Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.90.26
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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śruta-mātraḥ
—
merely heard about
Contiguous compound: śruta (heard) + mātra (mere). The decisive Bhāgavata claim — hearing alone is enough. Śravaṇa is the first of bhakti's nine limbs (SB 7.5.23) and the foundation of all the others.
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ākarṣate
—
He attracts
Third singular of ā + √kṛṣ — to drag toward, attract. The same root that gives Kṛṣṇa His etymological gloss (kṛṣ + ṇa: 'the all-attractive'). Hearing about Him attracts because His name itself is attraction.
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uru-gāya
—
He of wide-spreading songs
uru (wide) + gāya (song, sung-about). A Vedic-style epithet — the Lord of vast renown, hymned everywhere. Bhāgavatam loves this register; here the chapter switches from queens' songs to phala-śruti's hymn-vocabulary.
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manaḥ
—
mind
The seat of bhakti or of viṣaya — whichever wins it owns the person. Verse 13 said the queens' dhī (intellect) was stolen; verse 26 generalizes: every woman's manaḥ is forcibly attracted. Bhakti is not gentle persuasion.
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prasahya
—
forcibly
Absolutive of pra + √sah — to overpower. Bhagavān's attraction is not optional. Gauḍīyas note: śaraṇāgati is the rational response to a pull one cannot resist anyway. Surrender is recognition, not addition.
Krsna, being glorified excellently by many songs, attracts the minds of women. But (va) what then to speak of those who see him?
Now Śukadeva glorifies Kṛṣṇa. He who simply being heard, who is the subject of songs sung by many singers or many literary works or who is glorified profusely by singers or literary works, attracts the minds of women. What to speak of attracting the minds of women who see him. Another version has kutaḥ punaḥ instead of ca kim punaḥ. Thus the love of his wives with naturally great prema, who played with him always, was proper. One may hear other opinions, because even sages can be bewildered: ity aṅgopadiśanty eke vismṛtya prāg udāhṛtam muni-vāsa-nivāse kiṁ ghaṭetāriṣṭa-darśanam Some men proposed that the troubles were due to Akrūra’s absence, but they had forgotten the glories of the Supreme Lord, which they themselves had so often described. Indeed, how can calamities occur in a place where the Lord, the residence of all the sages, resides? SB 10.57.31
Though only heard about, or only sung about profusely, he attracts the minds of women. What can one say how he attracts the mind of the women who directly see him. Developing attraction by hearing depends on concentration, but developing attraction by singing depends only a relationship, something lesser. That is the meaning of vā. Or singing plentifully with many songs attracts the mind. What can be said? And what then can be said of attaining the mind by seeing him? Singing is better than hearing but seeing is the best. This bhāva was suitable for the queens, who were most fortunate, always playing with the Lord.
Anyone who merely hears about Kṛṣṇa has her mind seized; what then of those who saw Him face to face? The verse stages a sliding scale of bhakti's reach — śravaṇa is already total absorption, darśana is irresistible.
Parīkṣit Mahārāja, with seven days to live, heard Bhāgavatam from Śukadeva — not seeing Kṛṣṇa, only hearing about Him. By śravaṇa alone he attained perfection (SB 12.6.7). Śuka himself, who was a brahman-realized renunciate, was drawn into Kṛṣṇa's mādhurya by hearing.
Verse 90.26 makes this Bhāgavata's central wager: śravaṇa alone is sufficient. Gauḍīyas anchor saṅkīrtana on this verse — even those who never saw Kṛṣṇa are taken by hearing about Him. Vaiṣṇava aural transmission is empirically validated by Parīkṣit's own death-in-rapture.
My note
Source: vedabase.io