Prahlāda, the Best Among Exalted Devotees

Verse 45 (SB 7.10.45)

SB 7.10.44

SB 7.10.46

SB 7.10.45 • मूल श्लोक

धर्मो भागवतानां च भगवान्येन गम्यते । आख्यानेऽस्मिन्समाम्नातमाध्यात्मिकमशेषत: ॥ ४५ ॥

Transliteration

dharmo bhāgavatānāṁ ca bhagavān yena gamyate ākhyāne ’smin samāmnātam ādhyātmikam aśeṣataḥ

Synonyms (Word-for-Word)

dharmaḥ — religious principles; bhāgavatānām — of the devotees; ca — and; bhagavān — the Supreme Personality of Godhead; yena — by which; gamyate — one can understand; ākhyāne — in the narration; asmin — this; samāmnātam — is perfectly described; ādhyātmikam — transcendence; aśeṣataḥ — without reservations.

Translation

“The principles of religion by which one can actually understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead are called bhāgavata-dharma. In this narration, therefore, which deals with these principles, actual transcendence is properly described.”

Bhaktivedanta Purport

By Śrīla Prabhupāda

Through the principles of religion, one can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Brahman (the impersonal feature of the Supreme Lord) and Paramātmā (the localized aspect of the Lord). When one is well conversant with all these principles, he becomes a devotee and performs bhāgavata-dharma. Prahlāda Mahārāja, the spiritual master in the line of disciplic succession, advised that this bhāgavata-dharma be instructed to students from the very beginning of their education (kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha). To understand the science of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the real purpose of education. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ. One must simply hear about and describe Lord Viṣṇu and His various incarnations. This narration concerning Prahlāda Mahārāja and Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, therefore, has properly described spiritual, transcendental subjects.