FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.5.15

तदस्य कौषारव शर्मदातु- र्हरे: कथामेव कथासु सारम् । उद्‍धृत्य पुष्पेभ्य इवार्तबन्धो शिवाय न: कीर्तय तीर्थकीर्ते: ॥ १५ ॥
tad asya kauṣārava śarma-dātur
[tad asya kaushaarava sharma-daatur]
hareḥ kathām eva kathāsu sāram
[hareh kathaam eva kathaasu saaram]
uddhṛtya puṣpebhya ivārta-bandho
[uddhritya pushpebhya ivaarta-bandho]
śivāya naḥ kīrtaya tīrtha-kīrteḥ
[shivaaya nah keertaya teertha-keerteh]
tat — therefore asya — His kauṣārava — O Maitreya śarma-dātuḥ — of one who awards good fortune hareḥ — of the Lord kathām — topics eva — only kathāsu — of all topics sāram — the essence uddhṛtya — by quoting puṣpebhyaḥ — from the flowers iva — like that ārta-bandho — O friend of the distressed śivāya — for welfare naḥ — of us kīrtaya — kindly describe tīrtha — pilgrimage kīrteḥ — of glorious.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
tad asya kauṣārava śarma-dātur
tat
therefore
asya
His
kauṣārava
O Maitreya
śarma-dātuḥ
of one who awards good fortune
hareḥ kathām eva kathāsu sāram
hareḥ
of the Lord
kathām
topics
eva
only
kathāsu
of all topics
sāram
the essence
uddhṛtya puṣpebhya ivārta-bandho
uddhṛtya
by quoting
puṣpebhyaḥ
from the flowers
iva
like that
ārta-bandho
O friend of the distressed
śivāya naḥ kīrtaya tīrtha-kīrteḥ
śivāya
for welfare
naḥ
of us
kīrtaya
kindly describe
tīrtha
pilgrimage
kīrteḥ
of glorious.
O Maitreya, O friend of the distressed, the glories of the Supreme Lord can alone do good for people all over the world. Therefore, just as bees collect honey from flowers, kindly describe the essence of all topics — the topics of the Lord.

There are many topics for different persons in different modes of material nature, but the essential topics are those in relationship with the Supreme Lord. Unfortunately, materially affected conditioned souls are all more or less averse to topics of the Supreme Lord because some of them do not believe in the existence of God and some of them believe only in the impersonal feature of the Lord. In both cases there is nothing for them to say of God. Both the nonbelievers and the impersonalists deny the essence of all topics; therefore, they engage in topics of relativity in various ways, either in sense gratification or in mental speculation. For the pure devotees like Vidura, the topics of both the mundaners and the mental speculators are useless in all respects. Thus Vidura requested Maitreya to talk of the essence only, the talks of Kṛṣṇa, and nothing else.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
O Maitreya, friend of the suffering! Therefore, for the auspiciousness of the world, please sing to us the topics of the purifying Lord, who bestows all auspiciousness. These are the essence of all topics, like the honey the flowers. Tat means therefore.
The verse treats sense gratification as the path of least resistance, not as evil. The work is to introduce a little resistance — a small rule, kept — and let the soul re-emerge. Its centre of gravity is modes of material nature.
Reflection Questions
  • What small rule kept consistently would do more for you than a dramatic vow once broken?
  • Where could you offer the senses a better object instead of merely fighting them?
📝 My note

← Read full Chapter 5