SB 1.7.6 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

अनर्थोपशमं साक्षाद्भक्तियोगमधोक्षजे । लोकस्याजानतो विद्वांश्चक्रे सात्वतसंहिताम् ॥ ६ ॥

Verse text

anarthopaśamaṁ sākṣād bhakti-yogam adhokṣaje lokasyājānato vidvāṁś cakre sātvata-saṁhitām

Synonyms

anartha — things which are superfluous ; upaśamam — mitigation ; sākṣāt — directly ; bhakti — yogam — the linking process of devotional service ; adhokṣaje — unto the Transcendence ; lokasya — of the general mass of men ; ajānataḥ — those who are unaware of ; vidvān — the supremely learned ; cakre — compiled ; sātvata — in relation with the Supreme Truth ; saṁhitām — Vedic literature .

Translation

The material miseries of the living entity, which are superfluous to him, can be directly mitigated by the linking process of devotional service. But the mass of people do not know this, and therefore the learned Vyāsadeva compiled this Vedic literature, which is in relation to the Supreme Truth.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

And Vyāsa saw bhakti-yoga to the Lord which effectively destroys jīva’s saṁsāra. Learned Vyāsa then wrote the Bhāgavatam for ignorant people.

Purport

Śrīla Vyāsadeva saw the all-perfect Personality of Godhead. This statement suggests that the complete unit of the Personality of Godhead includes His parts and parcels also. He saw, therefore, His different energies, namely the internal energy, the marginal energy and the external energy. He also saw His different plenary portions and parts of the plenary portions, namely His different incarnations also, and he specifically observed the unwanted miseries of the conditioned souls, who are bewildered by the external energy. And at last he saw the remedial measure for the conditioned souls, namely the process of devotional service. It is a great transcendental science and begins with the process of hearing and chanting the name, fame, glory, etc., of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Revival of the dormant affection or love of Godhead does not depend on the mechanical system of hearing and chanting, but it solely and wholly depends on the causeless mercy of the Lord. When the Lord is fully satisfied with the sincere efforts of the devotee, He may endow him with His loving transcendental service. But even with the prescribed forms of hearing and chanting, there is at once mitigation of the superfluous and unwanted miseries of material existence. Such mitigation of material affection does not wait for development of transcendental knowledge. Rather, knowledge is dependent on devotional service for the ultimate realization of the Supreme Truth.

Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

He also saw the medicine for that disease. He saw bhakti-yoga which destroys material existence. One should understand the stages in seeing it. First he saw the Lord. By the use of the word pūrṇa, it should be understood that Vyāsa saw the Lord with his aṁśas, the puruṣa and guṇāvatāras. Without his aṁśas how can the Lord be considered complete? Pūrṇa means complete. Thus Vyāsa saw the complete form of the Lord. He saw his cit-śakti with many varieties such as Vimalā and Utkarṣiṇī which are manifestations of his beauty. He then saw the external energy māyā-śakti behind the Lord. He saw in the Lord, bhakti - the chief element of the cit-śakti – which is more powerful than all others and which can destroy the illusion caused by māyā and which arises from the actions of his anugrahā-śakti (mercy), and which controls even the Lord. Having seen all this, he then wrote the Vaiṣṇava scripture called Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, which reveals all of this for the ignorant people. īśaḥ svatantraś cit-sindhuḥ sarva-vyāpyaika eva hi | jīvo ’dhīnaś cit-kaṇo ’pi svopādhir vyāpi-śaktikaḥ || aneko ’vidyayopāttas tyaktāvidyo ’pi karhicit | māyā tv acit-pradhānaṁ cāvidyāvidyeti sā tridhā || The Lord is independent, an ocean of consciousness, and all-pervading. The jīva is dependent, a particle of consciousness, subject to mistaking his identity and pervasive with limitation. They are many in number, are covered with ignorance, and sometimes have ignorance removed. Māyā has three divisions: unconscious material substance, ignorance and knowledge. The characteristics and proofs of the Lord, the jīva, māyā, the universe, and his svarūpa-śakti called bhakti will be clearly explained in the commentary on the prayers of the Vedas (SB 10.87).