स वै निवृत्तिनिरतः सर्वत्रोपेक्षको मुनिः ।
कस्य वा बृहतीमेतामात्मारामः समभ्यसत् ॥९॥
Å›aunaka uvÄca
sa vai nivṛtti-nirataḥ
sarvatropekṣako muniḥ
kasya vÄ bá¹›hatÄ«m etÄm
ÄtmÄrÄmaḥ samabhyasat
1 times this text was mentioned in purports to other texts: LSB(1)
Å›aunakaḥ uvÄca - ÅšrÄ« Åšaunaka asked; saḥ - he; vai - of course; nivá¹›tti - on the path of self-realization; nirataḥ - always engaged; sarvatra - in every respect; upeká¹£akaḥ - indifferent; muniḥ - sage; kasya - for what reason; vÄ - or; bá¹›hatÄ«m - vast; etÄm - this; Ätma-ÄrÄmaḥ - one who is pleased in himself; samabhyasat - undergo the studies.
ÅšrÄ« Åšaunaka asked SÅ«ta GosvÄmÄ«: ÅšrÄ« Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« was already on the path of self-realization, and thus he was pleased with his own self. So why did he take the trouble to undergo the study of such a vast literature?
For the people in general the highest perfection of life is to cease from material activities and be fixed on the path of self-realization. Those who take pleasure in sense enjoyment, or those who are fixed in material bodily welfare work, are called karmÄ«s. Out of thousands and millions of such karmÄ«s, one may become an ÄtmÄrÄma by self-realization. Ä€tmÄ means self, and ÄrÄma means to take pleasure. Everyone is searching after the highest pleasure, but the standard of pleasure of one may be different from the standard of another. Therefore, the standard of pleasure enjoyed by the karmÄ«s is different from that of the ÄtmÄrÄmas. The ÄtmÄrÄmas are completely indifferent to material enjoyment in every respect. ÅšrÄ«la Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« had already attained that stage, and still he was attracted to undergo the trouble of studying the great BhÄgavatam literature. This means that ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam is a postgraduate study even for the ÄtmÄrÄmas, who have surpassed all the studies of Vedic knowledge.
