प्रह्लादो जनको भीष्मो बलिर्वैयासकिर्वयम् ॥२०॥
द्वादशैते विजानीमो धर्मं भागवतं भटाः ।
गुह्यं विशुद्धं दुर्बोधं यं ज्ञात्वामृतमश्नुते ॥२१॥
svayambhÅ«r nÄradaḥ Å›ambhuḥ
kumÄraḥ kapilo manuḥ
prahlÄdo janako bhÄ«á¹£mo
balir vaiyÄsakir vayam
dvÄdaÅ›aite vijÄnÄ«mo
dharmaá¹ bhÄgavataá¹ bhaá¹Äḥ
guhyaá¹ viÅ›uddhaá¹ durbodhaá¹
yaá¹ jñÄtvÄmá¹›tam aÅ›nute
2 times this text was mentioned in purports to other texts: NBS(2)
svayambhūḥ - Lord BrahmÄ; nÄradaḥ - the great saint NÄrada; Å›ambhuḥ - Lord Åšiva; kumÄraḥ - the four KumÄras; kapilaḥ - Lord Kapila; manuḥ - SvÄyambhuva Manu; prahlÄdaḥ - PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja; janakaḥ - Janaka MahÄrÄja; bhÄ«á¹£maḥ - Grandfather BhÄ«á¹£ma; baliḥ - Bali MahÄrÄja; vaiyÄsakiḥ - Åšukadeva, the son of VyÄsadeva; vayam - we; dvÄdaÅ›a - twelve; ete - these; vijÄnÄ«maḥ - know; dharmam - real religious principles; bhÄgavatam - which teach a person how to love the Supreme Personality of Godhead; bhaá¹Äḥ - O my dear servants; guhyam - very confidential; viÅ›uddham - transcendental, not contaminated by the material modes of nature; durbodham - not easily understood; yam - which; jñÄtvÄ - understanding; amá¹›tam - eternal life; aÅ›nute - he enjoys.
Lord BrahmÄ, BhagavÄn NÄrada, Lord Åšiva, the four KumÄras, Lord Kapila [the son of DevahÅ«ti], SvÄyambhuva Manu, PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja, Janaka MahÄrÄja, Grandfather BhÄ«á¹£ma, Bali MahÄrÄja, Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« and I myself know the real religious principle. My dear servants, this transcendental religious principle, which is known as bhÄgavata-dharma, or surrender unto the Supreme Lord and love for Him, is uncontaminated by the material modes of nature. It is very confidential and difficult for ordinary human beings to understand, but if by chance one fortunately understands it, he is immediately liberated, and thus he returns home, back to Godhead.
In Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ Lord Kṛṣṇa refers to bhÄgavata-dharma as the most confidential religious principle (sarva-guhyatamam, guhyÄd guhyataram). Kṛṣṇa says to Arjuna, “Because you are My very dear friend, I am explaining to you the most confidential religion.†Sarva-dharmÄn parityajya mÄm ekaá¹ Å›araṇaá¹ vraja: “Give up all other duties and surrender unto Me.†One may ask, “If this principle is very rarely understood, what is the use of it?†In answer, YamarÄja states herein that this religious principle is understandable if one follows the paramparÄ system of Lord BrahmÄ, Lord Åšiva, the four KumÄras and the other standard authorities. There are four lines of disciplic succession: one from Lord BrahmÄ, one from Lord Åšiva, one from Laká¹£mÄ«, the goddess of fortune, and one from the KumÄras. The disciplic succession from Lord BrahmÄ is called the Brahma sampradÄya, the succession from Lord Åšiva (Åšambhu) is called the Rudra sampradÄya, the one from the goddess of fortune, Laká¹£mÄ«jÄ«, is called the ÅšrÄ« sampradÄya, and the one from the KumÄras is called the KumÄra sampradÄya.
One must take shelter of one of these four sampradÄyas in order to understand the most confidential religious system. In the Padma PurÄṇa it is said, sampradÄya-vihÄ«nÄ ye mantrÄs te niá¹£phalÄ matÄḥ: if one does not follow the four recognized disciplic successions, his mantra or initiation is useless. In the present day there are many apasampradÄyas, or sampradÄyas which are not bona fide, which have no link to authorities like Lord BrahmÄ, Lord Åšiva, the KumÄras or Laká¹£mÄ«. People are misguided by such sampradÄyas. The Å›Ästras say that being initiated in such a sampradÄya is a useless waste of time, for it will never enable one to understand the real religious principles.
