ahaṠvedmi śuko vetti
vyÄso vetti na vetti vÄ
bhaktyÄ bhÄgavataá¹ grÄhyaá¹
na buddhyÄ na ca á¹Ä«kayÄ
aham - I (Lord Åšiva); vedmi - know; Å›ukaḥ - Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ«; vetti - knows; vyÄsaḥ - VyÄsadeva; vetti - knows; na vetti vÄ - or may not know; bhaktyÄ - by devotional service (executed in nine different processes); bhÄgavatam - the BhÄgavata PurÄṇa (called the Paramahaá¹sa-saá¹hitÄ, the text or treatise readable by the topmost transcendentalists); grÄhyam - to be accepted; na - not; buddhyÄ - by so-called intelligence or experimental knowledge; na - nor; ca - also; á¹Ä«kayÄ - by imaginary commentary.
“[Lord Åšiva said:] ‘I may know; Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ«, the son of VyÄsadeva, may know; and VyÄsadeva may know or may not know ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam. On the whole, ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam, the spotless PurÄṇa, can be learned only through devotional service, not by material intelligence, speculative methods or imaginary commentaries.’ â€
Devotional service includes nine processes, beginning with hearing, chanting and remembering the activities of Lord Viṣṇu. Only one who has taken to devotional service can understand ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam, which is the spotless PurÄṇa for a transcendentalist (paramahaá¹sa). So-called commentaries are useless for this purpose. According to the Vedic injunction, yasya deve parÄ bhaktir yathÄ deve tathÄ gurau. All Vedic literatures maintain that ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam has to be learned from the person bhÄgavata, and to understand it one has to engage in pure devotional service. ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam cannot be understood by so-called erudite scholars or grammarians. One who has developed pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness and has served the pure devotee, the spiritual master, can understand ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam. Others cannot.
