Knowledge is information gathered from the scriptures, and science is practical realization of that knowledge. Knowledge is scientific when it is gathered from the scriptures through the bona fide spiritual master, but when it is interpreted by speculation, it is mental concoction. By scientifically understanding the scriptural information through the bona fide spiritual master, one learns, by one's own realization, the actual situation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The transcendental form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is different from material manifestations, and it is above the reactions of matter. Unless one scientifically understands the spiritual form of the Personality of Godhead, one becomes an impersonalist. The sunshine in itself is illumination, but that illumination is different from the sun. Yet the sun and the sunshine are not differently situated, for without the sun there can be no sunshine, and without sunshine there is no meaning to the word sun.

Unless one is freed from the influence of material energy, he cannot understand the Supreme Lord and His different energies. Nor can one who is captivated by the spell of material energy understand the spiritual form of the Supreme Lord. Unless there is realization of the transcendental form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, there is no question of love of God. Unless one can realize the transcendental form of the Supreme Lord, he cannot actually attain love of God, and without love of God there is no perfection in human life. Just as the five gross elements of nature-namely earth, water, fire, air and ether-are both within and without all living beings in this world, the Supreme Lord is both inside and outside this existence, and those who are His devotees can realize this.

Pure devotees know that they are meant to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that all things that exist can be means by which one can serve the Supreme. Because a devotee has been blessed by the Supreme from within his heart, he can see the Supreme Lord wherever he looks. Indeed, he can see nothing else. In Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.2.55) the relationship between the devotee and the Supreme Lord is confirmed as follows:

By studying Srimad-Bhagavatam, we can obtain information about our eternal relationship with the Supreme Lord, understand the procedure by which the Lord can be attained and receive the ultimate realization, which is love of Godhead. In explaining to Prakasananda Sarasvati how one can achieve the Supreme Personality of Godhead by devotional service, Lord Caitanya quoted a verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.14.21) in which the Lord says that He can be realized only through devotional service executed with faith and love. Indeed, it is devotional service alone which purifies the heart of the devotee and elevates him to the ultimate realization by which he, established in faith, renders service unto the Supreme Lord. Even if one is born in a low family, like a family of candalas (dog-eaters), one can become filled with transcendental symptoms through realization of the supreme stage of love of Godhead. These transcendental symptoms are described in Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.3.31):

We should understand that Srimad-Bhagavatam is the real explanation of the Brahma-sutra, and it is compiled by Vyasadeva himself. In the Garuda Purana it is said:

In his prayer, the author of Srimad-Bhagavatam first proposes that Lord Sri Krsna is the primeval Lord and that if any transcendental nomenclature for the Absolute Personality of Godhead is to be accepted, it should be the name Krsna, the all-attractive. In Bhagavad-gita the Lord has affirmed in many passages that He is the original Personality of Godhead, and this was also confirmed by Arjuna, who cited great sages like Narada, Vyasa and many others. In Padma Purana it is also stated that of the innumerable names of the Lord, the name of Krsna is the principal one. Although the name Vasudeva indicates the plenary portion of the Personality of Godhead, and although all the different forms of the Lord are identical with Vasudeva, in this text Vasudeva principally indicates the divine son of Vasudeva and Devaki. Sri Krsna is always meditated upon by the paramahamsas, those who are most perfect in the renounced order of life. Vasudeva, or Lord Sri Krsna, is the cause of all causes, and everything that exists is an emanation from Him. How this is so is explained in later chapters of Srimad-Bhagavatam.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu describes Srimad-Bhagavatam as the spotless Purana because it contains transcendental narrations of the pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna. The history of Srimad-Bhagavatam is also very glorious. It was compiled by Vyasadeva, who drew from his mature experience of transcendental knowledge under the instruction of Sri Narada Muni, his spiritual master. Vyasadeva compiled all the Vedic literatures-the four Vedas, the Vedanta-sutra or Brahma-sutras, the puranas and the Mahabharata. Yet he was not satisfied until he wrote Srimad-Bhagavatam. His dissatisfaction was observed by his spiritual master, and consequently Narada advised him to write on the transcendental activities of the Lord Sri Krsna. Sri Krsna's transcendental activities are specifically described in the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, the canto which is considered to contain the substance of the whole work. One should not approach the Tenth Canto immediately but should approach it gradually by developing knowledge of the subject matters first presented.

Generally a philosophical mind is inquisitive to learn of the origin of all creations. When one who is philosophical sees the night sky, he naturally raises questions about the stars, how they are situated, who lives there, etc. All these inquiries are quite natural for a human being, for the human being has a greater developed consciousness than the animals. In answer to such an inquiry, the author of Srimad-Bhagavatam says that the Lord is the origin of all creations. He is not only the creator but the maintainer and annihilator as well. The manifested cosmic creation is created at a certain period by the will of the Lord, is maintained for some time and is finally annihilated by His will. Thus He is the supreme will behind all activities.

Of course there are atheists of various categories who do not believe in the creator, but that is due simply to their poor fund of knowledge. The modern scientist creates rockets, and by some arrangement or other they are thrown into outer space to fly for some time under the control of a scientist far away. All the universes and the innumerable planets within them are similar to such rockets, and they are all controlled by the Personality of Godhead.

In the Vedic literatures it is said that the Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead, is the foremost amongst all living personalities. All living beings, from the first created being, Brahma, down to the smallest ant, are individual living entities. Even above Brahma there are many other living beings with individual capacities. The Personality of Godhead Himself is also a living being and is as much an individual as the other living beings. However, the Supreme Lord is the supreme living being, and He has the greatest mind and possesses the supermost inconceivable energies in great variety. If a man's mind can produce rockets and spaceships, it is conceivable that a mind higher than man's can produce superior things. A reasonable person will accept this argument but stubborn obstinate people will not.

Srila Vyasadeva at once accepts the supreme mind as the paramesvara, the supreme controller. As stated in Bhagavad-gita and all other scriptures written by Srila Vyasadeva, that paramesvara is Sri Krsna Himself. This is specifically validated in Srimad-Bhagavatam. In Bhagavad-gita also the Lord Himself says that there is no paratattva (summum bonum) superior to Himself. Therefore the author at once worships the paratattva, Sri Krsna, whose transcendental activities are described in the Tenth Canto.

Unscrupulous people go at once to the Tenth Canto, especially to the five chapters which describe the Lord's rasa dance. However, this portion of Srimad-Bhagavatam is the most confidential part of that great literature. Unless one is thoroughly accomplished in the transcendental knowledge of the Lord, he is sure to misunderstand the Lord's worshipable transcendental pastimes in the rasa dance and the Lord's love affairs with the gopis. This subject matter is highly spiritual and technical, and only liberated personalities who have gradually attained the stage of paramahamsa can transcendentally relish the worshipable rasa dance.

Therefore Srila Vyasadeva gives the reader a chance to gradually develop in spiritual realization before actually relishing the essence of the pastimes of the Lord. Thus Vyasadeva purposefully invokes the gayatri mantra: dhimahi. This gayatri mantra is especially meant for spiritually advanced people. When one attains success in chanting gayatri mantra, he can enter into the transcendental position of the Lord. First, however, one must acquire the brahminical qualities and become perfectly situated in the mode of goodness in order to chant the gayatri mantra successfully. From that point one can begin to transcendentally realize the Lord, His name, His fame, His qualities, etc. Srimad-Bhagavatam is a narration dealing with the svarupa (form) of the Lord, which is manifested by His internal potency. This potency is distinguished from the external potency, which has manifested the cosmic world within our experience. Srila Vyasadeva makes a clear distinction between the internal and external potencies in the very first verse of the First Chapter of Srimad-Bhagavatam. In that verse he says that the internal potency is factual reality, whereas the external manifested energy in the form of material existence is temporary and illusory, no more real than a mirage in the desert. Water may appear present in a mirage, but real water is somewhere else. Similarly, the manifested cosmic creation appears to be reality, but it is simply a reflection of the true reality which exists in the spiritual world. In the spiritual world there are no mirages. Absolute Truth is there; it is not here in the material world. Here, everything is relative truth; one truth seems to depend upon another. This cosmic creation results from an interaction of the three modes of material nature. The temporary manifestations are so created as to present an illusion of reality to the bewildered mind of the conditioned soul. Thus there appear to be so many species of life, including the higher demigods like Brahma, Indra, Candra, etc. In fact there is no reality in the manifested world, but there appears to be reality because the true reality exists in the spiritual world, where the Personality of Godhead eternally abides with His transcendental paraphernalia.

The chief engineer of a complicated construction does not personally take part in the construction itself, but it is he only who knows all the nooks and corners of the construction because everything is carried out under his instructions only. In other words, he knows everything about the construction directly and indirectly. Similarly, the Personality of Godhead, who is the supreme engineer of this cosmic creation, knows very well what is happening in every nook and corner of the cosmic creation, although activities appear to be performed by someone else. In actuality no one is independent in the material creation; the hand of the Supreme Lord is everywhere. All material elements, as well as all spiritual sparks, are but emanations from Him only. Whatever is created in this material world is created by the interaction of the two energies, material and spiritual. These energies belong to the Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna.

A chemist can manufacture water in the laboratory by mixing hydrogen and oxygen, but in reality the living entity can only work under the direction of the Supreme Lord. Indeed, all materials used by a chemist are supplied by the Lord. The Lord knows everything directly and indirectly, and He is cognizant of all the minute details of everything. He is fully independent as well. He can be compared to a gold mine, and the cosmic creations can be compared to ornaments made from that gold, such as gold rings, necklaces, etc. The gold ring and necklace are qualitatively one with the gold in the mine, but quantitatively the gold in the mine and the gold in the earring or necklace are different. Lord Caitanya's philosophy of the Absolute Truth centers about the fact that the Supreme Lord is simultaneously one with and different from His creation. Nothing is absolutely equal to the Absolute Truth, but at the same time nothing is independent of it.

Conditioned souls, beginning from Brahma, the engineer of this particular universe, down to an insignificant ant, are all creating something, but none of them are independent of the Supreme Lord. The materialist wrongly thinks that there is no creator outside his own good self, and this is called maya, or illusion. Due to his poor fund of knowledge, the materialist cannot see beyond the purview of his imperfect senses; thus he thinks that matter automatically takes its own shape independent of a conscious background. This is refuted by Srila Vyasadeva in the first verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam. As stated before, Vyasadeva is a liberated soul, and he compiled this book of authority after attaining spiritual perfection. Since the complete whole, or the Absolute Truth, is the source of everything, nothing is independent of Him. Everything exists within the body of the Absolute Truth. Any action or reaction of a part of a body becomes a cognizable fact to the embodied whole. Similarly, if the creation abides in the body of the Absolute Truth, then nothing is unknown to the Absolute, directly or indirectly.

In the sruti-mantra it is stated that the absolute whole, or Brahman, is the ultimate source of everything. Everything emanates from Him, everything is maintained by Him, and at the end everything enters into Him again. That is the law of nature. This is also confirmed in the smrti-mantra. There it is said that at the beginning of Brahma s millennium, the source from which everything emanates is the Absolute Truth, or Brahman, and at the end of that millennium the reservoir into which everything enters is that same Absolute Truth. Material scientists haphazardly take it for granted that the ultimate source of this planetary system is the sun, but they are unable to explain the source of the sun. In Vedic literatures the ultimate source is explained; Brahma is the creator of this universe, but because he had to meditate in order to receive the inspiration for such a creation, he is not the ultimate creator. As stated in the first verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Brahma was taught Vedic knowledge by the Personality of Godhead. In the first verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam it is said that the Supreme Lord inspired a secondary creator, Brahma, and enabled him to carry out his creative functions. In this way the Supreme Lord is the supervising engineer; the real mind behind all creative agents is the Absolute Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna. In Bhagavad-gita Sri Krsna personally admits that it is He only who superintends the creative energy (prakrti), the sum total of matter. Thus Sri Vyasadeva neither worships Brahma nor the sun but the Supreme Lord, who guides both Brahma and the sun in their creative activities.

The Sanskrit words abhijna and svarat, appearing in the first verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam, are significant. These two words distinguish the Lord from all other living entities. No living entity other than the supreme being, the Absolute Personality of Godhead is either abhijna or svarat-that is, none of them are either fully cognizant or fully independent. Everyone has to learn from his superior about knowledge; even Brahma, who is the first living being within this material world, has to meditate upon the Supreme Lord and take help from Him in order to create. If Brahma or the sun cannot create anything without acquiring knowledge from a superior, then what is the situation with the material scientists who are fully dependent on so many things? Modern scientists like Jagadisha Chandra Bose, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, etc., may be very boastful of their respective creative energies, but all were dependent on the Supreme Lord for so many things. After all, the highly intelligent brains of these gentlemen were certainly not products of any human being. The brain is created by another agent. If brains like those of Einstein or Newton could have been manufactured by a human being, then mankind would produce many such brains instead of eulogizing their passing. If such scientists cannot even manufacture such brains, what to speak of foolish atheists who defy the authority of the Lord?

Even the Mayavadi impersonalists who flatter themselves and believe that they have become the Lord themselves are not abhijnah or svarat, fully cognizant or fully independent. The Mayavadi monists undergo a severe process of austerity and penance to acquire knowledge of becoming one with the Lord, but ultimately they become dependent on some rich follower who supplies them with requisite paraphernalia to construct great monasteries and temples. Atheists like Ravana and Hiranyakasipu had to undergo severe penances before they could flout the authority of the Lord, but ultimately they were so helpless that they could not save themselves when the Lord appeared before them as cruel death. This is also applicable to the modern atheists who dare flout the authority of the Lord. Such atheists will be dealt the same awards as were given in the past to great atheists like Ravana and Hiranyakasipu. History repeats itself, and what was occurring in the past will recur again and again when there is necessity. Whenever the authority of the Lord is neglected, the penalties dealt by the laws of nature are always there.

That the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, is all-perfect is confirmed in all sruti-mantras. It is said in the sruti-mantras that the all-perfect Lord glanced over matter and thus created all living beings. The living beings are parts and parcels of the Lord, and He impregnates the vast material nature with the seeds of the spiritual sparks. Thus the creative energies are set in motion for so many wonderful creations. When one atheist argued that God is no more expert than the manufacturer of a subtle watch which has so many delicate parts, we had to reply that God is a greater mechanic than the watchmaker because He simply creates one machine in male and female forms, and the male and female forms go on producing innumerable similar machines without the further attention of God. If a man could manufacture a set of machines capable of producing other machines without the man giving the matter any further attention, then a man could be said to equal the intelligence of God. Of course this is not possible. Each and every one of man's imperfect machines has to be handled individually by a mechanic. Because no one can be equal in intelligence to God, another name for God is asamaurdhva, which indicates that no one is equal to or greater than Him. Everyone has his intellectual equal and superior, and no one can claim that he has neither. However, this is not the case with the Lord. The sruti-mantras indicate that before the creation of the material universe, the Lord was existing, and He was master of everyone. It was the Lord who instructed Brahma in Vedic knowledge. That Personality of Godhead has to be obeyed in all respects. Anyone who wants to become freed from material entanglement must surrender unto Him, and this is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita.

Unless one surrenders unto the lotus feet of the Personality of Godhead, it is certain that one will be bewildered, even if he happens to be a great mind. Only when great minds surrender unto the lotus feet of Vasudeva and know fully that Vasudeva is the cause of all causes, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (7.19), can they become mahatmas, or truly broad-minded. However, such broad-minded mahatmas are rarely seen. Only they, however, can understand the Supreme Lord as the Absolute Personality of Godhead, the primeval cause of all creations. He is parama, ultimate truth, because all other truths are dependent on Him. Because He is the source of all knowledge, He is omniscient; there is no illusion for Him as there is for the relative knower.

Some Mayavadi scholars argue that Srimad-Bhagavatam was not compiled by Srila Vyasadeva, and some suggest that the book is a modern creation written by someone named Vopadeva. In order to refute this meaningless argument, Srila Sridhara Svami points out that there are many of the oldest puranas which make reference to the Srimad-Bhagavatam. The first sloka, or verse, of Srimad-Bhagavatam begins with the Gayatri mantra, and there is reference to this in the Matsya Purana (the oldest Purana). With reference to the context of Gayatri mantra in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, in this Purana it is said, "That which contains many narrations of spiritual instruction, begins with the Gayatri mantra and also contains the history of Vrtrasura, is known as the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Whoever makes a gift of this great work on a full moon day attains to the highest perfection of life and goes back to Godhead. There is also reference to Srimad-Bhagavatam in other Puranas which even indicate that the work consists of Twelve Cantos and eighteen thousand slokas. In Padma Purana also there is reference about the Srimad-Bhagavatam during a conversation between Gautama and Maharaja Ambarisa. Maharaja Ambarisa was advised to read Srimad-Bhagavatam regularly if he at all desired liberation from material bondage. Under these circumstances, there is no doubt regarding the authority of Srimad-Bhagavatam. For the past five hundred years many scholars have made elaborate commentaries upon Srimad-Bhagavatam and have displayed unique scholarship. The serious student will do well to attempt to go through them in order to more happily relish the transcendental messages of the Bhagavatam.

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura specifically deals with original and pure sex psychology (adi-rasa) devoid of all mundane inebriety. The entire material world turns due to the basic principle of sex life. In modern human civilization, sex is the central point of all activities; indeed, wherever we turn our face we see sex life prominent. Consequently sex life is not unreal; its true reality is experienced in the spiritual world. Material sex is but a perverted reflection of the original; the original is found in the Absolute Truth. This validates the fact that the Absolute Truth is personal, for the Absolute Truth cannot be impersonal and have a sense of pure sex life. The impersonal monist philosophy gives an indirect impetus to abominable mundane sex because it overly stresses the impersonality of the ultimate truth. The result is that men who lack knowledge have accepted the perverted material sex life as all in all because they have no information of the actual spiritual form of sex. There is a distinction between sex in the diseased condition of material life and sex in the spiritual existence. Srimad-Bhagavatam gradually elevates the unbiased reader to the highest perfectional stage of transcendence above the three modes of material activities, fruitive actions, speculative philosophy and above worship of functional deities indicated in the Vedas. Srimad-Bhagavatam is the embodiment of devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna and is therefore situated in a position superior to other Vedic literatures.

Religion includes four primary subjects: (1) pious activities, (2) economic development, (3) satisfaction of the senses, and (4) liberation from material bondage. Religious life is distinguished from the irreligious life of barbarism. Indeed, it may be said that human life actually begins with religion. The four principles of animal life-eating, sleeping, defending and mating-are common both to the animals and human beings, but religion is the special concern of human beings. Since human life is no better than animal life without religion, in real human society there is some form of religion aiming at self-realization and referring to one's eternal relationship with God.

In the lower stage of human civilization there is always competition between men in their attempt to dominate material nature. In other words, there is continuous rivalry in an attempt to satisfy the senses. Thus driven by sense gratificatory consciousness, men enact religious rituals. Thus pious activities and religious functions are performed with an aim to acquire some material gain, and if such material gain is obtainable in another way, this so-called religion is neglected. This can be seen in modern human civilization. Since the economic desires of the people appear to be fulfilled in another way, no one is interested in religion now. The churches, mosques and temples are practically vacant, for people are more interested in factories, shops and cinemas. Thus they have deserted the religious places erected by their forefathers. This is evidence that religion is generally performed for the sake of economic development, and economic development is required for sense gratification. When one is baffled in his attempt to attain sense gratification, he takes to the cause of salvation in order to become one with the supreme whole. All these activities arise with the same aim in view-sense gratification.

In the Vedas, the four primary subjects mentioned above are prescribed in a regulative way so that there will not be undue competition for sense gratification. However, Srimad-Bhagavatam is transcendental to all the sense gratifying activities of the material world. It is a pure transcendental literature, understandable by the devotees of the Lord who are above competition in sense gratification. In the material world there is keen competition between animals, men, communities and even nations in an attempt to gratify the senses, but the devotees of the Lord are above all this. Devotees have no need to compete with materialists because they are on the path back to Godhead, back home where everything is eternal, full and blissful. Such transcendentalists are a hundred percent nonenvious and are therefore pure in heart. Because everyone in the material world is envious, there is competition. The devotees of the Lord are not only free from all material envy, but they are also kind to everyone in an attempt to establish a competitionless society with God in the center.

The socialist's idea of a society devoid of competition is artificial because even in the socialist states there is competition for power. It is a fact that the principle of sense gratification is the basic principle of materialistic life, and this can be realized either from reading the Vedas or simply from observing common human activities. The Vedas recommend fruitive activities by which people can advance to higher planets, and they also recommend worship of the various demigods for the purpose of attaining their planets. Ultimately the Vedas recommend activities by which one can reach the Absolute Truth and realize His impersonal feature in order to become one with Him. However, the impersonal aspect of the Absolute Truth is not the last word. Above the impersonal feature is the Paramatma, or the Supersoul, and above that is the Supreme Personality. Srimad-Bhagavatam gives information about the personal qualities of the Absolute Truth, qualities which are beyond the impersonal aspect. Topics concerning these qualities are greater than topics of impersonal philosophical speculation; consequently Srimad-Bhagavatam is given higher status than the jnana-kanda portions of the Vedas. Srimad-Bhagavatam is also greater than the karma-kanda and upasana-kanda portions as well because it recommends the worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, the divine son of Vasudeva. The karma-kanda portion of the Vedas is fraught with competition to reach heavenly planets for better sense gratification, and this competition is also seen in the jnana-kanda and upasana-kanda portions. Srimad-Bhagavatam is above all of these because it aims only at the Supreme Truth, the substance or root of all categories.

In other words, from Srimad-Bhagavatam we can know the substance as well as the relativities in their true sense and perspective. The substance is the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the relativities are the different forms of energy which emanate from Him. Since the living entities are also related to His energies, there is nothing really different from the substance. At the same time, the energies are different from the substance. In the material sense, this conception is self-contradictory, but Srimad-Bhagavatam explicitly deals with this aspect of simultaneous oneness and difference. This philosophy is also found in the Vedanta-sutra beginning with the janmady asya sutra. Knowledge of the simultaneous oneness and difference found in the Absolute Truth is imparted for the well-being of everyone. Mental speculators mislead people by establishing the energy of the Lord as absolute, but when the truth of simultaneous oneness and difference is understood, the imperfect concepts of monism and dualism cease to satisfy. By understanding the Lord's simultaneous oneness with and difference from His creation, one can immediately attain freedom from the threefold miseries-miseries inflicted by the body and mind, by other living entities and by acts of nature.

Srimad-Bhagavatam begins with the surrender of the living entity unto the Absolute Person. This surrender is made with clear consciousness and awareness of the devotee's oneness with the Absolute, and, at the same time, of his eternal position of servitorship. In the material conception, one thinks himself to be the Lord of all he surveys; consequently he is always troubled by the threefold miseries of life. As soon as one comes to know his real position in transcendental service, he at once becomes freed from all these miseries. The position of servitor is wasted in the material conception of life. In an attempt to dominate material nature, the living entity is forced to offer his service to relative material energy. When this service is transferred to the Lord in pure consciousness of spiritual identity, the living entity at once becomes free from the encumbrances of material affection.

Over and above this, Srimad-Bhagavatam is the personal commentary on Vedanta-sutra made by Vyasadeva when he had attained maturity in spiritual realization. He was able to write it by the help of Narada's mercy. Vyasadeva is also an incarnation of Narayana, the Personality of Godhead; therefore there is no question about his authority. Although he is the author of all Vedic literature, he specifically recommends the study of Srimad-Bhagavatam. In other puranas various methods for worshiping demigods are mentioned, but in Srimad-Bhagavatam only the Supreme Personality of Godhead is mentioned. The Supreme Lord is the total body, and the demigods are different parts of that body. Thus if one worships the Supreme Lord, he need not worship the demigods, for the Supreme Lord is in the hearts of all demigods. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu distinguished Srimad-Bhagavatam from all other puranas by recommending it as the spotless Purana.

The method by which the transcendental message is received is the method of submissive hearing. A challenging attitude cannot help one receive or realize the transcendental message; therefore in the second verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam the word susrusu is used. This word indicates that one should be anxious to hear the transcendental message. The desire to hear with interest is the primary qualification for assimilating transcendental knowledge. Unfortunately many people are not interested in patiently hearing the message of Srimad-Bhagavatam. The process is simple but the application difficult. Those who are unfortunate will find time to hear ordinary social and political topics, but when they are invited to attend an assembly to hear Srimad-Bhagavatam, they are reluctant to attend. Sometimes people indulge in hearing portions of Srimad-Bhagavatam which they are not prepared to hear. Professional readers of the Bhagavatam indulge in reading the confidential portions dealing with the pastimes of the Supreme Lord. These portions appear to read like sex literature. However, Srimad-Bhagavatam is meant to be heard from the beginning, and those who are fit to assimilate the messages of Bhagavatam are mentioned in the very beginning (SB 1.1.2): A bona fide audience fit to hear Srimad-Bhagavatam is generated after many pious deeds. An intellectual person can believe in the assurances of the great sage Vyasadeva and patiently hear the messages of Srimad-Bhagavatam in order to realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead directly. One need not struggle through the different Vedic stages of realization, for one can be lifted to the position of paramahamsa simply by agreeing to hear the message of Srimad-Bhagavatam with patience. The sages of Naimisaranya told Suta Gosvami that they were intensely desirous of understanding Srimad-Bhagavatam. They were hearing from Suta Gosvami about Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and they were never satiated by these discussions. People who are really attached to Krsna never want to stop hearing about Him.

Lord Caitanya therefore advised Prakasananda Sarasvati: "Always read Srimad-Bhagavatam and try to understand each and every verse. Then you will actually understand Brahma-sutra. You say that you are very anxious to study Vedanta-sutra, but you cannot understand Vedanta-sutra without understanding Srimad-Bhagavatam." He also advised Prakasananda Sarasvati to always chant Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. "And, by doing so, you will very easily be liberated. After liberation you will be eligible to achieve the highest goal of life, love of Godhead."

The Lord then recited many verses from authoritative scriptures like Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita and Nrsimha-tapani. In particular, he quoted the following verse from Bhagavad-gita.

When a person reaches this brahma-bhuta [SB 4.30.20] platform, he sees all living entities equally and becomes a pure devotee of the Supreme Lord. In the Nrsimha-tapani (2.5.16) it is said that when a person is actually liberated he can understand the transcendental pastimes of the Supreme Lord and thus engage in His devotional service. Lord Caitanya also quoted a verse from the Second Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam (2.1.9) in which Sukadeva Gosvami admits that although he was elevated to the liberated stage and free from the clutches of maya, he was still attracted by the transcendental pastimes of Krsna. Consequently he studied Srimad-Bhagavatam from his great father, Vyasadeva.

Lord Caitanya also quoted another sloka from Srimad-Bhagavatam (3.15.43) dealing with the Kumaras. When the Kumaras entered the temple of the Lord, they were attracted by the aroma of flowers and tulasi leaves offered to the lotus feet of the Lord with pulp of sandalwood. Simply by smelling the aroma of these offerings, the minds of the Kumaras turned to the service of the Supreme Lord, despite the fact that the Kumaras were already liberated souls. It is stated elsewhere in Bhagavatam (1.7.10) that even if one is a liberated soul and is actually free from material contamination, he can still, without cause, become attracted to the devotional service of the Supreme Lord. Thus God is so attractive, and because He is so attractive, He is called Krsna.

In this way Lord Caitanya discussed the Atmarama verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam with Prakasananda Sarasvati. Lord Caitanya's admirer, the Maharastriya brahmana, related that the Lord explained this verse in sixty-one different ways. Everyone assembled was very eager to hear the different versions of the Atmarama sloka again, and since they were so eager, Lord Caitanya again explained the sloka in the same way that He had explained it to Sanatana Gosvami. Everyone who heard the explanations of the Atmarama sloka was amazed. Indeed, everyone considered Lord Caitanya to be none other than Sri Krsna Himself.