Devanagari
यत्र भागवता राजन् साधवो विशदाशया: ।
भगवद्गुणानुकथनश्रवणव्यग्रचेतस: ॥ ३९ ॥
तस्मिन्महन्मुखरिता मधुभिच्चरित्र-
पीयूषशेषसरित: परित: स्रवन्ति ।
ता ये पिबन्त्यवितृषो नृप गाढकर्णै-
स्तान्न स्पृशन्त्यशनतृड्भयशोकमोहा: ॥ ४० ॥
Verse text
yatra bhāgavatā rājan
sādhavo viśadāśayāḥ
bhagavad-guṇānukathana-
śravaṇa-vyagra-cetasaḥ
tasmin mahan-mukharitā madhubhic-caritra-
pīyūṣa-śeṣa-saritaḥ paritaḥ sravanti
tā ye pibanty avitṛṣo nṛpa gāḍha-karṇais
tān na spṛśanty aśana-tṛḍ-bhaya-śoka-mohāḥ
Synonyms
yatra
—
where
;
bhāgavatāḥ
—
great devotees
;
rājan
—
O King
;
sādhavaḥ
—
saintly persons
;
viśada
—
āśayāḥ — broad-minded
;
bhagavat
—
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
;
guṇa
—
the qualities
;
anukathana
—
to regularly recite
;
śravaṇa
—
to hear
;
vyagra
—
eager
;
cetasaḥ
—
whose consciousness
;
tasmin
—
there
;
mahat
—
of great saintly persons
;
mukharitāḥ
—
emanating from the mouths
;
madhu
—
bhit — of the killer of the Madhu demon
;
caritra
—
the activities or the character
;
pīyūṣa
—
of nectar
;
śeṣa
—
surplus
;
saritaḥ
—
rivers
;
paritaḥ
—
all around
;
sravanti
—
flow
;
tāḥ
—
all of them
;
ye
—
they who
;
pibanti
—
drink
;
avitṛṣaḥ
—
without being satisfied
;
nṛpa
—
O King
;
gāḍha
—
attentive
;
karṇaiḥ
—
with their ears
;
tān
—
them
;
na
—
never
;
spṛśanti
—
touch
;
aśana
—
hunger
;
tṛṭ
—
thirst
;
bhaya
—
fear
;
śoka
—
lamentation
;
mohāḥ
—
illusion .
Translation
My dear King, in the place where pure devotees live, following the rules and regulations and thus purely conscious and engaged with great eagerness in hearing and chanting the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in that place if one gets a chance to hear their constant flow of nectar, which is exactly like the waves of a river, one will forget the necessities of life, namely hunger and thirst, and become immune to all kinds of fear, lamentation and illusion.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Where there are devotees with pure hearts and proper conduct, who are eager to hear discussions of the qualities of the Lord, profuse streams of nectar of the pastimes of the Lord emanating from the mouths of the saintly devotees, the mahāprasāda of the devotees, flow everywhere. Those who drink that nectar with firm ears, with constant thirst, O King, will not be touched by hunger, thirst, fear, lamentation and illusion.
Where will bhakti take place? It takes place where there are devotees with hearts eager to hear about the Lord, just as those attached to the house are eager for engaging in household activities. “The time for discussions about the Lord, hearing about the Lord, have passed! What great misfortune! Now the time for chanting the Lord’s glories has arrived. I am so unfortunate! I have wasted my time in oversleeping and in performing disgusting daily rituals. How can I quickly go to the assembly of devotees?” Where there are such devotees, speaking about the Lord takes place. “What are the rules?” Mukharitāḥ means “topics which accept the mouth” or in other words “topics which reside at all times in the mouths of the devotees.” In that assembly of great devotees (tasmin), the great rivers of nectar of topics of the Lord, which are prasāda (śeṣa) of the great devotees, having been tasted by them, and which are continually present in the mouths of the great devotees (mukharitāḥ), flow in all directions. Those who drink those rivers (indicating great thirst because of the intense taste), not being able to neglect even a drop of those rivers (indicating attraction), thinking that it is never enough (avitṛṣaḥ), with ears made sturdy to prevent the nectar from flowing out (gāḍha-kārṇaiḥ), cannot be touched by hunger and thirst, fear, lamentation or illusion. They do not have a desire for eating, thinking “Where is my food today?” since they have been fed by the devotees. They are fearless, since they are not attached to anything.
te na smaranty atitarāṁ priyam īśa martyaṁ
ye cānv adaḥ suta-suhṛd-gṛha-vitta-dārāḥ
ye tv abja-nābha bhavadīya-padāravinda-
saugandhya-lubdha-hṛdayeṣu kṛta-prasaṅgāḥ
O Lord with a lotus navel! Those who have taken association with those whose hearts have smelled the fragrance of your lotus feet do not care for this very dear material body or the things accompanying it, such as sons, friends, house, wealth and wife. SB 4.9.12
They have no lamentation or illusion because they have forgotten possessiveness.
Purport
The cultivation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is possible where great devotees live together and constantly engage in hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord. In a holy place like Vṛndāvana, there are many devotees constantly engaged in chanting and hearing the glories of the Lord. If one gets the chance to hear from pure devotees in such a place, allowing the constant flow of the river of nectar to come from the mouths of pure devotees, then the cultivation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness becomes very easy. When one is engaged in constantly hearing the glories of the Lord, he certainly rises above the bodily conception. When one is in the bodily conception, he feels the pangs of hunger and thirst, fear, lamentation and illusion. But when one is engaged in hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord, he transcends the bodily conception.
The word
bhagavad-guṇānukathana-śravaṇa-vyagra-cetasaḥ,
meaning “always eager to find the place where the glories of the Lord are being heard and chanted,” is significant in this verse. A businessman is always very eager to go to a place where business is transacted. Similarly, a devotee is very eager to hear from the lips of liberated devotees. As soon as one hears the glories of the Lord from the liberated devotees, he immediately becomes impregnated with Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is also confirmed in another verse:
satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido
bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ kathāḥ
taj-joṣaṇād āśv apavarga-vartmani
śraddhā ratir bhaktir anukramiṣyati
“In the association of pure devotees, discussion of the pastimes and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very pleasing and satisfying to the ear and to the heart. By cultivating such knowledge one gradually becomes advanced on the path of liberation, and thereafter he is freed, and his attraction becomes fixed. Then real devotion and devotional service begin.” (
Bhāg.
3.25.25
) In the association of pure devotees, one becomes attached to hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord. In this way one can cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and as soon as this cultivation is advanced, one can become faithful to the Lord, devoted to the Lord, and attached to the Lord, and thus one can very quickly attain full Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The secret of success in the cultivation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is hearing from the right person. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person is never disturbed by the bodily necessities, namely eating, sleeping, mating and defending.