Canto 11: General HistoryChapter 23: The Song of the Avantī Brāhmaṇa.

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.23.61

ya etāḿ bhikṣuṇā gītāḿ

brahma-niṣṭhāḿ samāhitaḥ

dhārayañ chrāvayañ chṛṇvan

dvandvair naivābhibhūyate

SYNONYMS

yaḥ — whoever; etām — this; bhikṣuṇā — by the sannyāsī; gītām — sung; brahma — knowledge of the Absolute; niṣṭhām — based upon; samāhitaḥ — with full attention; dhārayan — meditating; śrāvayan — causing others to hear; śṛṇvan — himself hearing; dvandvaiḥ — by dualities; na — never; eva — indeed; abhibhūyate — will become overwhelmed.

TRANSLATION

Anyone who listens to or recites to others this song of the sannyāsī, which presents scientific knowledge of the Absolute, and who thus meditates upon it with full attention, will never again be overwhelmed by the dualities of material happiness and distress.

PURPORT

The Vaiṣṇava sannyāsī took shelter of the devotional service of the Lord and thus could overcome the illusory potency of his worshipable object, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He himself meditated upon and heard this song, and also taught it to others. Having received the Lord's mercy, he enlightened other conditioned souls with transcendental intelligence so that they could also follow in the footsteps of the devotees of the Lord. Religion actually means to become a pure devotee of the Supreme Lord in loving service. Those who are trying to enjoy the material world or merely renounce it to avoid personal inconvenience cannot actually understand love of Godhead, in which the only objective is the satisfaction of the Lord.

Thus end the purports of the humble servants of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda to the Eleventh Canto, Twenty-third Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "The Song of the Avantī Brāhmaṇa."

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
His Holiness Hrdayananda dasa Goswami
Gopiparanadhana dasa Adhikari
Dravida dasa Brahmacari