TEXT 44
maitreya uvaca
etat te bhihitam sarvam
yat prsto ham iha tvaya
dhruvasyoddama-yasasas
caritam sammatam satam
SYNONYMS
maitreyah uvacathe great sage Maitreya said; etatthis; teunto you; abhihitamdescribed; sarvameverything; yatwhat; prstah ahamI was asked; ihahere; tvayaby you; dhruvasyaof Dhruva Maharaja; uddamagreatly uplifting; yasasahwhose reputation; caritamcharacter; sammatamapproved; satamby 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 Maharaja I have explained to you in all detail. Great saintly persons and devotees very much like to hear about Dhruva Maharaja.
PURPORT
Srimad-Bhagavatam 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 rasa dance of Krsna and do not take care to hear about other portions of Srimad-Bhagavatam, which they completely avoid. There are professional Bhagavata reciters who abruptly go to the rasa-lila chapters of Srimad-Bhagavatam, as if other portions of Srimad-Bhagavatam were useless. This kind of discrimination and abrupt adoption of the rasa-lila pastimes of the Lord is not approved by the acaryas. A sincere devotee should read every chapter and every word of Srimad-Bhagavatam, 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 Srimad-Bhagavatam. The great sage Maitreya therefore affirmed herein that the Bhagavatam is sammatam satam, approved by great devotees.

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