146 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 2, Ch. 3

The life history of many such devotees is almost the same because
there is always symmetry between the early lives of all great devotees of
the Lord. According to Jiva Gosvami, Maharaja Pariksit must have heard
about the childhood pastimes of Lord Krsna at Vrndavana, for he used to
imitate the pastimes with his young playmates. According to Sridhara
Svami, Maharaja Pariksit used to imitate the worship of the family Deity
by elderly members. Srila Vigvanatha Cakravarti also confirms the view-
point of Jiva Gosvami. So accepting either of them, Maharaja Pariksit was
naturally inclined to Lord Krsna from his very childhood, and he might
have imitated either of the above-mentioned procedures, and all of them
establish his great devotion from his very childhood, a symptom of a
mahabhagavata. Such mahabhdgavatas are called nitya-siddhas, or souls
liberated from birth. But there are also others who may not be liberated
from birth but who develop a tendency for devotional service by associa-
tion, and they are called sédhana-siddhas. There is no difference between
the two in the ultimate issue, and so the conclusion is that everyone can
become a sddhana-siddha, a devotee of the Lord, simply by association
with the pure devotees. The concrete example is our great spiritual master
Sri Narada Muni. In his previous life he was simply a boy of a maidservant,
but through association with great devotees he became a devotee of the
Lord of his own standard, unique in the history of devotional service.

TEXT 16

arate ATA TATA |
ToT: Act Ale AAPA 11241

valyasakis ca bhagavan
vasudeva-pardyanah
urugaya-gunodarah
satam syur hi samagame

vaiyasakih—the son of Vyasadeva; ca—also; bhagavan—full in transcen-
dental knowledge; vasudeva—Lord Krsna; parayanah—attached to; urugaya
—of the Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna, who is glorified by great phi-
losophers; guna-udarah—great qualities; satam—of the devotees;syuh—must
have been; hi—as a matter of fact; samagame—by the presence of.
