अधीतवान्द्वापरादौ पितुर्द्वैपायनादहम् ॥८॥
idaá¹ bhÄgavataá¹ nÄma
purÄṇaá¹ brahma-sammitam
adhÄ«tavÄn dvÄparÄdau
pitur dvaipÄyanÄd aham
idam - this; bhÄgavatam - ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam; nÄma - of the name; purÄṇam - Vedic supplement; brahma-sammitam - approved as the essence of the Vedas; adhÄ«tavÄn - studied; dvÄpara-Ädau - at the end of the DvÄpara-yuga; pituḥ - from my father; dvaipÄyanÄt - DvaipÄyana VyÄsadeva; aham - myself.
At the end of the DvÄpara-yuga, I studied this great supplement of Vedic literature named ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam, which is equal to all the Vedas, from my father, ÅšrÄ«la DvaipÄyana VyÄsadeva.
The statement made by ÅšrÄ«la Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« that the topmost transcendentalist, who is beyond the jurisdiction of regulations and restrictions, mainly takes to the task of hearing about and glorifying the Personality of Godhead, is verified by his personal example. Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ«, being a recognized liberated soul and the topmost transcendentalist, was accepted by all of the topmost sages present in the meeting during the last seven days of MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it. He cites from the example of his life that he himself was attracted by the transcendental activities of the Lord, and he studied ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam from his great father, ÅšrÄ« DvaipÄyana VyÄsadeva. ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam, or, for that matter, any other scientific literature, cannot be studied at home by one’s own intellectual capacity. Medical books of anatomy or physiology are available in the market, but no one can become a qualified medical practitioner simply by reading such books at home. One has to be admitted to the medical college and study the books under the guidance of learned professors. Similarly, ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam, the postgraduate study of the science of Godhead, can only be learned by studying it at the feet of a realized soul like ÅšrÄ«la VyÄsadeva. Although Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« was a liberated soul from the very day of his birth, he still had to take lessons of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam from his great father, VyÄsadeva, who compiled the ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam under the instruction of another great soul, ÅšrÄ« NÄrada Muni. Lord ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu instructed a learned brÄhmaṇa to study ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam from a personal bhÄgavata. ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam is based on the transcendental name, form, attributes, pastimes, entourage and variegatedness of the Supreme Person, and it is spoken by the incarnation of the Personality of Godhead, ÅšrÄ«la VyÄsadeva. Pastimes of the Lord are executed in cooperation with His pure devotees, and consequently historical incidents are mentioned in this great literature because they are related to Kṛṣṇa. It is called brahma-sammitam because it is the sound representative of Lord Kṛṣṇa — like the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ. Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ is the sound incarnation of the Lord because it is spoken by the Supreme Lord, and ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam is the sound representative of the Lord because it was spoken by the incarnation of the Lord about the activities of the Lord. As stated in the beginning of this book, it is the essence of the Vedic desire tree and the natural commentation on the Brahma-sÅ«tras, the topmost philosophical thesis on the subject matter of Brahman. VyÄsadeva appeared at the end of DvÄpara-yuga as the son of SatyavatÄ«, and therefore the word dvÄpara-Ädau, or “the beginning of DvÄpara-yuga,†in this context means just prior to the beginning of the Kali-yuga. The logic of this statement, according to ÅšrÄ«la JÄ«va GosvÄmÄ«, is comparable to that of calling the upper portion of the tree the beginning. The root of the tree is the beginning of the tree, but in common knowledge the upper portion of the tree is first seen. In that way the end of the tree is accepted as its beginning.
