Canto 4: Creation of the Fourth OrderChapter 24: Chanting the Song Sung by Lord Śiva

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.24.74

athedaḿ nityadā yukto

japann avahitaḥ pumān

acirāc chreya āpnoti

vāsudeva-parāyaṇaḥ

SYNONYMS

atha — thus; idam — this; nityadā — regularly; yuktaḥ — with great attention; japan — by murmuring; avahitaḥ — fully attentive; pumān — a person; acirāt — without delay; śreyaḥ — auspiciousness; āpnoti — achieves; vāsudeva-parāyaṇaḥ — one who is a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

TRANSLATION

A devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa whose mind is always absorbed in Him, who with great attention and reverence chants this stotra [prayer], will achieve the greatest perfection of life without delay.

PURPORT

Perfection means becoming a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa. As stated in the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.28): vāsudeva-parā vedā vāsudeva-parā makhāḥ. The ultimate goal of life is Vāsudeva, or Kṛṣṇa. Any devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa can attain all perfection, material gains and liberation simply by offering prayers to Him. There are many varieties of prayers to Lord Kṛṣṇa chanted by great sages and great personalities such as Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva. Lord Kṛṣṇa is known as śiva-viriñcinutam (Bhāg. 11.5.33). Śiva means Lord Śiva, and viriñci means Lord Brahmā. Both of these demigods are engaged in offering prayers to Lord Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa. If we follow in the footsteps of such great personalities and become devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa, our lives will become successful. Unfortunately people do not know this secret. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiḿ hi viṣṇum: "They do not know that the real interest and the highest perfection of life is to worship Lord Viṣṇu [Kṛṣṇa]." (Bhāg. 7.5.31) It is impossible to become satisfied by trying to adjust the external energy. Without being a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa, one can only be baffled and confused. To save living entities from such a calamity, Lord Kṛṣṇa points out in Bhagavad-gītā (7.19):

bahūnāḿ janmanām ante

jñānavān māḿ prapadyate

vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti

sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ

"After many, many births and deaths, a wise man surrenders unto Me, knowing very well that I, Vāsudeva, am everything. Such a great soul is very rare."

We can achieve whatever benediction we want simply by becoming devotees of Vāsudeva.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness