FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.10.14

य एतत्कीर्तयेन्मह्यं त्वया गीतमिदं नर: । त्वां च मां च स्मरन्काले कर्मबन्धात्प्रमुच्यते ॥ १४ ॥
ya etat kīrtayen mahyaṁ
[ya etat keertayen mahyam]
tvayā gītam idaṁ naraḥ
[tvayaa geetam idam narah]
tvāṁ ca māṁ ca smaran kāle
[tvaam cha maam cha smaran kaale]
karma-bandhāt pramucyate
[karma-bandhaat pramuchyate]
yaḥ — anyone who etat — this activity kīrtayet — chants mahyam — unto Me tvayā — by you gītam — prayers offered idam — this naraḥ — human being tvām — you ca — as well as mām ca — Me also smaran — remembering kāle — in due course of time karma-bandhāt — from the bondage of material activities pramucyate — becomes free.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
ya etat kīrtayen mahyaṁ
yaḥ
anyone who
etat
this activity
kīrtayet
chants
mahyam
unto Me
tvayā gītam idaṁ naraḥ
tvayā
by you
gītam
prayers offered
idam
this
naraḥ
human being
tvāṁ ca māṁ ca smaran kāle
tvām
you
ca
as well as
mām ca
Me also
smaran
remembering
kāle
in due course of time
karma-bandhāt pramucyate
karma-bandhāt
from the bondage of material activities
pramucyate
becomes free.
One who always remembers your activities and My activities also, and who chants the prayers you have offered, becomes free, in due course of time, from the reactions of material activities.

Here it is stated that anyone who chants and hears about the activities of Prahlāda Mahārāja and, in relationship with Prahlāda’s activities, the activities of Nṛsiṁhadeva, gradually becomes free from all the bondage of fruitive activities. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (2.15, 2.56):

yaṁ hi na vyathayanty ete puruṣaṁ puruṣarṣabha sama-duḥkha-sukhaṁ dhīraṁ so ’mṛtatvāya kalpate

“O best among men [Arjuna], the person who is not disturbed by happiness and distress and is steady in both is certainly eligible for liberation.”

duḥkheṣv anudvigna-manāḥ sukheṣu vigata-spṛhaḥ vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhaḥ sthita-dhīr munir ucyate

“One who is not disturbed in spite of the threefold miseries, who is not elated when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind.” A devotee should not be aggrieved in an awkward position, nor should he feel extraordinarily happy in material opulence. This is the way of expert management of material life. Because a devotee knows how to manage expertly, he is called jīvan-mukta. As Rūpa Gosvāmī explains in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu:

īhā yasya harer dāsye karmaṇā manasā girā nikhilāsv apy avasthāsu jīvan-muktaḥ sa ucyate

“A person acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness (or, in other words, in the service of Kṛṣṇa) with his body, mind, intelligence and words is a liberated person even within this material world, although he may be engaged in many so-called material activities.” Because of constantly engaging in devotional service, in any condition of life, a devotee is free from all material bondage.

bhaktiḥ punāti man-niṣṭhā śva-pākān api sambhavāt

“Even one born in a family of meat-eaters is purified if he engages in devotional service.” ( Bhāg. 11.14.21 ) Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī cites this verse in logically supporting that anyone who chants about the pure life and activities of Prahlāda Mahārāja is freed from the reactions of material activities.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
And the person who always remembers your activities and my activities, and who chants the prayers you have offered to please me, becomes free from the bondage of karma in due course of time. Not only you are free of bondage, but others who remember you become free of bondage as well. Please listen. Mahyaṁ tvayā gītam means the song you sung to please me.
Related verses
Whoever remembers your activities and Mine and chants the prayers you have offered becomes free in due time from karmic reactions. Specific narratives, retold, carry liberative force. Hearing about devotees is itself purifying.
Reflection Questions
  • Which devotee's narrative do you return to most often, and what does it do for you?
  • Whose prayer in your tradition could you start chanting as your own?
📝 My note

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