Canto 7: The Science of God | Chapter 10: Prahlāda, the Best Among Exalted Devotees |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.10.45
dharmo bhāgavatānāḿ ca
bhagavān yena gamyate
ākhyāne 'smin samāmnātam
ādhyātmikam aśeṣataḥ
SYNONYMS
dharmaḥ — religious principles; bhāgavatānām — of the devotees; ca — and; bhagavān — the Supreme Personality of Godhead; yena — by which; gamyate — one can understand; ākhyāne — in the narration; asmin — this; samāmnātam — is perfectly described; ādhyātmikam — transcendence; aśeṣataḥ — without reservations.
TRANSLATION
The principles of religion by which one can actually understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead are called bhāgavata-dharma. In this narration, therefore, which deals with these principles, actual transcendence is properly described.
PURPORT
Through the principles of religion, one can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Brahman (the impersonal feature of the Supreme Lord) and Paramātmā (the localized aspect of the Lord). When one is well conversant with all these principles, he becomes a devotee and performs bhāgavata-dharma. Prahlāda Mahārāja, the spiritual master in the line of disciplic succession, advised that this bhāgavata-dharma be instructed to students from the very beginning of their education (kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha [SB 7.6.1]). To understand the science of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the real purpose of education. Śravaṇaḿ kīrtanaḿ viṣṇoḥ [SB 7.5.23]. One must simply hear about and describe Lord Viṣṇu and His various incarnations. This narration concerning Prahlāda Mahārāja and Lord Nṛsiḿhadeva, therefore, has properly described spiritual, transcendental subjects.
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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness