maitreya uvÄca
iti pracetasÄá¹ pṛṣá¹o
bhagavÄn nÄrado muniḥ
bhagavaty uttama-śloka
Äviá¹£á¹ÄtmÄbravÄ«n ná¹›pÄn
maitreyaḥ uvÄca - Maitreya said; iti - thus; pracetasÄm - by the PracetÄs; pṛṣá¹aḥ - being asked; bhagavÄn - the great devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; nÄradaḥ - NÄrada; muniḥ - very thoughtful; bhagavati - in the Supreme Personality of Godhead; uttama-Å›loke - possessing excellent renown; Äviá¹£á¹a - absorbed; ÄtmÄ - whose mind; abravÄ«t - replied; ná¹›pÄn - to the Kings.
In this verse bhagavÄn nÄradaḥ indicates that NÄrada is always absorbed in thoughts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead (bhagavaty uttama-Å›loka Äviá¹£á¹ÄtmÄ). NÄrada has no other business than thinking of Kṛṣṇa, talking of Kṛṣṇa and preaching about Kṛṣṇa; therefore he is sometimes called bhagavÄn. BhagavÄn means “one who possesses all opulences.†When a person possesses BhagavÄn within his heart, he is also sometimes called bhagavÄn. ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« ṬhÄkura said, sÄká¹£Äd-dharitvena samasta-Å›Ästraiḥ: in every Å›Ästra the spiritual master is accepted directly as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This does not mean that the spiritual master or a saintly person like NÄrada has actually become the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but he is accepted in this way because he possesses the Supreme Personality of Godhead within his heart constantly. As described here (Äviá¹£á¹ÄtmÄ), when one is simply absorbed in the thought of Kṛṣṇa, one is also called bhagavÄn. BhagavÄn possesses all opulence. If one possesses BhagavÄn within his heart always, does he not automatically possess all opulence also? In that sense a great devotee like NÄrada can be called bhagavÄn. However, we cannot tolerate when a rascal or imposter is called bhagavÄn. One must possess either all opulences or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, BhagavÄn, who possesses all opulences.