Verse Text
61. atha śrī-bhāgavatārthāsvādo, yathā prathame—
nigama-kalpa-taror-galitaṁ phalaṁ
śuka-mukhād amṛta-drava-saṁyutam |
pibata bhāgavataṁ rasam ālayaṁ
muhur aho rasikā bhuvi bhāvukāḥ ||226||
Translation
Relishing Bhāgavatam (verse 91), from the First Canto: O expert and thoughtful men, relish Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the mature fruit of the desire tree of Vedic literatures. It emanated from the lips of Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Therefore, this fruit has become even more tasteful, although its nectarean juice was already relishable for all, including liberated souls. SB 1.1.3
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
In the previous verse (1.1.2) of the Bhāgavatam, the powers of Bhāgavatam to capture the Lord in the heart were described. In this verse, the sweetness of Bhāgavatam is described. Nigama refers to the Veda. The Veda is a desire tree because it naturally gives fruit in the form of various puruṣārthas (human goals — artha, dharma, kāma and mokṣa) which are desired by those who resort to it. However, because of its nature as a tree (being magnanimous, fulfilling everyone’s desires), it also gives the fruit known as the Bhāgavatam (since some people desire that). Bhāgavatam also means that which belongs to Bhagavān as the proprietor. This implies that He alone gives the scripture to His devotees, and thus persons other than them do not have rights to it. Galitam means that it falls down of its own accord when ripened on the tree, not by force. Thus, it is completely full of sweetness. Even after falling from a high position in the tree, it does not break, nor does it lose its sweetness. That is because it comes down from the highest position, from Nārāyaṇa, to the branch of Brahmā, then to the lower branch of Nārada, then to Vyāsa, and finally to the mouth of Śuka. Thus without being injured, it is endowed with liquid sweetness like honey. The parrot, Śuka, has even made an opening in the fruit with his beak for bringing out the sweetness. Moreover, having been tasted by him, that fruit becomes even sweeter. Moreover, it remains unbroken, coming down step-by-step from the branch of Sūta and others. What is implied here is that without the guru-paramparā, one cannot drink Bhāgavatam in its unbroken form just by trying to taste it through use of one’s limited intelligence.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
O paths to the highest bliss (bhāvukāḥ)! O men who appreciate the love of the Supreme Lord (rasikāḥ)! You, situated on this earth (bhuvi), please relish and internalize (pibata) the fruit called the Bhāgavatam, the very form of rasa (rasam ālayam), which has dropped down (galitam) to this earth, coming from the tree of the Vedas, which grows in Vaikuṇṭha and gives all types of fruits on its branches and twigs. Ah, you have attained that which cannot be easily attained (aho).
By using the word rasa as a modifier, the Bhāgavatam is described as having sweetness, but the real intention is to proclaim that Bhāgavatam is completely sweetness. It is sweetness alone and nothing else. The scripture called the Bhāgavatam is indeed tasty or rasavat, but is designated by the word rasa to indicate that it is solely composed of rasa or sweet taste. Moreover, by the word Bhāgavatam (that which is related to Bhagavān, the Lord) it is indicated that sweetness or rasa also belongs to the Lord. Since the Bhāgavatam is the tadīya of the Lord (dear object related to the Lord), rasa also is the tadīya of the Lord.
Bhāgavatam means “related to the Lord.” Thus, the words bhāgavatam rasam can also mean “rasa or sweetness related to the Lord.” The definition of rasa is indeed a relationship of pure affection for the Lord. This is understood from the statement of results described from reading the Bhāgavatam.
yasyāṁ vai śrūyamāṇāyāṁ kṛṣṇe parama-pūruṣe
bhaktir utpadyate puṁsaḥ śoka-moha-bhayāpahā
Simply by giving aural reception to this Vedic literature, the feeling for loving devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, sprouts up at once to extinguish the fire of lamentation, illusion and fearfulness. SB 1.7.7
The word rasa is also employed in the śruti to indicate directly Bhagavān, since He is composed completely of rasa. The śruti says raso vai saḥ: He is rasa. (Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.7.1) This rasa is also the highest objective. Rasaṁ hy evāyaṁ labdhvānandī bhavati: attaining that rasa (Bhagavān), the jīva becomes blissful. And thus the word rasikāḥ used in this verse indicates that realization of this rasa belongs to those persons who have become accomplished in rasa only through long impressions in past and present lives (since one has to realize the Lord to realize rasa).
The word galitam (fallen down and also liquid and dripping) indicates the extremely ripened state of a fruit, and concerning scriptures, it indicates its very relishable nature as well as its success at bringing out the meaning of scripture in the most skillful manner. The word rasam (juice), used in describing a fruit, indicates that the fruit is totally without skin, seed or other defects. Concerning scriptures, it indicates that this scripture is without any inferior parts. Stating that the Bhāgavatam is the supreme fruit of the tree of the Vedas indicates that the Bhāgavatam is the highest goal of human endeavor.
Though the completely sweet fruit is excellent by its nature, in order to convey its supreme position, another excellence is then described. In describing the fruit, an analogy is given. Because of living in the tree, the parrot astonishingly develops a very sweet mouth. The fruit touched by that parrot’s sweet mouth becomes additionally sweet. In the same way, the descriptions of the Lord touched by the mouth of highly elevated devotees become even sweeter. Then, how much more sweet the Bhāgavatam will become when it emanates from the mouth of Śukadeva, the great king of all the greatest devotees! Having attained the culmination of the highest taste, naturally a person can have no satisfaction in anything else. Therefore, drink this, since this sweet fruit includes even the bliss of liberation within it (ā means “including” and laya means “liberation”). Later Śukadeva will say:
pariniṣṭhito ’pi nairguṇya uttama-śloka-līlayā
gṛhīta-cetā rājarṣe ākhyānaṁ yad adhītavān
O saintly King, I was certainly situated perfectly in transcendence (liberation), yet I was still attracted by the delineation of the pastimes of the Lord, who is described by enlightened verses. SB 2.1.9
By mentioning liberation (which is eternal and inexhaustible), it is thus indicated that the taste intrinsic to the Bhāgavatam will not diminish either with the passage of time or by an increase in the number of people who relish it.
Alternatively, there is another meaning of ālayam. (Thus ālayam can mean “leading up to prema and including the stage of complete prema.”) [Note: Laya can mean “great attachment” and the sāttvika-bhāva of fainting or pralaya which arises from attachment in prema. Bhāgavatam has topics leading up to prema, and topics which are prema—the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa.] This is because in the Bhāgavatam there are two types of rasa, though both are filled with affection for the Lord —that which is useful for leading up to the topmost taste and, that, which is fully developed in taste for the Lord. Thus, it is said in the Twelfth Canto:
kathā imās te kathitā mahīyasāṁ
vitāya lokeṣu yaśaḥ pareyuṣām |
vijṣāna-vairāgya-vivakṣayā vibho
vaco-vibhūtīr na tu pāramārthyam ||
yat tūttamaḥ-śloka-guṇānuvādaḥ
saṅgīyate ’bhīkṣṇam amaṅgala-ghnaḥ |
tam eva nityaṁ śṛṇuyād abhīkṣṇaṁ
kṛṣṇe’malāṁ bhaktim abhīpsamānaḥ ||
O mighty Parīkṣit, I have related to you the narrations of all these great kings, who spread their fame throughout the world and then departed. My real purpose was to teach transcendental knowledge and renunciation. Stories of kings lend power and opulence to these narrations but, in themselves, do not constitute the ultimate aspect of knowledge. SB 12.3.14
The person who desires pure devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa should hear the narrations of Lord Uttamaḥśloka’s glorious qualities, the constant chanting of which destroys everything inauspicious. The devotee should engage in such listening in regular daily assemblies and should continue his hearing throughout the day. [Note: Verse 14 illustrates the first type of rasa, that which is useful for leading up to the topmost taste, and verse 15 illustrates the second type, that which is fully developed.] SB 12.3.15
The verse, having described that Bhāgavatam has the general nature of rasa, then indicates the more particular nature of that rasa with the word amṛtam. Amṛta refers to sweetness or rasa of the Lord’s pastimes. In the Twelfth Canto, this specialty of the Bhāgavatam is mentioned:
ādi-madhyāvasāneṣu vairāgyākhyāna-saṁyutam
hari-līlā-kathā-vrātā-mṛtānandita-sat-suram
From beginning to end, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is full of narrations that encourage renunciation of material life, as well as nectarean accounts of Lord Hari’s transcendental pastimes, which give ecstasy to the ātmārāmas who relish nectar. SB 12.13.11
The word sat refers to the ātmārāmas. The same meaning is found in other places such as itthaṁ satāṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtyā: He is the source of the brahman effulgence for jṣānīs (satām) desiring to merge into that effulgence. (SB 10.12.11) These ātmārāmas are also called surāḥ in the verse (sat-surāḥ), because they taste only nectar (as the devatās do). Furthermore, one should equate the real sweetness of Bhāgavatam with Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes (rasa=līlā) as indicated in the following quotation.
saṁsāra-sindhum ati-dustaram uttitīrṣor
nānyaḥ plavo bhagavataḥ puruṣottamasya
līlā-kathā-rasa-niṣevaṇam antareṇa
puṁso bhaved vividha-duḥkha-davārditasya
For a person who is suffering in the fire of countless miseries and who desires to cross the insurmountable ocean of material existence, there is no suitable boat except that of cultivating devotion to the transcendental taste for the narrations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s pastimes (līlā-kathā-rasa-niṣevaṇam.) SB 12.4.40
However, by using the word drava (liquid, juice, essence) with amṛta, the Bhāgavatam is described as having the very essence of sweet pastimes. This should be explained as follows. Though the rasa composed of prīti is the best, there is some distinction in this. There are two types of experiencer of that rasa: those who are taught about rasa (they are ordered to drink the nectar of Bhāgavatam) and those who are natural experiencers, being participants in the pastimes of the Lord. Those who are participants in the pastimes experience the rasa of the pastimes and realize directly the essence of the rasa because they are participating in those very pastimes. Those who are taught about rasa experience rasa only to some degree, because of being outside the pastimes. This being so, they should then drink (hear) that essence of rasa — the pastimes filled with the experiences of direct participants, identifying those experiences with their own realization of rasa. That will have effect because the rasa of Bhāgavatam flows like a stream (galitam) from the mouth of Śukadeva (as if he is a direct experiencer) because he similarly identified with the experiences of the direct participants in the pastimes.
In this way, the highest state of rasa in devotion to the Lord is expressed in the words of this verse. This is also stated elsewhere:
sarva-vedānta-sāraṁ hi śrī-bhāgavatam iṣyate
tad-rasāmṛta-tṛptasya nānyatra syād ratiḥ kvacit
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is declared to be the essence of all Vedānta philosophy. One who has felt satisfaction from its nectarean mellow will never be attracted to any other literature. SB 12.13.15
To indicate this, the word bhāvukāḥ is explained as rasa-viśeṣa-bhāvanā-caturā (those skillful at experiencing the most excellent rasa) [Note: This is because the word bhāvuka means “having a good taste” as well as “being auspicious.”] in the commentary of Śrīdhara Svāmī. Such persons are described in the Bhāgavatam:
na vai jano jātu kathaṣcanāvrajen
mukunda-sevy anyavad aṅga saṁsṛtim
smaran mukundāṅghry-upagūhanaṁ punar
vihātum icchen na rasa-graho janaḥ
My dear Vyāsa, even though a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa sometimes falls down somehow or other, he certainly does not undergo material existence like others [fruitive workers, etc.] because a person who has once relished the taste of the lotus feet of the Lord (rasa-grahaḥ) can do nothing but remember that ecstasy again and again. SB 1.5.19
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
Recitation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Among Devotees
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the desire tree of Vedic wisdom. Veda itself means “the aggregate of knowledge.” And whatever knowledge is required for human society is perfectly presented in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. There are different branches of knowledge in the Vedic writings, including sociology, politics, medicine and military art. All these and other branches of knowledge are perfectly described in the Vedas. So, as far as spiritual knowledge is concerned, that is also perfectly described there, and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is considered to be the ripened fruit of this desire-fulfilling tree of the Vedas. A tree is honored by the production of its fruit. For example, a mango tree is considered very valuable because it produces the king of all fruits, the mango. When the mango fruit becomes ripened it is the greatest gift of that tree, and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is similarly held to be the ripened fruit of the Vedic tree. And as ripened fruit becomes more relishable when first touched by the beak of a parrot, or śuka, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam has become more relishable by being delivered through the transcendental mouth of Śukadeva Gosvāmī.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam should be received in disciplic succession without any breakage. When a ripened fruit comes from the upper part of the tree onto the ground by the process of being handed down from a higher branch to a lower branch by persons in the tree, the fruit does not break. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, when received in the paramparā system, or disciplic succession, will likewise remain unbroken. It is stated in Bhagavad-gītā that the disciplic succession, or paramparā, is the way of receiving transcendental knowledge. Such knowledge must come down through the disciplic succession, through authorized persons who know the real purpose of the śāstra.
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommended that one learn Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from the mouth of the self-realized person called bhāgavatam. Bhāgavata means “in relationship with the Personality of Godhead [Bhagavān].” So the devotee is sometimes called bhāgavatam, and the book which is in relationship with devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead is also called Bhāgavatam. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommended that, in order to relish the real taste of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, one should take instruction from the person bhāgavatam. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is relishable even by a liberated person. Śukadeva Gosvāmī admitted that although he was liberated from within the very womb of his mother, it was only after relishing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that he became a great devotee. Thus, one who is desirous of advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness should relish the purport of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam through the discussions of authorized devotees.