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Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 2, Ch. 6]
of God, becoming one like Him. Losing one's individuality is not the aim of  bhakti-yoga  or of the devotees of the Lord. There are five types of liberations, one of which is called  sāyujya-mukti , or being merged into the existence or body of the Lord. The other forms of liberation maintain the individuality of the particle soul and involve always being engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. The word  viśate , used in the verses of the  Bhagavad-gītā , is thus meant for the devotees who are not at all anxious for any kind of liberation. The devotees are satisfied simply in being engaged in the service of the Lord, regardless of the situation.
Lord Brahmā is the first living being, who learnt directly the Vedic wisdom from the Lord ( tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye ). Therefore, who can be a more learned Vedāntist than Lord Brahmā? He admits that in spite of his perfect knowledge in the  Vedas , he was unable to know the glories of the Lord. Since no one can be more than Lord Brahmā, how can a so-called Vedāntist be perfectly cognizant of the Absolute Truth? The so-called Vedāntist, therefore, cannot enter into the existence of the Lord without being trained in the matter of  Bhakti-vedānta , or  Vedānta  plus  bhakti-Vedānta  means self-realization, and  bhakti  means realization of the Personality of Godhead, to some extent. No one can know the Personality of Godhead in full, but at least to a certain extent, one can know the Absolute Truth, Personality of Godhead, by self-surrender and devotional attitude, and by nothing else. In the  Brahma-saṁhitā  also, it is said,  vedeṣu durlabham , or simply by study of  Vedānta  one can hardly find out the existence of the Personality of Godhead, but the Lord is  adurlabham ātma-bhaktau , very easily available to His devotee. Śrīla Vyāsadeva, therefore, was not satisfied simply with compiling the  Vedānta-sūtras , but over and above this, by the advice of his spiritual master, Nārada, he compiled the  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  in order to understand the real import of  Vedānta .  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  is, therefore, the absolute medium to understand the Absolute Truth.
TEXT 36
नतोऽस्म्यहं तच्चरणं समीयुषां
भवच्छिदं स्वस्त्ययनं सुमङ्गलम् ।
यो ह्यात्ममायाविभवं स पर्यगात्
यथा नभः स्वान्तमथापरे कुतः ॥३६॥