Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.29.39-40

yatra bhāgavatā rājan

sādhavo viśadāśayāh

bhagavad-gunānukathana-

śravana-vyagra-cetasah

tasmin mahan-mukharitā madhubhic-caritra-

pīyūsha-śesha-saritah paritah sravanti

tā ye pibanty avitrisho nripa gādha-karnais

tān na spriśanty aśana-trid-bhaya-śoka-mohāh

SYNONYMS

yatra — where; bhāgavatāh — great devotees; rājan — O King; sādhavah — saintly persons; viśada-āśayāh — broad-minded; bhagavat — of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; guna — the qualities; anukathana — to regularly recite; śravana — to hear; vyagra — eager; cetasah — whose consciousness; tasmin — there; mahat — of great saintly persons; mukharitāh — emanating from the mouths; madhu-bhit — of the killer of the Madhu demon; caritra — the activities or the character; pīyūsha — of nectar; śesha — surplus; saritah — rivers; paritah — all around; sravanti — flow; tāh — all of them; ye — they who; pibanti — drink; avitrishah — without being satisfied; nripa — O King; gādha — attentive; karnaih — with their ears; tān — them; na — never; spriśanti — touch; aśana — hunger; trit — thirst; bhaya — fear; śoka — lamentation; mohāh — illusion.

TRANSLATION

My dear King, in the place where pure devotees live, following the rules and regulations and thus purely conscious and engaged with great eagerness in hearing and chanting the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in that place if one gets a chance to hear their constant flow of nectar, which is exactly like the waves of a river, one will forget the necessities of life — namely hunger and thirst — and become immune to all kinds of fear, lamentation and illusion.

PURPORT

The cultivation of Krishna consciousness is possible where great devotees live together and constantly engage in hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord. In a holy place like Vrindāvana, there are many devotees constantly engaged in chanting and hearing the glories of the Lord. If one gets the chance to hear from pure devotees in such a place, allowing the constant flow of the river of nectar to come from the mouths of pure devotees, then the cultivation of Krishna consciousness becomes very easy. When one is engaged in constantly hearing the glories of the Lord, he certainly rises above the bodily conception. When one is in the bodily conception, he feels the pangs of hunger and thirst, fear, lamentation and illusion. But when one is engaged in hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord, he transcends the bodily conception.

The word bhagavad-gunānukathana-śravana-vyagra-cetasah, meaning "always eager to find the place where the glories of the Lord are being heard and chanted," is significant in this verse. A businessman is always very eager to go to a place where business is transacted. Similarly, a devotee is very eager to hear from the lips of liberated devotees. As soon as one hears the glories of the Lord from the liberated devotees, he immediately becomes impregnated with Krishna consciousness. This is also confirmed in another verse:

satām prasańgān mama vīrya-samvido

bhavanti hrit-karna-rasāyanāh kathāh

taj-joshanād āśv apavarga-vartmani

śraddhā ratir bhaktir anukramishyati

"In the association of pure devotees, discussion of the pastimes and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very pleasing and satisfying to the ear and to the heart. By cultivating such knowledge one gradually becomes advanced on the path of liberation, and thereafter he is freed, and his attraction becomes fixed. Then real devotion and devotional service begin." (Bhāg. 3.25.25) In the association of pure devotees, one becomes attached to hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord. In this way one can cultivate Krishna consciousness, and as soon as this cultivation is advanced, one can become faithful to the Lord, devoted to the Lord and attached to the Lord, and thus one can very quickly attain full Krishna consciousness. The secret of success in the cultivation of Krishna consciousness is hearing from the right person. A Krishna conscious person is never disturbed by the bodily necessities — namely eating, sleeping, mating and defending.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness