TEXT 10
paravaresam bhagavan vratani
srutani me vyasa-mukhad abhiksnam
atrpnuma ksulla-sukhavahanam
tesam rte krsna-kathamrtaughat
SYNONYMS
parahigher; avaresamof these lower; bhagavanO my lord, O great one; vratanioccupations; srutaniheard; meby me; vyasaVyasa; mukhatfrom the mouth; abhiksnamrepeatedly; atrpnumaI am satisfied; ksullalittle; sukha-avahanamthat which causes happiness; tesamout of that; rtewithout; krsna-kathatalks about the Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna; amrta-oghatfrom the nectar.
TRANSLATION
O my lord, I have repeatedly heard about these higher and lower statuses of human society from the mouth of Vyasadeva, and I am quite satiated with all these lesser subject matters and their happiness. They have not satisfied me with the nectar of topics about Krsna.
PURPORT
Because people are very much interested in hearing social and historical presentations, Srila Vyasadeva has compiled many books such as the Puranas and Mahabharata. These books are reading matter for the mass of people, and they were compiled with a view to reviving their God consciousness, now forgotten in the conditional life of material existence. The real purpose of such literatures is not so much to present topics of historical references, but to revive the peoples sense of God consciousness. For example, Mahabharata is the history of the Battle of Kuruksetra, and common people read it because it is full of topics regarding the social, political and economic problems of human society. But factually the most important part of Mahabharata is Bhagavad-gita, which is automatically taught to readers along with the historical narrations of the Battle of Kuruksetra.
Vidura explained to Maitreya his position of being fully satiated with the knowledge of mundane social and political topics and having no more interest in them. He was anxious to hear transcendental topics regarding Lord Sri Krsna. Because there were insufficient topics directly concerning Krsna in the Puranas, Mahabharata, etc., he was not satisfied and wanted to know more about Krsna. Krsna-katha, or topics regarding Krsna, are transcendental, and there is no satiation in hearing such topics. Bhagavad-gita is important on account of its being krsna-katha, or speeches delivered by Lord Krsna. The story of the Battle of Kuruksetra may be interesting for the mass of people, but to a person like Vidura, who is highly advanced in devotional service, only krsna-katha and that which is dovetailed with krsna-katha is interesting. Vidura wanted to hear of everything from Maitreya, and so he inquired from him, but he desired that all the topics be in relationship with Krsna. As fire is never satisfied in its consumption of firewood, so a pure devotee of the Lord never hears enough about Krsna. Historical events and other narrations concerning social and political incidents all become transcendental as soon as they are in relationship with Krsna. That is the way to transform mundane things into spiritual identity. The whole world can be transformed into Vaikuntha if all worldly activities are dovetailed with krsna-katha.
There are two important krsna-kathas current in the worldBhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. Bhagavad-gita is krsna-katha because it is spoken by Krsna, whereas Srimad-Bhagavatam is krsna-katha because it narrates about Krsna. Lord Caitanya advised all His disciples to preach krsna-katha all over the world without discrimination because the transcendental value of krsna-katha can purify one and all from material contamination.

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