Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.7.1-2
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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karṇa-ramyāṇi
—
pleasing to the ear
Compound: karṇa (ear) + ramyāṇi (delightful). The Bhāgavatam locates the entry-point of bhakti at the ear, not the intellect. Caitanya Mahāprabhu's prescription for Kali-yuga — śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ — rests on this verse's claim.
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vitṛṣṇā
—
the dirty things within the mind
Literally 'absence of thirst.' Prabhupāda glosses it as the inner dirt that keeps one uninterested in Kṛṣṇa. Hearing kṛṣṇa-kathā does not merely add devotion; it removes the obstruction to it — ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam.
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bhaktiḥ harau
—
devotional attachment to the Lord
Locative with Harau — bhakti is directed at a Person, not at an abstraction. The Gauḍīya frame insists bhakti always has a viṣaya (object); generic 'love' or 'devotion' without Hari is not bhakti.
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tat-puruṣe
—
with the Lord's devotee (Vaiṣṇava)
Tat (His) + puruṣe (person). The verse equates attraction to the Lord's people with bhakti itself — the Gauḍīya doctrine that sādhu-saṅga and Hari-bhakti are inseparable, both arising from the same śravaṇa.
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sakhyam
—
attraction to association
Friendship, fellowship. Prabhupāda often quoted Caitanya's words 'sādhu-saṅga, sādhu-saṅga sarva-śāstre kaya' — without devotee-association, no advancement. Here sakhyam is the third fruit of śravaṇa, after purification and bhakti.
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hāram
—
garland (of pastimes worn on the neck)
From hṛ — that which is taken and worn. Prabhupāda's gloss: kṛṣṇa-kathā is to be worn on the neck like a hāra, kept close, not stored on a shelf. The metaphor reframes hearing as ornament-wearing — a devotional act, not information intake.
As stated in the Prema-vivarta: kṛṣṇa-bahirmukha haiyā bhoga-vāñchā kare nikaṭa-stha māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare Our material existence is māyā, or illusion, in which we desire different varieties of material enjoyment and therefore change to different varieties of bodies ( bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā ). Asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ: as long as we have these temporary bodies, they give us many varieties of tribulation — ādhyātmika, ādhibhautika and ādhidaivika. This is the root cause of all suffering, but this root cause of suffering can be removed by revival of our Kṛṣṇa consciousness. All the Vedic literatures presented by Vyāsadeva and other great sages are therefore intended to revive our Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which begins to revive with śravaṇa-kīrtanam: śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ ( Bhāg. 1.2.17 ). Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and other Vedic literatures exist simply to give us a chance to hear about Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa has different avatāras, or incarnations, all of which are wonderful and which arouse one’s inquisitiveness, but generally such avatāras as Matsya, Kūrma and Varāha are not as attractive as Kṛṣṇa. First of all, however, we have no attraction for hearing about Kṛṣṇa, and this is the root cause of our suffering. But Parīkṣit Mahārāja specifically mentions that the wonderful activities of baby Kṛṣṇa, which amazed mother Yaśodā and the other inhabitants of Vraja, are especially attractive. From the very beginning of His childhood, Kṛṣṇa killed Pūtanā, Tṛṇāvarta and Śakaṭāsura and showed the entire universe within His mouth. Thus the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, one after another, kept mother Yaśodā and all the inhabitants of Vraja in great astonishment. The process to revive one’s Kṛṣṇa consciousness is ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgaḥ ( Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.4.15). The pastimes of Kṛṣṇa can be properly received from devotees. If one has developed a little bit of Kṛṣṇa consciousness by hearing from Vaiṣṇavas about the activities of Kṛṣṇa, one becomes attached to Vaiṣṇavas who are interested only in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore Parīkṣit Mahārāja recommends that one hear about Kṛṣṇa’s childhood activities, which are more attractive than the activities of other incarnations, such as Matsya, Kūrma and Varāha. Wanting to hear more and more from Śukadeva Gosvāmī, Mahārāja Parīkṣit requested him to continue describing Kṛṣṇa’s childhood activities, which are especially easy to hear and which create more and more inquisitiveness.
The seventh chapter shows the aisvarya (display of power) aspect of Krsna’s childhood pastimes. After bathing and sleeping he broke the cart. He killed Trnavarta and showed his mother the universe. By chewing Putana’s breast he showed the power of his lips. In the cart pastime he showed the power of his feet, and killing Trnavarta he showed the power of his hands. In revealing the universe twice (in this and the next chapter) to his mother he showed all his powers. "My mind is attracted to all the pastimes of the Lord’s other avataras, but I am particularly greedy to hear Krsna’s childhood pastimes." With this intent, Pariksit speaks the verse. "I relish hearing all the pastimes of the avataras of the Lord and I become blissful. But, if you agree, please speak about those pastimes (like a necklace over the heart-haram) which destroy any human being’s apathy and distaste upon hearing them, which bring out a hankering for them, and which purify the mind of bad desires, like rock candy which first tastes bitter but then gives the ability to taste its sweetness, which quickly produce attachment (asakti), rati (bhava) and prema (bhakti), and brings about, even from the beginning, friendship with the devotees, and in prema causeless friendship with the devotees." Though hearing any the topics of the Lord gradually rids one of indifference to hearing about the Lord and makes it possible to attain prema, hearing the pastimes of Krsna’s childhood quickly bring about this prema.
The previous chapter stated that hearing the childhood pastimes will produce rati. Hearing of this goal, the highest result for devotees continually practicing hearing and chanting, Parīkṣit became filled with bliss, realizing that the topics were a stimulus for himself. With great eagerness, fearing a change to other topics, in two verses he welcomes narrations of the unlimited pastimes of Kṛṣṇa in order to request Śukadeva to continue with more stories about Kṛṣṇa. Bhagavān indicates the Lord endowed with all powers and qualities. Hari indicates the Lord who takes away all suffering and faults. Īśvara indicates the Lord who attracts the internal and external senses. Thus a person must serve him, otherwise he should be punished. The words karṇa-ramyāṇi and manojṣānī indicate the sweetness of the Lord. O master (prabho), endowed all powers, you know all the conditions of our senses! Bhakti or prema to the Lord, who attracts (harau) the people of Vraja and me, appears and friendship with the devotees (tat-puruṣe) also appears. He makes the request. The mind has no inclination to hearing about you, and even if it has, there are various other desires. But hearing about Kṛṣṇa vanquishes both disinclination and material desires. The heart (sattvam) becomes purified. When the heart becomes pure because of destruction of impure impressions, it becomes capable of comprehending rasa. This purification happens quickly by hearing all the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, but more slowly in the case of hearing the pastimes of the avatāras. Though I have little intelligence, this is what I think. This will become a conviction if you, who have the greatest intelligence, agree. This is the meaning of “If you think like this, then tell these stories.” This statement is made with great humility. Or the meaning can be “Now, do not hide these topics.” This is a statement of humility mixed with joking.
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- Gauranga Darshan Pr SB 10-07-01-31 - The Killing of the Demon Trnavarta - 2017-06-26
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- BKG SB 10-07-01-02 - Overcoming Miseries - 2018-10-13 Suva
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- 03 - RGS SB 10-07-01-37 Hindi - Bhagavan ki Baal Leela-Sakata Bhanjana-Trinavarta Uddhar - 1996 New York
- 07 - RGS SB 10-07-01-08%20 Hindi - Bal Leela-07 - 1999 Vrindavan
- RGS SB 10-07-01 - Sravan Utsav - 2014-02-27 ISKCON Mayapur
- 06 - RGS SB 10-07-01-17 - Nama Sanskar-06 - 2008 Vrindavan
- Padaseva Pr SB 10-07-02 Oriya
- Sarvasakshi Pr SB 10-07-02 Hindi - Shaktasur and Trinavrata Lila - 2015-08-11 ISKCON Faridabad
- PrahladAnS SB 10-07-02-04 - Diferent activities in day bring diferent results - 2023-09-14 ISKCON Slovenia
- Begin today by hearing or reading one pastime of baby Kṛṣṇa from a Vaiṣṇava source — aloud, slowly, with attention to the ear and heart, not as information.
- Notice one craving (food, scrolling, validation) that flares up today and, instead of indulging or suppressing it, replace that exact moment with five minutes of śravaṇa about Kṛṣṇa.
- Reach out to one devotee whose company increases your taste for Kṛṣṇa-kathā, and arrange a real conversation with them this week — guard sādhu-saṅga as concretely as you guard your calendar.
Like a child holding a smudged copper lamp under running water — the dirt loosens by no effort of the child but by the contact of the stream. Kṛṣṇa's bāla-līlā, heard from a Vaiṣṇava's mouth, is that stream; the mind's vitṛṣṇā falls away as a side-effect of the contact, not by any technique you apply.
Cursed to die in seven days, Mahārāja Parīkṣit sat at Śuka's feet and asked only one thing — to hear Kṛṣṇa-kathā. He neither protested his fate nor sought a counter-curse; he simply opened his ear and let the stream flow.
The Bhāgavatam itself is the fruit of that one act of śravaṇa. Parīkṣit's question here in 10.7.1 — kindly speak about those activities of the Lord — is the question of a dying man who has discovered that hearing Kṛṣṇa is enough.
Brahmā's sons, the Kumāras, were impersonalists from birth, content to rove the universe absorbed in Brahman. But when they wandered into Vaikuṇṭha and the breeze from Viṣṇu's lotus feet, carrying the scent of tulasī, touched their nostrils, their minds were stolen (SB 3.15.43).
They had not tried to become devotees. Contact with the Lord's feature did the work. Parīkṣit's verse names the same mechanism: yat-śṛṇvataḥ — of one who simply hears, the dirty things vanish.
My note
Source: vedabase.io