यश्चतुर्दशधा पुराणेषु विकल्पित उपगीयते यत्तद्भगवतो नारायणस्य
साक्षान्महापुरुषस्य स्थविष्ठं रूपमात्ममायागुणमयमनुवर्णितमादृतः पठति
शृणोति श्रावयति स उपगेयं भगवतः परमात्मनोऽग्राह्यमपि
श्रद्धाभक्तिविशुद्धबुद्धिर्वेद ॥३८॥
nivá¹›tti-laká¹£aṇa-mÄrga ÄdÄv eva vyÄkhyÄtaḥ; etÄvÄn evÄṇá¸a-koÅ›o yaÅ› caturdaÅ›adhÄ purÄṇeá¹£u vikalpita upagÄ«yate yat tad bhagavato nÄrÄyaṇasya sÄká¹£Än mahÄ-puruá¹£asya sthaviá¹£á¹haá¹ rÅ«pam ÄtmamÄyÄ-guṇamayam anuvarṇitam Ädá¹›taḥ paá¹hati śṛṇoti Å›rÄvayati sa upageyaá¹ bhagavataḥ paramÄtmano 'grÄhyam api Å›raddhÄ-bhakti-viÅ›uddha-buddhir veda
nivá¹›tti-laká¹£aṇa-mÄrgaḥ - the path symptomized by renunciation, or the path of liberation; Ädau - in the beginning (the Second and Third Cantos); eva - indeed; vyÄkhyÄtaḥ - described; etÄvÄn - this much; eva - certainly; aṇá¸a-koÅ›aḥ - the universe, which resembles a big egg; yaḥ - which; caturdaÅ›a-dhÄ - in fourteen parts; purÄṇeá¹£u - in the purÄṇas; vikalpitaḥ - divided; upagÄ«yate - is described; yat - which; tat - that; bhagavataḥ - of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; nÄrÄyaṇasya - of Lord NÄrÄyaṇa; sÄká¹£Ät - directly; mahÄ-puruá¹£asya - of the Supreme Person; sthaviá¹£á¹ham - the gross; rÅ«pam - form; Ätma-mÄyÄ - of His own energy; guṇa - of the qualities; mayam - consisting; anuvarṇitam - described; Ädá¹›taḥ - venerating; paá¹hati - one reads; śṛṇoti - or hears; Å›rÄvayati - or explains; saḥ - that person; upageyam - song; bhagavataḥ - of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; paramÄtmanaḥ - of the Supersoul; agrÄhyam - difficult to understand; api - although; Å›raddhÄ - by faith; bhakti - and devotion; viÅ›uddha - purified; buddhiḥ - whose intelligence; veda - understands.
In the beginning [the second and third cantos of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam] I have already described how one can progress on the path of liberation. In the PurÄṇas the vast universal existence, which is like an egg divided into fourteen parts, is described. This vast form is considered the external body of the Lord, created by His energy and qualities. It is generally called the virÄá¹-rÅ«pa. If one reads the description of this external form of the Lord with great faith, or if one hears about it or explains it to others to propagate bhÄgavata-dharma, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, his faith and devotion in spiritual consciousness, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, will gradually increase. Although developing this consciousness is very difficult, by this process one can purify himself and gradually come to an awareness of the Supreme Absolute Truth.
The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is pushing forward the publication of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam, as explained especially for the understanding of the modern civilized man, to awaken him to his original consciousness. Without this consciousness, one melts into complete darkness. Whether one goes to the upper planetary systems or the hellish planetary systems, he simply wastes his time. Therefore one should hear of the universal position of the virÄá¹ form of the Lord as described in ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam. That will help one save himself from material conditional life and gradually elevate him to the path of liberation so that he can go back home, back to Godhead.
