Å›rÄ«-rÄjovÄca
yena yenÄvatÄreṇa
bhagavÄn harir Ä«Å›varaḥ
karoti karṇa-ramyÄṇi
mano-jñÄni ca naḥ prabho
yac-chṛṇvato 'paity aratir vitṛṣṇÄ
sattvaá¹ ca Å›uddhyaty acireṇa puá¹saḥ
bhaktir harau tat-puruá¹£e ca sakhyaá¹
tad eva hÄraá¹ vada manyase cet
Å›rÄ«-rÄjÄ uvÄca - the King inquired (from Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ«); yena yena avatÄreṇa - the pastimes exhibited by different varieties of incarnations; bhagavÄn - the Supreme Personality of Godhead; hariḥ - the Lord; Ä«Å›varaḥ - the controller; karoti - presents; karṇa-ramyÄṇi - were all very pleasing to the ear; manaḥ-jñÄni - very attractive to the mind; ca - also; naḥ - of us; prabho - my lord, Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ«; yat-śṛṇvataḥ - of anyone who simply hears these narrations; apaiti - vanishes; aratiḥ - unattractiveness; vitá¹›á¹£á¹‡Ä - dirty things within the mind that make us uninterested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness; sattvam ca - the existential position in the core of the heart; Å›uddhyati - becomes purified; acireṇa - very soon; puá¹saḥ - of any person; bhaktiḥ harau - devotional attachment and service to the Lord; tat-puruá¹£e - with Vaiṣṇavas; ca - also; sakhyam - attraction to association; tat eva - that only; hÄram - the activities of the Lord, which should be heard and kept on the neck as a garland; vada - kindly speak; manyase - you think it fit; cet - if.
King ParÄ«ká¹£it said: My lord, Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ«, all the various activities exhibited by the incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are certainly pleasing to the ear and to the mind. Simply by one’s hearing of these activities, the dirty things in one’s mind immediately vanish. Generally we are reluctant to hear about the activities of the Lord, but Kṛṣṇa’s childhood activities are so attractive that they are automatically pleasing to the mind and ear. Thus one’s attachment for hearing about material things, which is the root cause of material existence, vanishes, and one gradually develops devotional service to the Supreme Lord, attachment for Him, and friendship with devotees who give us the contribution of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If you think it fit, kindly speak about those activities of the Lord.
As stated in the Prema-vivarta:
kṛṣṇa-bahirmukha haiyÄ bhoga-vÄñchÄ kare
nikaá¹a-stha mÄyÄ tÄre jÄpaá¹iyÄ dhare
Our material existence is mÄyÄ, or illusion, in which we desire different varieties of material enjoyment and therefore change to different varieties of bodies (bhrÄmayan sarva-bhÅ«tÄni yantrÄrÅ«á¸hÄni mÄyayÄ). Asann api kleÅ›ada Äsa dehaḥ: as long as we have these temporary bodies, they give us many varieties of tribulation — ÄdhyÄtmika, Ädhibhautika and Ädhidaivika. This is the root cause of all suffering, but this root cause of suffering can be removed by revival of our Kṛṣṇa consciousness. All the Vedic literatures presented by VyÄsadeva and other great sages are therefore intended to revive our Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which begins to revive with Å›ravaṇa-kÄ«rtanam: śṛṇvatÄá¹ sva-kathÄḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (BhÄg. 1.2.17). ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam and other Vedic literatures exist simply to give us a chance to hear about Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa has different avatÄras, or incarnations, all of which are wonderful and which arouse one’s inquisitiveness, but generally such avatÄras as Matsya, KÅ«rma and VarÄha are not as attractive as Kṛṣṇa. First of all, however, we have no attraction for hearing about Kṛṣṇa, and this is the root cause of our suffering.
But ParÄ«ká¹£it MahÄrÄja specifically mentions that the wonderful activities of baby Kṛṣṇa, which amazed mother YaÅ›odÄ and the other inhabitants of Vraja, are especially attractive. From the very beginning of His childhood, Kṛṣṇa killed PÅ«tanÄ, TṛṇÄvarta and Åšakaá¹Äsura and showed the entire universe within His mouth. Thus the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, one after another, kept mother YaÅ›odÄ and all the inhabitants of Vraja in great astonishment. The process to revive one’s Kṛṣṇa consciousness is Ädau Å›raddhÄ tataḥ sÄdhu-saá¹…gaḥ (Bhakti-rasÄmá¹›ta-sindhu 1.4.15). The pastimes of Kṛṣṇa can be properly received from devotees. If one has developed a little bit of Kṛṣṇa consciousness by hearing from Vaiṣṇavas about the activities of Kṛṣṇa, one becomes attached to Vaiṣṇavas who are interested only in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore ParÄ«ká¹£it MahÄrÄja recommends that one hear about Kṛṣṇa’s childhood activities, which are more attractive than the activities of other incarnations, such as Matsya, KÅ«rma and VarÄha. Wanting to hear more and more from Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ«, MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it requested him to continue describing Kṛṣṇa’s childhood activities, which are especially easy to hear and which create more and more inquisitiveness.
