SB 12.13.19 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

कस्मै येन विभासितोऽयमतुलो ज्ञानप्रदीप: पुरा तद्रूपेण च नारदाय मुनये कृष्णाय तद्रूपिणा । योगीन्द्राय तदात्मनाथ भगवद्राताय कारुण्यत- स्तच्छुद्धं विमलं विशोकममृतं सत्यं परं धीमहि ॥ १९ ॥

Verse text

kasmai yena vibhāsito ’yam atulo jṣāna-pradīpaḥ purā tad-rūpeṇa ca nāradāya munaye kṛṣṇāya tad-rūpiṇā yogīndrāya tad-ātmanātha bhagavad-rātāya kāruṇyatas tac chuddhaṁ vimalaṁ viśokam amṛtaṁ satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi

Synonyms

kasmai — unto Brahmā ; yena — by whom ; vibhāsitaḥ — thoroughly revealed ; ayam — this ; atulaḥ — incomparable ; jṣāna — of transcendental knowledge ; pradīpaḥ — the torchlight ; purā — long ago ; tat — rūpeṇa — in the form of Brahmā ; ca — and ; nāradāya — to Nārada ; munaye — the great sage ; kṛṣṇāya — to Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Vyāsa ; tat — rūpiṇā — in the form of Nārada ; yogi — indrāya — to the best of yogīs, Śukadeva ; tat — ātmanā — as Nārada ; atha — then ; bhagavat — rātāya — to Parīkṣit Mahārāja ; kāruṇyataḥ — out of mercy ; tat — that ; śuddham — pure ; vimalam — uncontaminated ; viśokam — free from misery ; amṛtam — immortal ; satyam — upon the truth ; param — supreme ; dhīmahi — I meditate .

Translation

I meditate upon that pure and spotless Supreme Absolute Truth, who is free from suffering and death and who in the beginning personally revealed this incomparable torchlight of knowledge to Brahmā. Brahmā then spoke it to the sage Nārada, who narrated it to Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Vyāsa. Śrīla Vyāsa revealed this Bhāgavatam to the greatest of sages, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, and Śukadeva mercifully spoke it to Mahārāja Parīkṣit.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

I meditate upon that pure, spotless Nārāyaṇa, who is free from suffering and death and who previously revealed this incomparable lamp of knowledge to Brahmā. Brahmā then spoke it to the sage Nārada, who narrated it to Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Vyāsa. Śrīla Vyāsa revealed this Bhāgavatam to the greatest of sages, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, and Śukadeva mercifully spoke it to Mahārāja Parīkṣit. He invokes auspiciousness, with meditation on the Lord who started the sampradaya of Bhāgavatam knowledge. Kasmai means Brahmā. It is inflexed like a pronoun as poetic license. The twelve volumes of Bhāgavatam, previously, at the beginning of the kalpa, were given by Brahmā to Nārada. Nārada gave it to Vyāsadeva. Vyāsadeva gave it to Śukadeva. Śukadeva gave it to King Parīkṣit (bhagavat-rātāya). I meditate on the form of Nārāyaṇa (tat param satyam). Just as the work began with gāyatrī it concludes with gāyatrī (satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi). Gāyatrī is equated with knowledge of the Vedas. Thus this work is equated with knowledge of the Vedas.

Purport

The first verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam states, satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi — “I meditate upon the Supreme Truth” — and now at the conclusion of this magnificent transcendental literature, the same auspicious sounds are vibrated. The words tad-rūpeṇa, tad-rūpiṇā and tad-ātmanā in this verse clearly indicate that Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself originally spoke Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to Brahmā and then continued to speak this literature through the agency of Nārada Muni, Dvaipāyana Vyāsa, Śukadeva Gosvāmī and other great sages. In other words, whenever saintly devotees vibrate Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it is to be understood that Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself is speaking the Absolute Truth through the agency of His pure representatives. Anyone who submissively hears this literature from the Lord’s bona fide devotees transcends his conditioned state and becomes qualified to meditate upon the Absolute Truth and serve Him.