Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.12.44

maitreya uvāca

etat te 'bhihitaḿ sarvaḿ

yat pṛṣṭo 'ham iha tvayā

dhruvasyoddāma-yaśasaś

caritaḿ sammataḿ satām

SYNONYMS

maitreyaḥ uvāca — the great sage Maitreya said; etat — this; te — unto you; abhihitam — described; sarvam — everything; yat — what; pṛṣṭaḥ aham — I was asked; iha — here; tvayā — by you; dhruvasya — of Dhruva Mahārāja; uddāma — greatly uplifting; yaśasaḥ — whose reputation; caritam — character; sammatam — approved; satām — by great devotees.

TRANSLATION

The great sage Maitreya continued: My dear Vidura, whatever you have asked from me about the great reputation and character of Dhruva Mahārāja I have explained to you in all detail. Great saintly persons and devotees very much like to hear about Dhruva Mahārāja.

PURPORT

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam means everything in relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Whether we hear the pastimes and activities of the Supreme Lord or we hear about the character, reputation and activities of His devotees, they are all one and the same. Neophyte devotees simply try to understand the pastimes of the Lord and are not very interested in hearing about the activities of His devotees, but such discrimination should not be indulged in by any real devotee. Sometimes less intelligent men try to hear about the rāsa dance of Kṛṣṇa and do not take care to hear about other portions of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which they completely avoid. There are professional Bhāgavata reciters who abruptly go to the rāsa-līlā chapters of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, as if other portions of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam were useless. This kind of discrimination and abrupt adoption of the rāsa-līlā pastimes of the Lord is not approved by the ācāryas. A sincere devotee should read every chapter and every word of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, for the beginning verses describe that it is the ripened fruit of all Vedic literature. Devotees should not try to avoid even a word of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The great sage Maitreya therefore affirmed herein that the Bhāgavatam is sammataḿ satām, approved by great devotees.

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