SB 1.3.43 (1962)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT No. 43
Krishne swadhamo 'opagate dharma jnana divi saha
Kalou nastadrisham esha puranarko 'dhuno dittah.
ENGLISH SYNONYMS
Krishne—on Krishna's, Swadhamo—own abode, Upagate—having returned, Dharma—religion, Jnana—knowledge, Adivi—combined together, Saha—along with, Kalou—in the Kaliyuga, Nastadrisham—of the persons who have lost their sight, Esha—all these, Puranarko—the purana which is brilliant like the sun, Adhono—just now, Uditah—has arisen.
TRANSLATION
The Bhagwat Purana is just as brilliant as the sun and it has arisen just after the departure of Lord Krishna in His own abode accompanied with religion, knowledge etc. Persons who have lost sight on account of the dense darkness of ignorance due to the age of Kali, shall get light out of it.
PURPORT
Lord Shri Krishna has His eternal dhama or abode where eternally He enjoys with His eternal associates and parapharnalia. And His eternal abode is the manifestation of His internal energy whereas the material world is the manifestation of His external energy. When He descends on the material world He displays Himself with all parapharnalia in His internal potency which is called Atma Maya. In the Bhagwat Geeta the Lord Says that He descends by His own potency (Atma Maya). His Form, Name, Fame, Parapharnalia, Abode etc. are not therefore creation of the matter. He descends to reclaim the fallen souls and to re-establish codes of religion which are directly enacted by Him. Except God no body can establish the principles of religion. Either He or a suitable person empowered by Him can dictate the codes of religion. Real religion means to know God, our relation with Him, our duties in relation with Him and to know ultimately the aim of our destination after leaving this material body. The conditioned souls who are enwrapped by the material energy hardly know all these principles of life. Most of them are like the animals engaged in the matter of eating, sleeping, fearing and mating and they are mostly engaged in the matter of sense enjoyment under the pretention of religiosity, knowledge or salvation. They are still more blind at the present age of quarrel or Kaliyuga. In the Kaliyuga the population is just a royal edition of the animals. They have nothing to do with spiritual knowledge or Godly religious life. They are so blind that they cannot see anything beyond the needs of the body. They have no information of the spirit soul beyond the jurisdiction of the subtle mind intelligence or ego but they are very much proud of their advancement in knowledge, science and material prosperity. They can risk life for becoming a dog or hog just after leaving the present body and as such they have completely lost sight of the ultimate aim of life. The Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna appeared before us just a little prior to the beginning of the Kali Yuga and He returned back to eternal Home practically on the verge of Kali Yuga. While He was present, He exhibitted everything by His different activities. He spoke on the Bhagwat Geeta specifically and eradicated all pretentious principles of religiosity. And prior to His departure from this material world He empowered Sri Vyasadeva through Narada to compile the messages of the Srimad Bhagwatam and as such Both the Bhagwat Geeta and the Srimad Bhagwatam are like the torch bearers for the blind people of this age. In other words if men in this age of Kali want to see the real light of life they must take to these two books only and their aim of life will be fulfilled. Bhagwat Geeta is the preliminary study of the Bhagwatam. And Srimad Bhagwatam is the summumbonum of life, Lord Sri Krishna personified. We must therefore accept Srimad Bhagwatam as the direct representation of Lord Krishna. One who can see Srimad Bhagwatam can see also Lord Sri Krishna in person. They are identical.