FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.5.26

తత్రాన్వహం కృష్ణకథా: ప్రగాయతా- మనుగ్రహేణాశ‍ృణవం మనోహరా: । తా: శ్రద్ధయా మేఽనుపదం విశ‍ృణ్వత: ప్రియశ్రవస్యఙ్గ మమాభవద్రుచి: ॥ ౨౬ ॥
tatrānvahaṁ kṛṣṇa-kathāḥ pragāyatām
[tatraanvaham krishna-kathaah pragaayataam]
anugraheṇāśṛṇavaṁ manoharāḥ
[anugrahenaashrinavam manoharaah]
tāḥ śraddhayā me ’nupadaṁ viśṛṇvataḥ
[taah shraddhayaa me ’nupadam vishrinvatah]
priyaśravasy aṅga mamābhavad ruciḥ
[priyashravasy anga mamaabhavad ruchih]
tatra — thereupon anu — every day aham — I kṛṣṇa-kathāḥ — narration of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s activities pragāyatām — describing anugraheṇa — by causeless mercy aśṛṇavam — giving aural reception manaḥ-harāḥ — attractive tāḥ — those śraddhayā — respectfully me — unto me anupadam — every step viśṛṇvataḥ — hearing attentively priyaśravasi — of the Personality of Godhead aṅga — O Vyāsadeva mama — mine abhavat — it so became ruciḥ — taste.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
tatrānvahaṁ kṛṣṇa-kathāḥ pragāyatām
tatra
thereupon
anu
every day
aham
I
kṛṣṇa-kathāḥ
narration of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s activities
pragāyatām
describing
anugraheṇāśṛṇavaṁ manoharāḥ
anugraheṇa
by causeless mercy
aśṛṇavam
giving aural reception
manaḥ-harāḥ
attractive
tāḥ śraddhayā me ’nupadaṁ viśṛṇvataḥ
tāḥ
those
śraddhayā
respectfully
me
unto me
priyaśravasy aṅga mamābhavad ruciḥ
anupadam
every step
viśṛṇvataḥ
hearing attentively
priyaśravasi
of the Personality of Godhead
aṅga
O Vyāsadeva
mama
mine
abhavat
it so became
ruciḥ
taste.
O Vyāsadeva, in that association and by the mercy of those great Vedāntists, I could hear them describe the attractive activities of Lord Kṛṣṇa. And thus listening attentively, my taste for hearing of the Personality of Godhead increased at every step.

Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Absolute Personality of Godhead, is attractive not only in His personal features, but also in His transcendental activities. It is so because the Absolute is absolute by His name, fame, form, pastimes, entourage, paraphernalia, etc. The Lord descends to this material world out of His causeless mercy and displays His various transcendental pastimes as a human being so that human beings attracted towards Him become able to go back to Godhead. Men are naturally apt to hear histories and narrations of various personalities performing mundane activities, without knowing that by such association one simply wastes valuable time and also becomes addicted to the three qualities of mundane nature. Instead of wasting time, one can get spiritual success by turning his attention to the transcendental pastimes of the Lord. By hearing the narration of the pastimes of the Lord, one contacts directly the Personality of Godhead, and, as explained before, by hearing about the Personality of Godhead, from within, all accumulated sins of the mundane creature are cleared. Thus being cleared of all sins, the hearer gradually becomes liberated from mundane association and becomes attracted to the features of the Lord. Nārada Muni has just explained this by his personal experience. The whole idea is that simply by hearing about the Lord’s pastimes one can become one of the associates of the Lord. Nārada Muni has eternal life, unlimited knowledge and unfathomed bliss, and he can travel all over the material and spiritual worlds without restriction. One can attain to the highest perfection of life simply by attentive hearing of the transcendental pastimes of the Lord from the right sources, as Śrī Nārada heard them from the pure devotees ( bhakti-vedāntas ) in his previous life. This process of hearing in the association of the devotees is especially recommended in this age of quarrel (Kali).

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
By the mercy of the sages who were chanting about the attractive pastimes of Kṛṣṇa daily, I heard about Kṛṣṇa in that place with āsakti. Hearing constantly, I then developed rati for Kṛṣṇa.
Commentary

Śraddha here indicates the tenth stage āsakti. At every moment or at hearing every word, I developed rati (bhāva) for Kṛṣṇa, whose qualities are pleasing to hear (priya-śravasi). Ruci should here mean rati, the eleventh stage, since the stage of ruci has already been mentioned in the previous verse.

📝 My note

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