kathÄ imÄs te kathitÄ mahÄ«yasÄá¹
vitÄya lokeá¹£u yaÅ›aḥ pareyuá¹£Äm
vijñÄna-vairÄgya-vivaká¹£ayÄ vibho
vaco-vibhÅ«tÄ«r na tu pÄramÄrthyam
kathÄḥ - the narrations; imÄḥ - these; te - unto you; kathitÄḥ - have been spoken; mahÄ«yasÄm - of great kings; vitÄya - spreading; lokeá¹£u - throughout all the worlds; yaÅ›aḥ - their fame; pareyuá¹£Äm - who have departed; vijñÄna - transcendental knowledge; vairÄgya - and renunciation; vivaká¹£ayÄ - with the desire for teaching; vibho - O mighty ParÄ«ká¹£it; vacaḥ - of words; vibhÅ«tīḥ - the decoration; na - not; tu - but; pÄrama-arthyam - of the most essential purport.
Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« said: O mighty ParÄ«ká¹£it, I have related to you the narrations of all these great kings, who spread their fame throughout the world and then departed. My real purpose was to teach transcendental knowledge and renunciation. Stories of kings lend power and opulence to these narrations but do not in themselves constitute the ultimate aspect of knowledge.
Since all the narrations of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam bring the reader to the perfection of transcendental knowledge, they all give supreme spiritual lessons though apparently dealing with kings or other mundane subject matter. In relation with Kṛṣṇa, all ordinary topics become transcendental narrations, with the power to bring the reader to the perfection of life.
