FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.5.13

सा श्रद्दधानस्य विवर्धमाना विरक्तिमन्यत्र करोति पुंस: । हरे: पदानुस्मृतिनिर्वृतस्य समस्तदु:खाप्ययमाशु धत्ते ॥ १३ ॥
sā śraddadhānasya vivardhamānā
[saa shraddadhaanasya vivardhamaanaa]
viraktim anyatra karoti puṁsaḥ
[viraktim anyatra karoti pumsah]
hareḥ padānusmṛti-nirvṛtasya
[hareh padaanusmriti-nirvritasya]
samasta-duḥkhāpyayam āśu dhatte
[samasta-duhkhaapyayam aashu dhatte]
sā — those topics of Kṛṣṇa, or kṛṣṇa-kathā śraddadhānasya — of one who is anxious to hear vivardhamānā — gradually increasing viraktim — indifference anyatra — in other things (than such topics) karoti — does puṁsaḥ — of one who is so engaged hareḥ — of the Lord pada-anusmṛti — constant remembrance of the lotus feet of the Lord nirvṛtasya — one who has achieved such transcendental bliss samasta-duḥkha — all miseries apyayam — vanquished āśu — without delay dhatte — executes.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
sā śraddadhānasya vivardhamānā
sā
those topics of Kṛṣṇa, or kṛṣṇa-kathā
śraddadhānasya
of one who is anxious to hear
vivardhamānā
gradually increasing
viraktim anyatra karoti puṁsaḥ
viraktim
indifference
anyatra
in other things (than such topics)
karoti
does
puṁsaḥ
of one who is so engaged
hareḥ padānusmṛti-nirvṛtasya
hareḥ
of the Lord
pada-anusmṛti
constant remembrance of the lotus feet of the Lord
nirvṛtasya
one who has achieved such transcendental bliss
samasta-duḥkhāpyayam āśu dhatte
samasta-duḥkha
all miseries
apyayam
vanquished
āśu
without delay
dhatte
executes.
For one who is anxious to engage constantly in hearing such topics, kṛṣṇa-kathā gradually increases his indifference towards all other things. Such constant remembrance of the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa by the devotee who has achieved transcendental bliss vanquishes all his miseries without delay.

We must certainly know that on the absolute plane kṛṣṇa-kathā and Kṛṣṇa are one and the same. The Lord is the Absolute Truth, and therefore His name, form, quality, etc., which are all understood to be kṛṣṇa-kathā, are nondifferent from Him. Bhagavad-gītā, being spoken by the Lord, is as good as the Lord Himself. When a sincere devotee reads Bhagavad-gītā, this is as good as seeing the Lord face to face in his personal presence, but this is not so for the mundane wrangler. All the potencies of the Lord are there when one reads Bhagavad-gītā, provided it is read in the way recommended in the Gītā by the Lord Himself. One cannot foolishly manufacture an interpretation of Bhagavad-gītā and still bring about transcendental benefit. Anyone who tries to squeeze some artificial meaning or interpretation from Bhagavad-gītā for an ulterior motive is not śraddadhāna-puṁsaḥ (one engaged anxiously in bona fide hearing of kṛṣṇa-kathā ). Such a person cannot derive any benefit from reading Bhagavad-gīta, however great a scholar he may be in the estimation of a layman. The śraddadhāna, or faithful devotee, can actually derive all the benefits of Bhagavad-gītā because by the omnipotency of the Lord he achieves the transcendental bliss which vanquishes attachment and nullifies all concomitant material miseries. Only the devotee, by his factual experience, can understand the import of this verse spoken by Vidura. The pure devotee of the Lord enjoys life by constantly remembering the lotus feet of the Lord by hearing kṛṣṇa-kathā. For such a devotee there is no such thing as material existence, and the much-advertised bliss of brahmānanda is like a fig for the devotee who is in the midst of the transcendental ocean of bliss.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Topics of the Lord, increasing in the mind of the devotee, create disgust with everything else. They quickly destroy all suffering for the person blissfully engaged in constant remembrance of the feet of the Lord. This verse describes the result of absorbing the mind in topics of the Lord, according to qualification. Topics of the Lord (sā) increase within that faithful devotee who thinks that they are the highest goal of human life (śraddadhānasya). Those topics bring detachment from dharma, artha, mama and mokṣa (anyatra). But if they produce detachment from even liberation, how can there be destruction of material life and bliss? For the person who has gained bliss (nirvṛtasya) by realizing the sweetness of the Lord by remembrance of his feet at every moment (anusmṛti), those topics destroy the suffering of material life very quickly.
Hearing about the Lord is treated here as daily medicine, not entertainment. Slowly it rewires what the heart finds attractive, until devotion stops feeling like effort. The verse keeps returning to lotus feet of the Lord.
Reflection Questions
  • What podcast or playlist would you have to give up to make room for daily kṛṣṇa-kathā?
  • What input have you been allowing in that quietly undoes your hearing of the Lord?
📝 My note

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