Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.2.13
त्वया परमकल्याण: पुण्यश्रवणकीर्तन: ।
स्मारितो भगवानद्य देवो नारायणो मम ॥ १३ ॥
tvayā parama-kalyāṇaḥ
[tvayaa parama-kalyaanah]
puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ
[punya-shravana-keertanah]
smārito bhagavān adya
[smaarito bhagavaan adya]
devo nārāyaṇo mama
[devo naaraayano mama]
Word-for-word
tvayā
—
by you
parama
—
supremely
kalyāṇaḥ
—
blissful
puṇya
—
very pious
śravaṇa
—
hearing
kīrtanaḥ
—
and chanting (about whom)
smāritaḥ
—
brought to memory
bhagavān
—
the Supreme Lord
adya
—
today
devaḥ nārāyaṇaḥ
—
Lord Nārāyaṇa
mama
—
my.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
tvayā parama-kalyāṇaḥ
tvayā
by you
parama
supremely
kalyāṇaḥ
blissful
puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ
puṇya
very pious
śravaṇa
hearing
kīrtanaḥ
and chanting (about whom)
smārito bhagavān adya
smāritaḥ
brought to memory
bhagavān
the Supreme Lord
adya
today
devo nārāyaṇo mama
devaḥ nārāyaṇaḥ
Lord Nārāyaṇa
mama
my.
Today you have made me remember my Lord, the supremely blissful Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa. The Supreme Lord is so auspicious that whoever hears and chants about Him becomes completely pious.
Purport
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has stated, nārāyaṇas tādṛśa-dharme madīya-guru-rūpo nārāyaṇarṣiḥ. The word nārāyaṇa in this verse refers to the incarnation of Godhead Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi, who acted as Nārada’s spiritual master in this dharma. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has also pointed out, smārita iti kṛṣṇopāsanāveśena tasyāpi vismaraṇāt. The word smārita, “he is brought back to memory,” indicates that because of Nārada’s absorption in the worship of Kṛṣṇa he had forgotten Lord Nara-Nārāyaṇa. In other words, if intense engagement in devotional service makes one sometimes forget the Personality of Godhead, by Kṛṣṇa’s arrangement such a sincere servitor will again be reminded of the Personality of Godhead.
— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura
Gauḍīya
Translation
Today you have made me remember my Lord, the supremely blissful Nārāyaṇa, who is so auspicious that whoever hears and chants about him becomes completely pure.
Personal Guidance
When someone reminds you of Kṛṣṇa-Nārāyaṇa, receive it as the Lord's own arrangement — even advanced devotees need such reminders.
Practical Applications
- Thank, in plain words, whoever spoke Kṛṣṇa's name to you today — treat them as the Lord's instrument.
- Notice the moment something pulled your mind back to Kṛṣṇa, and write it down before bed as a recognized mercy.
- Refuse to think you are 'past' needing reminders — read or hear one śloka aloud today expecting to be brought back.
Reflection Questions
- Whose voice has been quietly reminding me of the Lord, and have I honored them as Nārada honored the boy-sage's father?
- Where has my 'advanced' sādhana let me forget the Personality of Godhead while I was busy serving Him?
For Each Age Group
youth
- When a friend or family member mentions Kṛṣṇa in a group chat or at home, pause the scroll and actually listen instead of deflecting.
- Pick one classmate or roommate who speaks of the Lord, and seek them out this week the way Nārada honored the speaker who reminded him.
- Refuse the assumption that exams or career prep have to crowd out hari-kathā — schedule ten minutes of hearing before the next study block.
householder
- Let your spouse or child be the one who reminds you of Kṛṣṇa today, and openly thank them rather than correcting their understanding.
- When work absorption has made you forget the Lord you are providing for, stop mid-task and speak one verse or name aloud at your desk.
- Arrange one weekly evening where someone outside your family is invited to speak of the Lord in your home — receive them as the Lord's messenger.
senior
- Recognize the people younger than you who are now reminding you of Kṛṣṇa, and let them, not your seniority, set the tone of that hearing.
- As bodily strength wanes, treat every spontaneous remembrance of Nārāyaṇa as His personal arrangement to prepare you for departure.
- Mentor one person specifically by speaking of the Lord's qualities — become for them the Nārada who 'made them remember' today.
Common Pitfalls
- Treating reminders of the Lord as ordinary conversation instead of recognizing the Lord's hand in arranging them.
- Assuming that intense practice immunizes you from forgetfulness, so you stop welcoming hari-kathā from others.
- Reducing 'Nārāyaṇa' to a generic divinity and missing that the verse names the personal, supremely blissful Lord.
Discussion Prompts
- Share a specific person whose words once 'reminded' you of Kṛṣṇa — what did you do with that reminder, and what did you fail to do?
- Nārada, the great devotee, says he had forgotten Nārāyaṇa. Does this comfort you or unsettle you, and why?
- If puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtana makes the hearer pious by itself, what does that say about how we treat casual conversations among devotees?
Role Play
A senior devotee visits a younger practitioner who has been busy for months with a large service project and has stopped attending morning class. In passing, the senior simply describes a līlā of Nārāyaṇa he heard that morning. The younger devotee suddenly realizes he has been forgetting the Lord he is supposedly serving. Play out the next five minutes of their conversation — how does the younger one respond, and how does the senior avoid making him feel scolded?
Objections & Responses
- If even Nārada can forget the Lord, what hope is there for me? This verse is discouraging.
Read it the other way: the verse shows that Kṛṣṇa Himself arranges the reminder for His sincere servant. Forgetfulness is not the end — His arrangement to recall you is the point, and that arrangement is always available. - Hearing and chanting making someone 'completely pious' sounds like magical thinking — surely real piety requires ethical effort.
Gauḍīyas do not deny ethical effort; we say its power is borrowed. The Holy Name and hari-kathā purify the heart at a depth ordinary moral striving cannot reach, which is why the verse calls Him parama-kalyāṇa — supremely auspicious in His very sound.
My note
Source: vedabase.io