Text 44]
Kṛṣṇa Is the Source of All Incarnations
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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 our destination after leaving this material body. The conditioned souls who are entrapped by the material energy hardly know all these principles of life. Most of them are like animals engaged in eating, sleeping, fearing and mating. They are mostly engaged in sense enjoyment under the pretention of religiosity, knowledge or salvation. They are still more blind in the present age of quarrel or Kali-yuga. In the Kali-yuga 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 their lives to become a dog or hog just after leaving the present body, for they have completely lost sight of the ultimate aim of life. The Personality of God-head Śrī Kṛṣṇa appeared before us just a little prior to the beginning of Kali-yuga, and He returned to His eternal home practically at the commencement of Kali-yuga. While He was present, He exhibited everything by His different activities. He spoke the  Bhagavad-gītā  specifically and eradicated all pretentious principles of religiosity. And prior to His departure from this material world, He empowered Śrī Vyāsadeva through Nārada to compile the messages of the  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam , and thus both the  Bhagavad-gītā  and the  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  are like 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.  Bhagavad-gītā  is the preliminary study of the  Bhāgavatam . And  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  is the  summum bonum  of life, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa personified. We must therefore accept  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  as the direct representation of Lord Kṛṣṇa. One who can see  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  can see also Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa in person. They are identical.
TEXT 44
तत्र कीर्तयतो विप्रा विप्रर्षेर्भूरितेजसः ।
अहं चाध्यगमं तत्र निविष्टस्तदनुग्रहात् ।
सोऽहं वः श्रावयिष्यामि यथाधीतं यथामति ॥४४॥