Devanagari
एकान्तलाभं वचसो नु पुंसां
सुश्लोकमौलेर्गुणवादमाहु: ।
श्रुतेश्च विद्वद्भिरुपाकृतायां
कथासुधायामुपसम्प्रयोगम् ॥ ३७ ॥
Verse text
ekānta-lābhaṁ vacaso nu puṁsāṁ
suśloka-mauler guṇa-vādam āhuḥ
śruteś ca vidvadbhir upākṛtāyāṁ
kathā-sudhāyām upasamprayogam
Synonyms
eka
—
anta — the one which has no comparison
;
lābham
—
gain
;
vacasaḥ
—
by discussions
;
nu puṁsām
—
after the Supreme Person
;
suśloka
—
pious
;
mauleḥ
—
activities
;
guṇa
—
vādam — glorification
;
āhuḥ
—
it is so said
;
śruteḥ
—
of the ear
;
ca
—
also
;
vidvadbhiḥ
—
by the learned
;
upākṛtāyām
—
being so edited
;
kathā
—
sudhāyām — in the nectar of such a transcendental message
;
upasamprayogam
—
serves the real purpose, being nearer to .
Translation
The highest perfectional gain of humanity is to engage in discussions of the activities and glories of the Pious Actor. Such activities are so nicely arranged in writing by the greatly learned sages that the actual purpose of the ear is served just by being near them.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O Vidura! It is said that describing the qualities of the Lord is the highest attainment for men’s words. It is also said that the highest attainment of mankind is hearing the sweet topics of the Lord which are described by the learned.
Because the ocean of topics of the Lord cannot be crossed, no one can have complete knowledge of this. People can become successful by chanting and hearing about the Lord, with some amount of knowledge and thus attain the Lord. Describing anything else is a waste of words. And it is the highest attainment to closely offer (upasamprayogam) the ears (śruteh) to nectar topics of the Lord described (upākrtāyām) by the learned.
Purport
The impersonalists are very much afraid of hearing the activities of the Lord because they think that the happiness derived from the transcendental situation of Brahman is the ultimate goal of life; they think that anyone’s activity, even that of the Personality of Godhead, is mundane. But the idea of happiness indicated in this verse is different because it relates to the activities of the Supreme Personality, who has transcendental qualities. The word
guṇa-vādam
is significant because the qualities of the Lord and His activities and pastimes are the subject matter for the discussions of devotees. A
ṛṣi
like Maitreya is certainly not interested in discussing anything pertaining to mundane qualities, yet he says that the highest perfectional stage of transcendental realization is to discuss the Lord’s activities. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, therefore, concludes that topics regarding the transcendental activities of the Lord are far beyond the transcendental realization of
kaivalya
happiness. These transcendental activities of the Lord are so arranged in writing by the great sages that simply by hearing of those narrations one becomes perfectly self-realized, and the proper use of the ear and the tongue is also achieved.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
is one of such great literatures, and the highest perfectional state of life is attained simply by hearing and reciting its contents.