76 Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

percent pure in heart; satam—devotees; vedyam—to be understood; vastavam—
factual; atra—herein; vastu—substance; siva-dam-—giving well-being; tdpa-traya—of
threefold miseries; unmalanam—causing uprooting; srimat—beautiful; bhagavate—in
the Bhdgavata Purdna; maha-muni—by the great sage (Vyasadeva); krte —compiled;
kim—what; va—indeed; paraifi—with others; /Svaraf—the Supreme Lord; sadyaf—at
once;hrdi—within the heart; avarudhyate—becomes confined; atra—herein; krtibhih—
by pious men; susrisubhip—desiring to hear; tat-ksanat—without delay.

TRANSLATION

“The great scripture Srimad-Bhagavatam, compiled by Mahamuni Vyasadeva from
four original verses, describes the most elevated and kindhearted devotees and com-
pletely rejects the cheating ways of materially motivated religiosity. It propounds
the highest principle of eternal religion, which can factually mitigate the threefold
miseries of a living being and award the highest benediction of full prosperity and
knowledge. Those willing to hear the message of this scripture in a submissive atti-
tude of service can at once capture the Supreme Lord in their hearts. Therefore
there is no need for any scripture other than Srimad-Bhagavatam.””

PURPORT

This verse appears in the Srimad-Bhdgavatam (1.1.2). The words mahamuni-krte
indicate that Srimad-Bhagavatam was compiled by the great sage Vyasadeva, who is
sometimes known as Narayana Mahamuni because he is an incarnation of Narayana.
Vyasadeva, therefore, is not an ordinary man, but is empowered by the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. He compiled the beautiful Bhdgavatam to narrate some of
the pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His devotees.

In Srimad-Bhdgavatam, a distinction between real religion and pretentious religion
has been clearly made. According to this original and genuine commentation on the
Vedanta-siitra, there are numerous pretentious faiths that pass as religion but neglect
the real essence of religion. The real religion of a living being is his natural inborn
quality, whereas pretentious religion is a form of nescience that artificially coversa
living entity's pure consciousness under certain unfavorable conditions. Real religion
lies dormant when artificial religion dominates from the mental plane. A living
being can awaken this dormant religion by hearing with a pure heart.

The path of religion prescribed by Srimad-Bhagavatam is different from all forms
of imperfect religiosity. Religion can be considered in the following three divisions:
(1) the path of fruitive work, (2) the path of knowledge and mystic powers, and
(3) the path of worship and devotional service.

The path of fruitive work (karma-kanda), even when decorated by religious
ceremonies meant to elevate one’s material condition, is a cheating process because
it can never enable one to gain relief from material existence and achieve the highest
goal. A living entity perpetually struggles hard to rid himself of the pangs of mate-
rial existence, but the path of fruitive work leads him to either temporary happiness
or temporary distress in material existence. By pious fruitive work one is placed in a
position where he can temporarily feel material happiness, whereas vicious activities
