24
TEACHINGS OF QUEEN KUNTĪ
world is present in  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam . It includes literature, poetry, astronomy, philosophy, religion, and love of Godhead.  Śrīmad-bhāgavatam pramāṇam amalam . If one simply reads  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam , he gains the topmost education, for if one studies  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  he will be well versed in every subject matter. Even if one does not understand a single word of the  mantras  of  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam , the vibrations themselves have such power that simply by chanting one will be purified.  Śrṇvatām sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ . The word  puṇya  means “pious,”  śravaṇa  means “hearing,” and  kīrtana  means “chanting.” One who chants or hears the verses of  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  becomes pious automatically. To become pious one generally has to endeavor a great deal, but if one simply hears the verses of  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  or  Bhagavad-gītā  one becomes pious automatically. Therefore it is a rigid principle in every temple of our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement that there must be a daily class for hearing and chanting. Our movement is meant for training spiritual leaders, but without hearing and chanting it is impossible to become a leader. Of course, in the material world it is possible, but not in the spiritual world.
mālī hañā sei bīja kare āropaṇa  
 śravaṇa-kīrtana-jale karaye secana  
  (Cc.  Madhya  19.152)
Hearing and chanting waters the seed of devotional service, which develops one’s original consciousness.
So here, in these prayers, Kuntīdevī, a great devotee, is giving us an opportunity to become Kṛṣṇa conscious simply by concentrating our mind on  paṅkaja , the lotus flower.  Paṅka  means “mud,” and  ja  means “generate.” Although the lotus flower is generated from mud, it is a most important flower, and Kṛṣṇa likes it very much. Kuntīdevī therefore describes all the parts of Kṛṣṇa’s body with reference to lotus flowers, so that as soon as one sees a lotus flower one will immediately think of Kṛṣṇa: “Oh, Kṛṣṇa’s navel is just like a lotus, and from Kṛṣṇa’s navel grew the stem of the lotus upon which Brahmā, the creator of this universe, was born. This universe includes so many planets, seas, mountains, and cities with motorcars and other paraphernalia, but the entire universe began from that lotus.”
Namaḥ paṅkaja-māline . From Kṛṣṇa comes the wonderful lotus flower that contains the seed of the entire universe. But He is not the source of only one such flower. Kṛṣṇa is not so poor that He simply produces one lotus flower and then is finished. No. Just as there may be a garland with