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Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 6, Ch. 3]
etāvān eva loke 'smin puṁsāṁ dharmaḥ paraḥ smṛtaḥ bhakti-yogo bhagavati tan-nāma-grahaṇādibhiḥ
etāvān—this much; eva—indeed; loke asmin—in this material world; puṁsāṁ—of the living entities; dharmaḥ—the religious principles; paraḥ—transcendental; smṛtaḥ—recognized; bhakti-yogaḥ—bhakti-yoga, or devotional service; bhagavati—to the Supreme Personality of Godhead (not to the demigods); tat—His; nāma—of the holy name; grahaṇa-ādibhiḥ—beginning with chanting.
TRANSLATION
Devotional service, beginning with the chanting of the holy name of the Lord, is the ultimate religious principle for the living entity in human society.
PURPORT
As stated in the previous verse,  dharmaṁ bhāgavatam , real religious principles, are  bhāgavata-dharma , the principles described in  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  itself or in  Bhagavad-gītā , the preliminary study of the  Bhāgavatam . What are these principles? The  Bhāgavatam  says,  dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra:  in  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  there are no cheating religious systems. Everything in the  Bhāgavatam  is directly connected with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The  Bhāgavatam  further says,  sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje:  the supreme religion is that which teaches its followers how to love the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is beyond the reach of experimental knowledge. Such a religious system begins with  tan-nāma-grahaṇa , chanting of the holy name of the Lord ( śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanaṁ ). After chanting the holy name of the Lord and dancing in ecstasy, one gradually sees the form of the Lord, the pastimes of the Lord and the transcendental qualities of the Lord. This way one fully understands the situation of the Personality of Godhead. One can come to this understanding of the Lord, how He descends into the material world, how He takes His births and what activities He performs, but one can know this only by executing devotional service. As stated in  Bhagavad-