service to the Supreme Lord’s lotus feet. Many mantras of the Upanisads and other srutis openly declare devotional serv