मैत्रेय उवाच
एतत्तेऽभिहितं सर्वं यत्पृष्टोऽहमिह त्वया ।
ध्रुवस्योद्दामयशसश्चरितं सम्मतं सताम् ॥४४॥

maitreya uvÄca
etat te 'bhihitaá¹ sarvaá¹
yat pṛṣṭo 'ham iha tvayÄ
dhruvasyoddÄma-yaÅ›asaÅ›
caritaá¹ sammataá¹ satÄm

 maitreyaḥ uvÄca - the great sage Maitreya said; etat - this; te - unto you; abhihitam - described; sarvam - everything; yat - what; pṛṣṭaḥ aham - I was asked; iha - here; tvayÄ - by you; dhruvasya - of Dhruva MahÄrÄja; uddÄma - greatly uplifting; yaÅ›asaḥ - whose reputation; caritam - character; sammatam - approved; satÄm - by great devotees.


Text

The great sage Maitreya continued: My dear Vidura, whatever you have asked from me about the great reputation and character of Dhruva MahÄrÄja I have explained to you in all detail. Great saintly persons and devotees very much like to hear about Dhruva MahÄrÄja.

Purport

ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam means everything in relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Whether we hear the pastimes and activities of the Supreme Lord or we hear about the character, reputation and activities of His devotees, they are all one and the same. Neophyte devotees simply try to understand the pastimes of the Lord and are not very interested in hearing about the activities of His devotees, but such discrimination should not be indulged in by any real devotee. Sometimes less intelligent men try to hear about the rÄsa dance of Kṛṣṇa and do not take care to hear about other portions of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam, which they completely avoid. There are professional BhÄgavata reciters who abruptly go to the rÄsa-lÄ«lÄ chapters of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam, as if other portions of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam were useless. This kind of discrimination and abrupt adoption of the rÄsa-lÄ«lÄ pastimes of the Lord is not approved by the ÄcÄryas. A sincere devotee should read every chapter and every word of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam, for the beginning verses describe that it is the ripened fruit of all Vedic literature. Devotees should not try to avoid even a word of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam. The great sage Maitreya therefore affirmed herein that the BhÄgavatam is sammataá¹ satÄm, approved by great devotees.