atha prathamo ’dhyāyaḥ

tebhyaḥ sva-vīkṣaṇa-vinaṣṭa-tamisra-dṛgbhyaḥ

kṣemaṁ tri-loka-gurur artha-dṛśaṁ ca yacchan

śṛṇvan dig-anta-dhavalaṁ sva-yaśo ’śubha-ghnaṁ

gītaṁ surair nṛbhir agāc chanakair videhān

The men and women of Ānarta, Dhanva, Kuru-jāṅgala, Kaṅka, Matsya, Pañcāla, Kunti, Madhu, Kekaya, Kośala, Arṇa and many other kingdoms drank with their eyes the nectarean beauty of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s lotuslike face, which was graced with generous smiles and affectionate glances. Simply by glancing at those who came to see Him, Lord Kṛṣṇa, the spiritual master of the three worlds, delivered them from the blindness of materialism. As He thus endowed them with fearlessness and divine vision, He heard demigods and men singing His glories, which purify the entire universe and destroy all misfortune. Gradually, He reached Videha. SB 10.86.20-21

These verses show that by his mercy alone his great powers can be understood.

Nārāyaṇādhyātma says:

nityāvyakto ’pi bhagavān īkṣate nija-śaktitaḥ

tām ṛte paramānandaṁ kaḥ paśyetām itaṁ prabhum

Though the lord is eternally invisible, he is seen by his own energy. Who can see the Lord full of supreme bliss without that energy?

Here is an explanatory verse:

tataḥ svayaṁ prakāśatva-śaktyā svecchā-prakāśayā

so ’bhivyakto bhaven netre na netra-viṣayaḥ kṛtaḥ

Thus by his self-manifesting energy, arising by his own will, the Lord, who is not visible to the eye, becomes visible to the eyes.

The śruti says tāsāṁ madhye sākṣāt brahma gopāla-purī hi: in the middle of that expanse one can see the abode of Kṛṣṇa made of brahman. (Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad) Thus the abodes of the Lord, also made of spiritual matter become visible. Those who are knowledgeable by the Lord’s mercy conclude that things like pots, which are seen and which are not spiritual, are temporary.

Having explained that the cause of the Lord’s appearance is his mercy, his pastimes are described. I meditate upon Kṛṣṇa, who after his birth (janmādi yataḥ) in Vāsudeva’s house showed the form of Viṣṇu, described his previous appearances, etc. and later went (anu ayāt) elsewhere (itarataḥ), to the house of Nanda. Why did he go? Knowing his own purposes (abhijñaḥ artheṣu), such as, how to cheat Kaṁsa or knowing those who had revealed forms with various types of prema such as vātsalaya in Vraja, he went to Nanda’s house. But this does not mean that he is dependent on others. He is independent, ruling over himself (svarāṭ=svena rājate). Or svarāṭ can mean that he remained there in Vraja (virājate) because of his relatives such as Nanda (svaiḥ).

Because of his performing such pastimes under the control of prema of his devotees in Vraja, one should not think that he is a fool. He revealed (tene) the calves and cowherd boys to be brahman (brahma) even unto Lord Brahmā (ādi-kavaye), by his will alone (hṛdā), by which, through his power of yoga-māyā, even the intelligence of persons like Śiva and Nārada are bewildered.  

Or Kṛṣṇa by the statements of his svāṁśa form Matsya revealed his form as impersonal brahman to Satyavrata (ādi-kavaye), who was the wise man (kavi) and founder of his dynasty (ādi). This is described in the following verse:

madīyaṁ mahimānaṁ ca paraṁ brahmeti śabditam |

vetsyasy anugṛhītaṁ me sampraśnair vivṛtaṁ hṛdi ||

You will be thoroughly advised and favored by Me, and because of your inquiries, everything about My glories, which are known as impersonal brahman, will be manifest within your heart. Thus you will know everything about Me. SB 8.24.38

Śrīdhara Svāmī explains this verse as follows: you will directly see (vetsyasi) this Brahman, which will be by my mercy (me ahugṛhītam); it will be explained at the beginning of the prayers of the Personified the Vedas (SB10.87.2) that the Brahman is realized by the Lord’s mercy alone.

Third explanation:

Let us meditate on Kṛṣṇa, from whom arises madhura-rasa through meeting and separation; who, as the hero, most skilful in everything related to rasa, is beyond the material realm; who conveyed to Bharata Muni the same madhura-rasa, about which other poets are bewildered; in whom alone arises the three types of literary meaning, in extraordinary form; and who defeats the withered arguers by the extraordinary influence of the experience of madhura-rasa.

Another meaning is revealed in the verse, showing the highest choice of Kṛṣṇa’s rasa, with the appearance of the highest sweetness with the gopīs, even though he has other associates in śānta, dāsya, sakhya and vātsalya.

tatrātiśuśubhe tābhir bhagavān devakī-sutaḥ

madhye maṇīnāṁ haimānāṁ mahā-marakato yathā

In the midst of the dancing gopīs, Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared most brilliant, like an exquisite sapphire in the midst of golden ornaments. SB 10.33.6

Let us meditate on Kṛṣṇa from whom appears the highest rasa śṛṅgāra-rasa (janma ādyasya). Previously this rasa, though existing, had disappeared because of the censure by conservative spiritual aspirants. By meeting (anvayāt) and separation (itarataḥ) this rasa with the gopīs is accomplished. Just as Bhīmasena is represented by the word Bhīma, so the ādya-rasa is represented by the word ādya. Or because Bhāgavatam is considered to the scriptural form of madhura-rasa (pibata bhāgavatam rasam) by the proximity of the verses the word ādyasya can infer the word rasasya as the object which is being described. The state created by meeting and separation actually establishes the rasa as its counterpart. Thus there is no worry that the original form of rasa is degraded by this condition. Rather such a state indicates the secret nature of this madhura-rasa.  

Next there is an elaboration of the vibhāva in the form of the ālambana. Kṛṣṇa is knowledgeable of, or skilful in (abhijṇaḥ), all things suitable for rasa such as the sixty four arts. But unlike material heroes such as Nala who are affected by time and karma, Kṛṣṇa, the viṣaya of spiritual rasa, is independent and spiritual (svarāṭ).

Rasa should not be accredited to other persons. He alone conveyed the truth about ādi-rasa (brahma) through his mind (hṛdā) unto Bharata Muni (ādi-kavaye), the famous exponent of material rasa. This reveals that rasa originates only from Kṛṣṇa. Amara-koṣa says that brahma can mean Vedas, truth or austerity.

In this truth (yatra) the poets are bewildered because of the descriptions with concentration on material heroes such as Nala. An example is given. Just as one mistakes fire or earth for water, people think the rasa directed only to the Lord should be directed to material persons. There is no rasa in material heroes whose temporary bodies end in ashes and worm waste. Rather, on consideration, in this there is a contradiction to rasa — distaste or disgust — because of the perversion of the object of love, vibhāva. The unintelligent describe rasa in such persons.

In the Lord there is the creation of the three meanings; literal, metaphorical and suggested, or creation of allusion (dhvani), skill in composition (guṇa) and literary ornaments (alaṅkarā). These are real (amṛṣā) and become amazing because of their extraordinary nature in Kṛṣṇa. The life force of the material hero made simply of proud words of poets is false

Some persons do not accept rasa. By the amazing influence of the direct experience of tasting madhura-rasa (dhāmnā) which is extraordinary (svena), he defeats the withered Mīmāṁsakas.

Fourth explanation:

Without deceit, in correct manner, aspiring for the highest goal, we meditate on Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa from whom arises the height of madhura-rasa: by giving up the other gopīs and following only her, as dhīra-lalita he showed his expertise in the chief aspects of rasa and she exhibited herself as an independent lover; who imparted through the heart to Śukadeva, knower of this rasa from birth, the Bhāgavatam, by which the devotees faint in ecstasy and undergo transformation, just as fire, water and earth reverse their properties; by whose influence the three śaktis remain eternally.

Among all the gopīs, the peak of sweetness arises in the company of the queen of Vṛndāvana, the principal gopī. This is indicated in the following verses:

kasyāḥ padāni caitāni yātāyā nanda-sūnunā

aṁsa-nyasta-prakoṣṭhāyāḥ kareṇoḥ kariṇā yathā

Here we see the footprints of some gopī who must have been walking along with the son of Nanda Mahārāja. He must have put His arm on Her shoulder, just as an elephant rests His trunk on the shoulder of an accompanying she-elephant. SB 10.30.27

anayārādhito nūnaṁ bhagavān harir īśvaraḥ

yan no vihāya govindaḥ prīto yām anayad rahaḥ

Certainly this particular gopī has perfectly worshiped the all-powerful Personality of Godhead, Govinda, since He was so pleased with Her that He abandoned the rest of us and brought Her to a secluded place. SB 10.30.28

A meaning which indicates this should be found in the first verse of Bhāgavatam.

We meditate upon the Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa from whom there is the appearance (janma) of madhura-rasa (ādyasya). This means that these two are the supreme receptacle of the art of madhura-rasa.

Giving up all other gopī lovers (itarataḥ), he followed her alone and became obedient to her (anvayāt). Itarataḥ has an ablative meaning (from others) and indicates a suppressed indeclinable participle.[3] The following verse shows how he followed only Rādhā.

atrāvaropitā kāntā puṣpa-hetor mahātmanā

atra prasūnāvacayaḥ priyārthe preyasā kṛtaḥ

And over here that intelligent boy must have put Her down to gather some flowers. Just see how in this place dear Kṛṣṇa collected flowers for His beloved. SB 10.30.31-32

Because he gave up other gopīs and followed her alone, he is known as dhīra-lalita lover,[4] favorable for cultivating rasa. He is thus called “one who is fully knowledgeable of the chief rasas filled with madhura-rasa (artheṣu abhijñaḥ).” And because he is dhīra-lalita, she alone remains with her lover (svarāṭ), as a svādhīna-kāntā, a woman who controls Kṛṣṇa.

In order to reveal all this, he imparted through the heart the Bhāgavatam (brahma) containing as its essence the five chapters on rasa to Śukadeva, knower of this tattva (kavaye) from his birth (ādi). The Bhāgavatam is called brahma in the following verse. idaṁ bhāgavataṁ nāma purāṇaṁ brahma-sammitam: this Bhāgavata Purāṇa is furnished with brahman. (SB 1.3.40) śuka-mukād amṛta-drava-saṁyutam: Bhāgavatam is sweetness flowing from the mouth of Śuka. (SB 1.1.3) Śuka-vāg-amṛtābdhīnduḥ: Kṛṣṇa is the moon rising from the sweet ocean of words of Śuka. (Kṛṣṇa-astottara-śata-nāma-stora, Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa)

From hearing the Bhāgavatam (yad) since it has rasa, the devotees faint in ecstasy from tasting the rasa (yad sūrayaḥ muhyanti). Or because Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are the objects of their hearing and seeing, their close associates (sūrayaḥ), though most wise, become bewildered. This means that they take on qualities opposite their normal qualities, out of ecstasy. And others are included in this ecstasy also. This is illustrated through an example. Their ecstasy is just like earth, water and fire reversing their properties. For instance the moon, a form of fire, on seeing the rāsa-līlā of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, gave up its quality of moving and became stunned like earth. Water, on hearing the sound of the flute, became stunned like earth. Stones made of earth because liquid like water.  

By the influence of these two (yatra dhāmnā svena) the creation of the three consorts (tri-sargaḥ) Śrī, Bhū and Līlā; or the gopīs, the queens and Lakṣmīs; or the internal, external and marginal potencies becomes factual (amṛsā). This means that the consorts such as Śrī who have been manifested by Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, by their influence, by their being the basis of the consorts, exist eternally because of their eternal relationship. We meditate on them without deceit, as in real forms (satyam) and as the most excellent forms (param). Thus the object of worship (Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa,viṣaya) of the Bhāgavatam has been shown as the subject of the first verse.

Fifth explanation:

Let us meditate on the most beneficial spiritual process which is beyond the guṇas, which brings about the appearance of the Lord as bhagavān and by which there is realization of brahman and paramātmā in the processes of jñāna and yoga; which is complete knowledge, independent of other processes; which was revealed by Nārada to Vyāsa, but which is bewildering to even great sages; which is not mixed with the three guṇas; and which defeats its opponents by its very nature of giving direct experience of bliss.

The process of bhakti is indicated by scriptures as the abhidheya by which the āśraya, Kṛṣṇa, can be attained. It brings about the highest realization and attracts even Kṛṣṇa. That bhakti then becomes the prayojana, prema. Thus bhakti-yoga should also be considered as the subject of this verse. Because of this, another meaning is included as an essential theme of this verse. Thus it is said in the Twelfth Canto:

mṛṣā giras tā hy asatīr asat-kathā na kathyate yad bhagavān adhokṣajaḥ

tad eva satyaṁ tad u haiva maṅgalaṁ tad eva puṇyaṁ bhagavad-guṇodayam

Words that do not describe the transcendental Personality of Godhead but instead deal with temporary matters are simply false and useless. Only those words that manifest the transcendental qualities of the Supreme Lord are actually truthful, auspicious and pious.

tad eva ramyaṁ ruciraṁ navaṁ navaṁ tad eva śaśvan manaso mahotsavam

tad eva śokārṇava-śoṣaṇaṁ nṛṇāṁ yad uttamaḥśloka-yaśo ’nugīyate

Those words describing the glories of the all-famous Personality of Godhead are attractive, relishable and ever fresh. Indeed, such words are a perpetual festival for the mind, and they dry up the ocean of misery. SB 12.12.49-50

Taking bhakti as the subject of the verse, param, the best, then means “beyond the three guṇas,” since bhakti is another form of the real substance (vāstava-vastu). Satyam refers to bhakti-yoga which is full of the most auspicious qualities beneficial for spiritual practitioners (sat). Satyaṁ paraṁ dhimahi then means “let us meditate on transcendental bhakti-yoga.”

lakṣaṇaṁ bhakti-yogasya nirguṇasya hy udāhṛtam

It is filled with the qualities of bhakti-yoga, which is beyond the guṇas. SB 3.29.12

na hy aṅgopakrame dhvaṁso mad-dharmasyoddhavāṇv api

mayā vyavasitaḥ samyaṅ nirguṇatvād anāśiṣaḥ

My dear Uddhava, because I have personally established it, this process of devotional service unto Me is transcendental and free from any material motivation. Certainly a devotee never suffers even the slightest loss by adopting this process. SB 11.29.20

vijñāna-ghana ānanda-ghanaḥ sac-cidānandaika-rase bhakti-yoge tiṣṭhati

The lord full of knowledge and bliss is situated in bhakti-yoga which is also eternity, knowledge and bliss.  Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad 2.78

Then the power of bhakti is described. From bhakti (yataḥ) there is an appearance (janma) of the supreme Lord (ādyasya) in the worshippers as bhagavān. As well, by the association of bhakti (anvayāt) there is realization of the supreme lord as brahman and paramātmā in other processes (itarataḥ artheṣu) — niṣkāma-karma-yoga, jñāna-yoga and aṣṭāṅga-yoga.

“But it is well known that cultivation of pure jñāna alone gives realization of brahman.” No. The supreme Lord is jñāna in complete form (abhijñaḥ). Because jñāna is in the mode of sattva only, without the association (anvaya) of bhakti, there can be no realization of brahman or paramātmā.

Thus it is said:

naiṣkarmyam apy acyuta-bhāva-varjitaṁ na śobhate jñānam alaṁ nirañjanam

kutaḥ punaḥ śaśvad abhadram īśvara na cārpitaṁ karma yad apy akāraṇam

Knowledge of self-realization (jñāna), even though free from all material affinity, does not look well if devoid of a conception of the Infallible [God]. What, then, is the use of fruitive activities, which are naturally painful from the very beginning and transient by nature, if they are not utilized for the devotional service of the Lord? SB 1.5.12

bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ

tato māṁ tattvato jñātvā viśate tad-anantaram

Only by bhakti can a person know Me as Brahman. Then, knowing Me as Brahman by that bhakti, he merges with Me. BG 18.55

”Jñāna-yoga, for realizing brahman, is dependent on bhakti, and bhakti, for realizing bhagavān, is dependent on jñāna.” To counteract this argument, it is said that this bhakti-yoga reigns independently (svarāṭ).” The king being independent is not dependent on anyone.

akāmaḥ sarva-kāmo vā mokṣa-kāma udāra-dhīḥ |

tīvreṇa bhakti-yogena yajeta puruṣaṁ param ||

Whether one is without desire [the condition of the devotees], or is desirous of all fruitive results, or is after liberation, one should with all efforts try to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead for complete perfection, culminating in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. SB 2.3.10

Tivreṇa bhakti-yogena means “by pure bhakti.” Bhakti should remain unmixed with jñāna or other elements, just as the sun’s rays remain untouched by the clouds.

yat karmabhir yat tapasā jñāna-vairāgyataś ca yat

yogena dāna-dharmeṇa śreyobhir itarair api

sarvaṁ mad-bhakti-yogena mad-bhakto labhate ’ñjasā

svargāpavargaṁ mad-dhāma kathañcid yadi vāñchati

Everything that can be achieved by fruitive activities, penance, knowledge, detachment, mystic yoga, charity, religious duties and all other means of perfecting life is easily achieved by My devotee through loving service unto Me. If somehow or other My devotee desires promotion to heaven, liberation, or residence in My abode, he easily achieves such benedictions. SB 11.20.32-33

On the other hand mixed bhakti is prohibited for devotees:

tasmān mad-bhakti-yuktasya yogino vai mad-ātmanaḥ

na jñānaṁ na ca vairāgyaṁ prāyaḥ śreyo bhaved iha

Therefore, for a devotee engaged in My loving service, with mind fixed on Me, the cultivation of knowledge and renunciation is generally not the means of achieving the highest perfection within this world. SB 11.20.31

However such pure bhakti cannot be attained without the mercy of devotees. This is next stated in the verse. That bhakti was revealed (tene) by mercy to Vyāsa (ādi-kavaye) by Nārada, who has Brahman (Kṛṣṇa) in his heart (brahma-hṛdā).

“But how can we understand that even omniscient Vyāsa’s knowledge of bhakti is dependent on another person (Nārada)?” Even the sages such as Vasiṣṭa are bewildered about bhakti-yoga which is beyond the guṇas. Because it is impossible for minds and intelligences generated from the guṇas, to understand by themselves about bhakti-yoga without the mercy of devotees, those persons only attain ignorance (muhyanti). This is mentioned in the Haṁsa-guhya prayers:

yac-chaktayo vadatāṁ vādināṁ vai vivāda-saṁvāda-bhuvo bhavanti

kurvanti caiṣāṁ muhur ātma-mohaṁ tasmai namo ’nanta-guṇāya bhūmne

Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the all-pervading Supreme Personality of Godhead, who possesses unlimited transcendental qualities. Acting from within the cores of the hearts of all philosophers, who propagate various views, He causes them to forget their own souls while sometimes agreeing and sometimes disagreeing among themselves. Thus He creates within this material world a situation in which they are unable to come to a conclusion. I offer my obeisances unto Him. SB 6.4.31

“But bhakti is not completely beyond the guṇas. This is shown in the Third Canto where bhakti is described as sāttvika, rājasika and tāmasika.” In this bhakti (yatra) the idea that it is made of the three guṇas (tri-sargaḥ) is unfounded (mṛṣā). Although milk is not made of fire, water of dust in its natural state, it can become burned by fire, diluted by water and contaminated with dirt. Similarly, bhakti-yoga, beyond the three guṇas, is called sāttvika, rājasika or tāmasika only because of the sattva, rajas and tamas possessed by persons practicing bhakti.

“Many people will object if you say bhakti-yoga is beyond the guṇas.” This bhakti-yoga defeats all the arguers because of its very nature (dhāmnā svena) -- being filled with unprecedented sweetness that can be realized by the devotees. This means that since it is directly realized, it does not depend on any other proof to defeat the arguers.

Bhāgavatam is compared to a lamp in the following two verses:

yaḥ svānubhāvam akhila-śruti-sāram ekam

adhyātma-dīpam atititīrṣatāṁ tamo ’ndham

saṁsāriṇāṁ karuṇayāha purāṇa-guhyaṁ

taṁ vyāsa-sūnum upayāmi guruṁ munīnām

Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto him [Śuka], the spiritual master of all sages, the son of Vyāsadeva, who, out of his great compassion for those gross materialists who struggle to cross over the darkest regions of material existence, spoke this most confidential supplement to the cream of Vedic knowledge, a transcendental torch for the soul, after having personally assimilated it by experience. SB 1.2.3

kasmai yena vibhāsito ’yam atulo jñāna-pradīpaḥ purā

tad-rūpeṇa ca nāradāya munaye kṛṣṇāya tad-rūpiṇā

yogīndrāya tad-ātmanātha bhagavad-rātāya kāruṇyatas

tac chuddhaṁ vimalaṁ viśokam amṛtaṁ satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi

I meditate upon that pure and spotless Supreme Absolute Truth, who is free from suffering and death and who in the beginning personally revealed this incomparable torchlight of jñāna to Brahmā. Brahmā then spoke it to the sage Nārada, who narrated it to Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Vyāsa. Śrīla Vyāsa revealed this Bhāgavatam to the greatest of sages, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, and Śukadeva mercifully spoke it to Mahārāja Parīkṣit. SB 12.13.19

Bhāgavatam is compared to the sun:

kṛṣṇe sva-dhāmopagate dharma-jñānādibhiḥ saha

kalau naṣṭa-dṛśām eṣa purāṇārko ’dhunoditaḥ

This Bhāgavata Purāṇa is as brilliant as the sun,[5] and it has arisen just after the departure of Lord Kṛṣṇa to His own abode, accompanied by religion, knowledge, etc. Persons who have lost their vision due to the dense darkness of ignorance in the age of Kali shall get light from this Purāṇa. SB 1.3.43

Bhāgavatam is described as giving a tasty fruit in the third verse of this chapter with nigama-kalpa-taror galitaṁ phalaṁ rasam: it is the matured fruit (of rasa) of the desire tree of the Vedas. (SB 1.1.3)

Bhāgavatam is compared to Mohinī avatāra because it gives different results to different people:

ādi-madhyāvasāneṣu vairāgyākhyāna-saṁyutam

hari-līlā-kathā-vrātā-mṛtānandita-sat-suram

sarva-vedānta-sāraṁ yad brahmātmaikatva-lakṣaṇam

vastv advitīyaṁ tan-niṣṭhaṁ kaivalyaika-prayojanam

From beginning to end, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is full of narrations that encourage renunciation of material life, as well as nectarean accounts of Lord Hari’s transcendental pastimes, which give ecstasy to the saintly devotees and demigods. This Bhāgavatam is the essence of all Vedānta philosophy because its subject matter is the Absolute Truth, which, while nondifferent from the spirit soul, is the ultimate reality, one without a second. The goal of this literature is exclusive devotional service unto that Supreme Truth. SB 12.13.11-12

The first explanation of this first verse of Bhāgavatam shows its nature as a light (giving deliverance from misery through general understanding of the Lord or adhyātmā). The second explanation shows it as the sun (more powerful, destroying misconceptions of the demons, bringing joy to the devotees). The third, fourth and fifth explanations show it is the bestower of tasty fruit full of rasa (revealing madhura-rasa, Rādhā and pure bhakti). The devotees, being the rightful recipients, are considered to be like the devatās, since they receive the nectar in the form of relishing the rarest taste of these five meanings. The Bhāgavatam is considered to be like Mohinī, serving out these different meanings of Bhāgavatam to the devotees.  

Though all twelve cantos of the Bhāgavatam are like the tasty fruit, the sun and the lamp, the topics of creation and destruction (sarga and nirodha) and various verses describing this are considered to be the lamp, since those topics reveal only the general aspect of the Lord (adhyātmā). Secondary creation (visarga), maintenance (sthāna), protection (poṣaṇa) and other topics are considered to be the sun since they reveal, in addition, the results of forbidden practices for enjoyment and renunciation available in dharma, artha, kāma, mokṣa and their unlimited sub-varieties. Topics dealing with the appearance and pastimes of the Lord (āśraya) and his devotees, and with bhakti and prema, are considered to be the tasty fruit of rasa. All the topics however give joy to the devotees of the Lord by taking on a meaning favorable for bhakti. The same topics however are like Mohinī and take on a different meaning for bewildering the demonic group who give meanings unfavorable for bhakti. One should not say that it is unbefitting to eulogize the unfavorable meanings of the Bhāgavatam which is directly filled with bhakti-rasa. The supreme Lord is full of all śaktis and so is the Bhāgavatam. Thus it takes meanings corresponding to the minds of various types of persons (adhikāris of this śāstra), for such revelation is befitting the person (the Lord) who possesses all powers.

mallānām aśanir nṛṇāṁ nara-varaḥ strīṇāṁ smaro mūrtimān

gopānāṁ sva-jano ’satāṁ kṣiti-bhujāṁ śāstā sva-pitroḥ śiśuḥ

mṛtyur bhoja-pater virāḍ aviduṣāṁ tattvaṁ paraṁ yogināṁ

vṛṣṇīnāṁ para-devateti vidito raṅgaṁ gataḥ sāgrajaḥ

The various groups of people in the arena regarded Kṛṣṇa in different ways when He entered it with His elder brother. The wrestlers saw Kṛṣṇa as a lightning bolt, the men of Mathurā as the best of males, the women as Cupid in person, the cowherd men as their relative, the impious rulers as a chastiser, His parents as their child, the King of the Bhojas as death, the unintelligent as a material form, the yogīs as the Absolute Truth and the Vṛṣṇis as their supreme worshipable Deity. SB 10.43.17

In the above verse it is mentioned virāḍ aviduṣām: for the foolish he appeared to be a material person. Thus everything is in agreement.

|| 1.1.2||

dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo ’tra paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satāṁ

vedyaṁ vāstavam atra vastu śivadaṁ tāpa-trayonmūlanam

śrīmad-bhāgavate mahā-muni-kṛte kiṁ vā parair īśvaraḥ

sadyo hṛdy avarudhyate ’tra kṛtibhiḥ śuśrūṣubhis tat-kṣaṇāt ||1.1.2||