SB 7.1.5 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

श्रीऋषिरुवाच साधु पृष्टं महाराज हरेश्चरितमद्भ‍ुतम् । यद् भागवतमाहात्म्यं भगवद्भ‍क्तिवर्धनम् ॥ ४ ॥ गीयते परमं पुण्यमृषिभिर्नारदादिभि: । नत्वा कृष्णाय मुनये कथयिष्ये हरे: कथाम् ॥ ५ ॥

Verse text

śrī-ṛṣir uvāca sādhu pṛṣṭaṁ mahārāja hareś caritam adbhutam yad bhāgavata-māhātmyaṁ bhagavad-bhakti-vardhanam gīyate paramaṁ puṇyam ṛṣibhir nāradādibhiḥ natvā kṛṣṇāya munaye kathayiṣye hareḥ kathām

Synonyms

śrī — ṛṣiḥ uvāca — the sage Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said ; sādhu — excellent ; pṛṣṭam — inquiry ; mahā — rāja — O great King ; hareḥ — of the Supreme Lord, Hari ; caritam — activities ; adbhutam — wonderful ; yat — from which ; bhāgavata — of the Lord’s devotee (Prahlāda) ; māhātmyam — the glories ; bhagavat — bhakti — devotion to the Lord ; vardhanam — increasing ; gīyate — is sung ; paramam — foremost ; puṇyam — pious ; ṛṣibhiḥ — by the sages ; nārada — ādibhiḥ — headed by Śrī Nārada Muni ; natvā — after offering obeisances ; kṛṣṇāya — to Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa ; munaye — the great sage ; kathayiṣye — I shall narrate ; hareḥ — of Hari ; kathām — the topics .

Translation

The great sage Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: My dear King, you have put before me an excellent question. Discourses concerning the activities of the Lord, in which the glories of His devotees are also found, are extremely pleasing to devotees. Such wonderful topics always counteract the miseries of the materialistic way of life. Therefore great sages like Nārada always speak upon Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam because it gives one the facility to hear and chant about the wonderful activities of the Lord. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto Śrīla Vyāsadeva and then begin describing topics concerning the activities of Lord Hari.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Śukadeva said: O great King! You have asked the correct question, because in answer to that question the astonishing activities of the Lord, which increase bhakti and glorify devotees, are sung by sages like Nārada. Offering respects to Vyāsadeva, I will speak about the Lord. This is the correct questions because (yat) by that question the activities of the Lord must necessarily be described to answer you. Kṛṣṇāya means “to Vyāsa.”

Purport

In this verse Śukadeva Gosvāmī offers his respectful obeisances kṛṣṇāya munaye, which means to Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa. One must first offer one’s respectful obeisances to one’s spiritual master. Śukadeva Gosvāmī’s spiritual master is his father, Vyāsadeva, and therefore he first offers his respectful obeisances to Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa and then begins describing topics of Lord Hari. Whenever there is an opportunity to hear about the transcendental activities of the Lord, we must take it. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommends, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ: one should always engage in kṛṣṇa-kathā by chanting and talking about Kṛṣṇa and hearing about Him. That is the only occupation of a Kṛṣṇa conscious person.