SB 1.1.23
TEXT 23
- brūhi yogeśvare kṛṣṇe
- brahmaṇye dharma-varmaṇi
- svāṁ kāṣṭhām adhunopete
- dharmaḥ kaṁ śaraṇaṁ gataḥ
SYNONYMS
brūhi — please tell; yoga-īśvare — the Lord of all mystic powers; kṛṣṇe — Lord Kṛṣṇa; brahmaṇye — the Absolute Truth; dharma — religion; varmaṇi — protector; svām — own; kāṣṭhām — abode; adhunā — nowadays; upete — having gone away; dharmaḥ — religion; kam — unto whom; śaraṇam — shelter; gataḥ — gone.
TRANSLATION
Since Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Absolute Truth, the master of all mystic powers, has departed for His own abode, please tell us to whom the religious principles have now gone for shelter.
PURPORT
Essentially religion is the prescribed codes enunciated by the Personality of Godhead Himself. Whenever there is gross misuse or neglect of the principles of religion, the Supreme Lord appears Himself to restore religious principles. This is stated in Bhagavad-gītā (BG 4.8). Here the sages of Naimiṣāraṇya are inquiring about these principles. The reply to this question is given later. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the transcendental sound representation of the Personality of Godhead, and thus it is the full representation of transcendental knowledge and religious principles.
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the First Canto, First Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "Questions by the Sages."