जन्माद्यस्य यतोऽन्वयादितरतः चार्थेष्वभिज्ञः स्वराट् । तेने ब्रह्म हृदा य आदिकवये मुह्यन्ति यत् सूरयः । तेजोवारिमृदां यथा विनिमयो यत्र त्रिसर्गोऽमृषा । धाम्ना स्वेन सदा निरस्तकुहकं सत्यं परं धीमहि
From whom—whose birth, whose continuous manifestation, and whose inner knowledge of diverse objects are known—the sovereign whose heart Brahmā became, making even the gods bewildered; as the exchangers of subtle and gross light and water in the threefold creation display illusion—we meditate on that supreme truth, dismissing all falsehood by its own glorious abode.
धर्मः प्रोज्झितकैतवोऽत्र परमो निर्मत्सराणां सतां । वेद्यं वास्तवमत्र वस्तु शिवदं तापत्रयोन्मूलनम् । श्रीमद्भागवते महामुनिकृते किं वा परैरीश्वरः । सद्यो हृद्यवरुध्यतेऽत्र कृतिभिः शुश्रूषुभिः तत् क्षणात्
Here the excellence of dharma, free from cunning and suited to the dispassionate, is declared: the real, knowable object that grants auspiciousness and uproots the threefold afflictions. What more need be said about the glorious Bhagavat, composed by the great sage—straightaway the hearts of devoted listeners are won by those who serve; it is grasped in an instant.
(द्रुतविलम्बित) निगमकल्पतरोर्गलितं फलं । शुकमुखाद् अमृतद्रवसंयुतम् । पिबत भागवतं रसमालयं । मुहुरहो रसिका भुवि भावुकाः
(fast, with little delay) Like fruit shaken down from the wish-fulfilling tree of the scriptures, mixed with the nectar that flows from the beak of the parrot: drink repeatedly of the Bhagavat—this spring of rasa—O connoisseurs, you moved ones on earth.
(अनुष्टुप्) नैमिषेऽनिमिषक्षेत्रे ऋषयः शौनकादयः । सत्रं स्वर्गायलोकाय सहस्रसममासत
(anuṣṭup) In the field of Naimiṣa, immovable and unblinking, sages such as Śaunaka and others performed a sacrifice there, vast as a thousand heavenly sacrifices, for the vision of heaven.
त एकदा तु मुनयः प्रातर्हुतहुताग्नयः । सत्कृतं सूतमासीनं पप्रच्छुः इदमादरात्
One morning, while the sages offered oblations to the fire at the proper times, having respectfully placed the worthy Sūta among them, they asked him this question.
ऋषय ऊचुः । त्वया खलु पुराणानि सेतिहासानि चानघ । आख्यातान्यप्यधीतानि धर्मशास्त्राणि यान्युत
The sages said: You have indeed recited ancient histories and purāṇic lore, O faultless one; you have also taught those dharma texts that were learned long ago.
यानि वेदविदां श्रेष्ठो भगवान् बादरायणः । अन्ये च मुनयः सूत परावरविदो विदुः
Those things which the foremost knower of the Vedas, Lord Bādarāyaṇa, taught are known; and other sages and the Sūta likewise possess extraordinary knowledge.
वेत्थ त्वं सौम्य तत्सर्वं तत्त्वतः तदनुग्रहात् । ब्रूयुः स्निग्धस्य शिष्यस्य गुरवो गुह्यमप्युत
Indeed you know all that, O gentle one; by that grace tell us, for teachers sometimes conceal secret matters from their affectionate disciples.
तत्र तत्राञ्जसाऽऽयुष्मन् भवता यद् विनिश्चितम् । पुंसां एकान्ततः श्रेयः तन्नः शंसितुमर्हसि
Wherever you have, by your vigor and long life, established certainty, and whatever single supreme good for people you have ascertained, you ought to praise that to us.
प्रायेणाल्पायुषः सभ्य कलौ अस्मिन् युगे जनाः । मन्दाः सुमन्दमतयो मन्दभाग्या ह्युपद्रुताः
In this age people live generally short lives; they are coarse, of weak understanding and poor judgment, and afflicted by bad fortune.
भूरीणि भूरिकर्माणि श्रोतव्यानि विभागशः । अतः साधोऽत्र यत्सारं समुद्धृत्य मनीषया । ब्रूहि नः श्रद्दधानानां येनात्मा संप्रसीदति
Many acts and many texts must be heard in sections; therefore, noble one, extract here the essence with your intelligence and speak to us, the faithful, that by which the self is pacified.
सूत जानासि भद्रं ते भगवान् सात्वतां पतिः । देवक्यां वसुदेवस्य जातो यस्य चिकीर्षया
Sūta, you know well the auspicious matter: the Lord of the Sātvatas, born in Devakī to Vasudeva, and the purpose he fulfills—tell us about him.
तन्नः शुष्रूषमाणानां अर्हस्यङ्गानुवर्णितुम् । यस्यावतारो भूतानां क्षेमाय च भवाय च
He whose incarnations among beings are described to serve those who listen, for the welfare and the becoming of the world.
आपन्नः संसृतिं घोरां यन्नाम विवशो गृणन् । ततः सद्यो विमुच्येत यद् बिभेति स्वयं भयम्
He who, when one falls into the terrible cycle of birth and utters cries in helplessness, is immediately able to free that person who fears.
यत्पादसंश्रयाः सूत मुनयः प्रशमायनाः । सद्यः पुनन्त्युपस्पृष्टाः स्वर्धुन्यापोऽनुसेवया
Those sages who seek refuge at his feet, O Suta, are calmed; by contact with them their sins are cleansed at once by the faithful service of their rituals and waters.
को वा भगवतस्तस्य पुण्यश्लोकेड्यकर्मणः । शुद्धिकामो न श्रृणुयाद् यशः कलिमलापहम्
Who indeed is that God, O reciter, whose single pure verse removes wicked deeds? Let a seeker of purity not refuse to hear the fame that destroys the filth of Kali.
तस्य कर्माण्युदाराणि परिगीतानि सूरिभिः । ब्रूहि नः श्रद्दधानानां लीलया दधतः कलाः
His generous deeds have been sung by the gods; tell us, O you of faith, how by his play the arts were held and bestowed.
अथाख्याहि हरेर्धीमन् अवतारकथाः शुभाः । लीला विदधतः स्वैरं ईश्वरस्यात्ममायया
Now declare, O wise one, the auspicious tales of the incarnations, how by his own sovereignty he enacted pastimes freely by the magic of his own self.
वयं तु न वितृप्याम उत्तमश्लोकविक्रमे । यत् श्रृण्वतां रसज्ञानां स्वादु स्वादु पदे पदे
We are not sated with the best heroic verses; as listeners of nectarean knowledge we savor, line by line, the sweet savor of each phrase.
कृतवान् किल वीर्याणि सह रामेण केशवः । अतिमर्त्यानि भगवान् गूढः कपटमानुषः
Indeed Keshava performed heroic deeds with Rama; the Lord, though appearing like an ordinary mortal, hid his divinity beneath human guile.
कलिमागतमाज्ञाय क्षेत्रेऽस्मिन् वैष्णवे वयम् । आसीना दीर्घसत्रेण कथायां सक्षणा हरेः
Knowing that the age of Kali had arrived and in this realm of Vaishnavas, we, seated at a long sacrificial session, listened together to the Lord's story.
त्वं नः संदर्शितो धात्रा दुस्तरं निस्तितीर्षताम् । कलिं सत्त्वहरं पुंसां कर्णधार इवार्णवम्
O binder of the world, you were revealed to us; you who remove the darkness of Kali from men's hearts, like an ocean bearing a prow.
ब्रूहि योगेश्वरे कृष्णे ब्रह्मण्ये धर्मवर्मणि । स्वां काष्ठामधुनोपेते धर्मः कं शरणं गतः
Declare, O lord of yogis, O Krishna, O Brahman, O enforcer of Dharma: having set aside our own stakes, to whom have the righteous surrendered for refuge?
व्यास उवाच । इति संप्रश्नसंहृष्टो विप्राणां रौमहर्षणिः । प्रतिपूज्य वचस्तेषां प्रवक्तुं उपचक्रमे
Vyasa said: Thus encouraged by the eager questioning of the twice-born and stirred like a mountain of thunder, he honored their words and began to speak.
सूत उवाच । (वसंततिलका) यं प्रव्रजन्तमनुपेतमपेतकृत्यं द्वैपायनो विरहकातर आजुहाव । पुत्रेति तन्मयतया तरवोऽभिनेदुः तं सर्वभूतहृदयं मुनिमानतोऽस्मि
Sūta said: I remember a sage whose whole heart yearned for the renouncer who had left home; the youth, all absorbed and calling him 'son,' longed in sorrow from separation — I, among the wise, behold that universally cherished heart.
यः स्वानुभावमखिल श्रुतिसारमेकं अध्यात्मदीपं अतितितीर्षतां तमोऽन्धम् । संसारिणां करुणयाऽऽह पुराणगुह्यं तं व्याससूनुमुपयामि गुरुं मुनीनाम्
He who, by his own direct experience and the essence of all heard lore, desired the inner light of spirit that dispels darkness, and out of compassion for those bound to the world disclosed ancient secret teaching — to that sage Vyāsa's son I bow, the preceptor of sages.
(अनुष्टुप्) नारायणं नमस्कृत्य नरं चैव नरोत्तमम् । देवीं सरस्वतीं व्यासं ततो जयमुदीरयेत्
Having bowed to Nārāyaṇa and to the foremost of men, and to the goddess Sarasvatī and to Vyāsa, then one should utter victory.
मुनयः साधु पृष्टोऽहं भवद्भिः लोकमङ्गलम् । यत्कृतः कृष्णसंप्रश्नो येनात्मा सुप्रसीदति
O best of ascetics, I ask you for the welfare of the world: what was asked of Kṛṣṇa, by which the self becomes greatly pleased?
स वै पुंसां परो धर्मो यतो भक्तिरधोक्षजे । अहैतुक्यप्रतिहता ययात्मा संप्रसीदति
That supreme duty of humans is devotion directed to the Lord who dwells in the sky of the heart; when devotion is free of selfish cause, the self becomes pleased.
वासुदेवे भगवति भक्तियोगः प्रयोजितः । जनयत्याशु वैराग्यं ज्ञानं च यद् अहैतुकम्
Devotional union with Vasudeva is the means: from it quickly arises dispassion and, without motive, both knowledge and the non‑causal detachment.