FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.13.2

सतामयं सारभृतां निसर्गो यदर्थवाणीश्रुतिचेतसामपि । प्रतिक्षणं नव्यवदच्युतस्य यत् स्त्रिया विटानामिव साधुवार्ता ॥ २ ॥
satām ayaṁ sāra-bhṛtāṁ nisargo
[sataam ayam saara-bhritaam nisargo]
yad-artha-vāṇī-śruti-cetasām api
[yad-artha-vaanee-shruti-chetasaam api]
prati-kṣaṇaṁ navya-vad acyutasya yat
[prati-kshanam navya-vad achyutasya yat]
striyā viṭānām iva sādhu vārtā
[striyaa vitaanaam iva saadhu vaartaa]
satām — of the devotees ayam — this sāra - bhṛtām — those who are paramahaṁsas, who have accepted the essence of life nisargaḥ — feature or symptom yat — which artha - vāṇī — the aim of life, the aim of profit śruti — the aim of understanding cetasām api — who have decided to accept the bliss of transcendental subjects as the aim and object of life prati - kṣaṇam — every moment navya - vat — as if newer and newer acyutasya — of Lord Kṛṣṇa yat — because striyāḥ — (topics) of woman or sex viṭānām — of debauchees, who are attached to women iva — exactly like sādhu vārtā — actual conversation .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
satām ayaṁ sāra-bhṛtāṁ nisargo
satām
of the devotees
ayam
this
sāra - bhṛtām
those who are paramahaṁsas, who have accepted the essence of life
nisargaḥ
feature or symptom
yad-artha-vāṇī-śruti-cetasām api
yat
which
artha - vāṇī
the aim of life, the aim of profit
śruti
the aim of understanding
cetasām api
who have decided to accept the bliss of transcendental subjects as the aim and object of life
prati-kṣaṇaṁ navya-vad acyutasya yat
prati - kṣaṇam
every moment
navya - vat
as if newer and newer
acyutasya
of Lord Kṛṣṇa
yat
because
striyā viṭānām iva sādhu vārtā
striyāḥ
(topics) of woman or sex
viṭānām
of debauchees, who are attached to women
iva
exactly like
sādhu vārtā
actual conversation .
  • satām — of the devotees
    Genitive plural of sat (the real, the true). In Gauḍīya usage sat-saṅga is the indispensable condition of bhakti; the satām are not generic 'good people' but specifically those whose existence is grounded in Bhagavān.
  • sāra-bhṛtām — those who have accepted the essence
    Compound: sāra (essence) + bhṛt (one who holds). Paramahaṁsas — those who, like the swan that separates milk from water, have taken kṛṣṇa-bhakti and left the rest. The technical Gauḍīya category for one whose taste is fixed on Bhagavān alone.
  • acyutasya — of the infallible Lord Kṛṣṇa
    Genitive of acyuta (not-fallen, never-slipping). One of Kṛṣṇa's names that the Gītā ends with (BG 18.73). Gauḍīyas hear in it the promise that the object of the devotee's relish never disappoints, never falls from His position as the rasa.
  • navya-vat — as if newer and newer
    Compound: navya (new) + vat (like). Paired with verse 1's nūtanayasi. The 'as if' is doctrinal: the līlā truly is ever-fresh, but to the conditioned ear it appears as freshness rather than registering as the eternal that it is.
  • prati-kṣaṇam — every moment
    Compound: prati (each) + kṣaṇa (moment). The Gauḍīya temporality of bhakti — not weekly devotion, not annual festivals, but moment-by-moment immersion. Kṛṣṇa-smaraṇa is meant to be the substrate of consciousness, not an interruption of it.
Paramahaṁsas, devotees who have accepted the essence of life, are attached to Kṛṣṇa in the core of their hearts, and He is the aim of their lives. It is their nature to talk only of Kṛṣṇa at every moment, as if such topics were newer and newer. They are attached to such topics, just as materialists are attached to topics of women and sex.

The word sāra-bhṛtām means paramahaṁsas. The haṁsa, or swan, accepts milk from a mixture of milk and water and rejects the water. Similarly, the nature of persons who have taken to spiritual life and Kṛṣṇa consciousness, understanding Kṛṣṇa to be the life and soul of everyone, is that they cannot give up kṛṣṇa-kathā, or topics about Kṛṣṇa, at any moment. Such paramahaṁsas always see Kṛṣṇa within the core of the heart ( santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti ). Kāma (desires), krodha (anger) and bhaya (fear) are always present in the material world, but in the spiritual, or transcendental, world one can use them for Kṛṣṇa. Kāmaṁ kṛṣṇa-karmārpaṇe . The desire of the paramahaṁsas, therefore, is to act always for Kṛṣṇa. Krodhaṁ bhakta-dveṣi jane. They use anger against the nondevotees and transform bhaya, or fear, into fear of being deviated from Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In this way, the life of a paramahaṁsa devotee is used entirely for Kṛṣṇa, just as the life of a person attached to the material world is used simply for women and money. What is day for the materialistic person is night for the spiritualist. What is very sweet for the materialist — namely women and money — is regarded as poison by the spiritualist. sandarśanaṁ viṣayinām atha yoṣitāṁ ca ha hanta hanta viṣa-bhakṣaṇato ’py asādhu This is the instruction of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. For the paramahaṁsa, Kṛṣṇa is everything, but for the materialist, women and money are everything.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Paramahaṁsas, devotees who have accepted the essence of life, are attached to Kṛṣṇa in the core of their hearts, and He is the aim of their lives. It is their nature to talk only of Kṛṣṇa at every moment, as if such topics were newer and newer. They are attached to such topics, just as materialists are attached to topics of women and sex.
Commentary

This is natural for those who are sara bhrt, who take topics of Krsna as their goal, the center of their words, hearing and thoughts, because they have at ever moment an astonishing thirst for the names form and qualities of Acyuta. As a lusty man is attracted to topics about women, the sarabhrt is attracted to topics of the Lord.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Rightly topics of the infallible Lord are new at every moment, just as women are ever- fresh for lusty men. This is natural for devotees, who accept the essence of sweetness, and whose minds, ears and words are dedicated to the Lord. How can topics not yet heard become newer? Topics which have been heard become new. That is explained in this verse. The Lord is called Acyuta because he never deviates from rasa at any time in the least, for any reason at all. Topics concerning him are the same. Therefore such topics rightly (sādhu) are as if new at every moment. They are reborn with greater taste than previously. A partial analogy is given concerning a lusty man. If a woman whom a person cherishes is the cause of attraction because of her ever-fresh sweetness, what can be said of the Lord?

Related values
Karuna (Kindness / Compassion)Kartavya (Duty / Responsibility)Hrih (Modesty / Sense of Shame)Satya (Truthfulness)Samata (Equanimity / Even-mindedness)Dana (Charity / Generosity)Aparigraha (Non-possessiveness)Yajña (Sacrifice / Spirit of Offering)
Related verses
Paramahaṁsas talk only of Kṛṣṇa as naturally as a materialist returns to talk of women and sex. The test of where the heart lives is what the mouth keeps drifting back to.
Reflection Questions
  • Across a normal day, what topics does my conversation drift toward without effort?
  • What would change in my speech if my heart had truly accepted Kṛṣṇa as life's essence?

As a man addicted to women hears the same gossip about them every day without tiring, the devotee hears the same name of Kṛṣṇa for a lifetime without satiation — the appetite is the proof of the object's reality, and Kṛṣṇa is the only object that does not exhaust the appetite.

Haridāsa Ṭhākura's three lakh names

Haridāsa Ṭhākura chanted three hundred thousand names of Kṛṣṇa daily for decades — beaten through twenty-two markets, tested by a courtesan, never once tiring of the syllables. Mahāprabhu named him nāmācārya.

Gauḍīyas read his life as the lived form of this verse: for the sāra-bhṛt — the one who has accepted the essence — the name of Kṛṣṇa is the only topic that does not wear thin. The materialist's tongue tires of every flavor but lust; the devotee's tongue tires of every flavor but Kṛṣṇa.

📝 My note

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