Devanagari
इदं भागवतं नाम पुराणं ब्रह्मसम्मितम् ।
उत्तमश्लोकचरितं चकार भगवानृषि: ।
नि:श्रेयसाय लोकस्य धन्यं स्वस्त्ययनं महत् ॥ ४० ॥
Verse text
idaṁ bhāgavataṁ nāma
purāṇaṁ brahma-sammitam
uttama-śloka-caritaṁ
cakāra bhagavān ṛṣiḥ
niḥśreyasāya lokasya
dhanyaṁ svasty-ayanaṁ mahat
Synonyms
idam
—
this
;
bhāgavatam
—
book containing the narration of the Personality of Godhead and His pure devotees
;
nāma
—
of the name
;
purāṇam
—
supplementary to the Vedas
;
brahma
—
sammitam — incarnation of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa
;
uttama
—
śloka — of the Personality of Godhead
;
caritam
—
activities
;
cakāra
—
compiled
;
bhagavān
—
incarnation of the Personality of Godhead
;
ṛṣiḥ
—
Śrī Vyāsadeva
;
niḥśreyasāya
—
for the ultimate good
;
lokasya
—
of all people
;
dhanyam
—
fully successful
;
svasti
—
ayanam — all-blissful
;
mahat
—
all-perfect .
Translation
This Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the literary incarnation of God, and it is compiled by Śrīla Vyāsadeva, the incarnation of God. It is meant for the ultimate good of all people, and it is all-successful, all-blissful and all-perfect.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The Suprreme Lord Vyāsa wrote the greatest, most auspicious Purāṇa called Bhāgavatam, which bestows all human goals, is non-different from Kṛṣṇa, and describes the activities and qualities of the Lord, for the highest benefit of the world.
Purport
Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu declared that
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
is the spotless sound representation of all Vedic knowledge and history. There are selected histories of great devotees who are in direct contact with the Personality of Godhead.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
is the literary incarnation of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and is therefore nondifferent from Him.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
should be worshiped as respectfully as we worship the Lord. Thereby we can derive the ultimate blessings of the Lord through its careful and patient study. As God is all light, all bliss and all perfection, so also is
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
We can have all the transcendental light of the Supreme Brahman, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, from the recitation of
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
provided it is received through the medium of the transparent spiritual master. Lord Caitanya’s private secretary Śrīla Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī advised all intending visitors who came to see the Lord at Purī to make a study of the
Bhāgavatam
from the person
Bhāgavatam.
Person
Bhāgavatam
is the self-realized bona fide spiritual master, and through him only can one understand the lessons of
Bhāgavatam
in order to receive the desired result. One can derive from the study of the
Bhāgavatam
all benefits that are possible to be derived from the personal presence of the Lord. It carries with it all the transcendental blessings of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa that we can expect from His personal contact.
Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
“O Sūta! What novel scripture, unheard before this time, are you reciting?” To this, Suta replies in this verse. Brahma means equal to Kṛṣṇa. Rṣiḥ refers to Vyāsa.