86
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 1, Ch. 2]
yaḥ —he who;  svānubhāvam —self-assimiliated (experienced);  akhila —all around;  śruti — Vedas ;  sāram —cream;  ekam —the only one;  adhyātma —transcendental;  dīpam —torchlight;  atititīrṣatām —desiring to overcome;  tamaḥ andam —deeply dark material existence;  saṁsārīṇām —of the materialistic men;  karuṇayā —out of causeless mercy;  āha —said;  purāṇa —supplementary to the  Vedas ;  guhyam —very confidential;  tam —unto him;  vyāsa-sūnum —the son of  Vyāsadeva ;  upayāmi —let me offer my obeisances;  gurum —spiritual master;  munīnām —of the great sages.
TRANSLATION
Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto him [Śuka], the spiritual master of all sages, the son of  Vyāsadeva , who, out of his great compassion for those gross materialists who struggle to cross over the darkest regions of material existence, spoke this  Purāṇa  [supplement to the  Vedas ], the cream of  Vedic  knowledge, after having personally assimilated it by experience.
PURPORT
In this prayer, Śrīla Śūta Gosvāmī practically summarizes the complete introduction of  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam .  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  is the natural supplementary commentary on the  Vedānta-sūtras . The  Vedānta-sūtras  or the  Brahma-sūtras  were compiled by  Vyāsadeva  with a view to presenting just the cream of  Vedic  knowledge.  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  is the natural commentary on this cream. Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī was a thoroughly realized master of the  Vedānta-sūtra , and consequently he also personally realized the commentary,  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam . And just to show his boundless mercy upon bewildered materialistic men who want to cross completely over nescience, he recited for the first time this confidential knowledge.
There is no point in arguing that a materialistic man can be happy. No materialistic creature—be he the great  Brahmā  or an insignificant ant—can be happy. Everyone tries to make a permanent plan for happiness, but everyone is baffled by the laws of material nature. Therefore the materialistic world is called the darkest region of God's creation. Yet the unhappy materialists can get out of it simply by desiring to get out. Unfortunately they are so foolish that they do not want to escape. Therefore they are compared to the camel who relishes thorny twigs because