दूतानां विष्णुयमयोः संवादस्तं निबोध मे ॥२०॥
atra codÄharantÄ«mam
itihÄsaá¹ purÄtanam
dÅ«tÄnÄá¹ viṣṇu-yamayoḥ
saá¹vÄdas taá¹ nibodha me
2 times this text was mentioned in purports to other texts: LSB(2)
atra - in this connection; ca - also; udÄharanti - they give as an example; imam - this; itihÄsam - the history (of AjÄmila); purÄtanam - which is very old; dÅ«tÄnÄm - of the order carriers; viṣṇu - of Lord Viṣṇu; yamayoḥ - and of YamarÄja; saá¹vÄdaḥ - the discussion; tam - that; nibodha - try to understand; me - from me.
In this regard, learned scholars and saintly persons describe a very old historical incident involving a discussion between the order carriers of Lord Viṣṇu and those of YamarÄja. Please hear of this from me.
The PurÄṇas, or old histories, are sometimes neglected by unintelligent men who consider their descriptions mythological. Actually, the descriptions of the PurÄṇas, or the old histories of the universe, are factual, although not chronological. The PurÄṇas record the chief incidents that have occurred over many millions of years, not only on this planet but also on other planets within the universe. Therefore all learned and realized Vedic scholars speak with references to the incidents in the PurÄṇas. ÅšrÄ«la RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« accepts the PurÄṇas to be as important as the Vedas themselves. Therefore in Bhakti-rasÄmá¹›ta-sindhu he quotes the following verse from the Brahma-yÄmala:
Å›ruti-smá¹›ti-purÄṇÄdi-
pañcarÄtra-vidhiá¹ vinÄ
aikÄntikÄ« harer bhaktir
utpÄtÄyaiva kalpate
“Devotional service of the Lord that ignores the authorized Vedic literatures like the Upaniá¹£ads, PurÄṇas and NÄrada-pañcarÄtra is simply an unnecessary disturbance in society.†A devotee of Kṛṣṇa must refer not only to the Vedas, but also to the PurÄṇas. One should not foolishly consider the PurÄṇas mythological. If they were mythological, Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« would not have taken the trouble to recite the old historical incidents concerning the life of AjÄmila. Now the history begins as follows.
