SB 1.2.18 (1962)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT No. 18
Nasta prayeshu abhadresu nityam bhagwata sevaya Bhagawati uttama sloke bhaktir bhavati naishthiki.
ENGLISH SYNONYMS
Nasta—destroyed, prayesu—almost to nil, abhadresu—all that is inauspicious, nityam—regularly, bhagwata—Srimad Bhagwatam, or the pure devotee, sevaya—by serving, bhagwati—unto the Personality of Godhead, uttama—transcendental, sloke—prayers, bhaktir—loving service, bhavati—comes into being, naisthiki—irrevocable.
TRANSLATION
By regular attendance in the Bhagwat-class or rendering service unto the pure devotees all that is inauspicious in the heart of a candidate becomes destroyed almost to nil and thus loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, comes into being as an irrevocable fact.
PURPORT
Here is the remedy for eliminating all inauspicious things within the heart considered to be obstacles in the path of self realisation. The remedy is the association of the Bhagwats. There are two types of Bhagwats namely the book Bhagwat and the devotee Bhagwat. Both the Bhagwats are competent remedies and both of them or either of them can be good enough for eliminating the obstacles. A devotee Bhagwat is as good as book Bhagwat because the devotee Bhagwat leads his life in terms of the book Bhagwat and the book bhagwat is full of information about the Personality of Godhead and His pure devotees who are also Bhagwats. Bhagwatam book or the person is identical.
The devotee-Bhagwat is direct a representative of Bhagwan the Personality of Godhead. So by pleasing the devotee-Bhagwat one can receive the benefit of book-Bhagwat. Human reason fails to understand how by serving the devotee-Bhagwat or the book Bhagwat one gets gradual promotion on the path of devotion. But actually these are facts as they are explained by Srila Naradadeva who happened to be a maid-servant's son in his previous life. The maid servant was engaged in the menial service of the sages and thus he also got contact of them. And simply by associating with them and accepting the remnants of foodstuff left by the sages, the son of the maid servant got the chance of becoming the great devotee and Personality like Srila Naradadeva. These are the miraculous effects of the association of Bhagwats. And to understand these effects practically it may be noted that by such association of the Bhagwats sincerely one is sure to receive transcendental knowledge very easily and the result is that he becomes fixed up in the business of devotional service of the Lord. The more the progress is made in the devotional service under the guidance of the Bhagwats, the more one becomes fixed up in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. The messages of the book Bhagwat, therefore, has to be received from the devotee Bhagwat and combination of these two Bhagwats will help the neophyte devotee to make progress on and on.