TEXT 13
sa sraddadhanasya vivardhamana
viraktim anyatra karoti pumsah
hareh padanusmrti-nirvrtasya
samasta-duhkhapyayam asu dhatte
SYNONYMS
sathose topics of Krsna, or krsna-katha; sraddadhanasyaof one who is anxious to hear; vivardhamanagradually increasing; viraktimindifference; anyatrain other things (than such topics); karotidoes; pumsahof one who is so engaged; harehof the Lord; pada-anusmrticonstant remembrance of the lotus feet of the Lord; nirvrtasyaone who has achieved such transcendental bliss; samasta-duhkhaall miseries; apyayamvanquished; asuwithout delay; dhatteexecutes.
TRANSLATION
For one who is anxious to engage constantly in hearing such topics, krsna-katha gradually increases his indifference towards all other things. Such constant remembrance of the lotus feet of Lord Krsna by the devotee who has achieved transcendental bliss vanquishes all his miseries without delay.
PURPORT
We must certainly know that on the absolute plane krsna-katha and Krsna are one and the same. The Lord is the Absolute Truth, and therefore His name, form, quality, etc., which are all understood to be krsna-katha, are nondifferent from Him. Bhagavad-gita, being spoken by the Lord, is as good as the Lord Himself. When a sincere devotee reads Bhagavad-gita, this is as good as seeing the Lord face to face in his personal presence, but this is not so for the mundane wrangler. All the potencies of the Lord are there when one reads Bhagavad-gita, provided it is read in the way recommended in the Gita by the Lord Himself. One cannot foolishly manufacture an interpretation of Bhagavad-gita and still bring about transcendental benefit. Anyone who tries to squeeze some artificial meaning or interpretation from Bhagavad-gita for an ulterior motive is not sraddadhana-pumsah (one engaged anxiously in bona fide hearing of krsna-katha). Such a person cannot derive any benefit from reading Bhagavad-gita, however great a scholar he may be in the estimation of a layman. The sraddadhana, or faithful devotee, can actually derive all the benefits of Bhagavad-gita because by the omnipotency of the Lord he achieves the transcendental bliss which vanquishes attachment and nullifies all concomitant material miseries. Only the devotee, by his factual experience, can understand the import of this verse spoken by Vidura. The pure devotee of the Lord enjoys life by constantly remembering the lotus feet of the Lord by hearing krsna-katha. For such a devotee there is no such thing as material existence, and the much advertised bliss of brahmananda is like a fig for the devotee who is in the midst of the transcendental ocean of bliss.

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