538 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 4, Ch. 12

TEXT 44

HAI vara
crashed ad aewisefie wat |
WAMMITIae AA | AAT |v"!

maitreya uvadca
etat te *bhihitam sarvam
yat prsto *ham tha tvaya
dhruvasy oddéma-yasasag
caritarn sammatam satam

maitreyah uvaca—the great sage Maitreya said; etat—this; te—unto you;
abhihitam—described; sarvam—everything; yat—what; prstah aham—I was
asked; iha—here; tvaya—by you;dhruvasya—of Dhruva Maharaja; uddama-
greatly uplifting; yasasai—whose reputation; caritam—character; sam-
matam—approved; satam—by great devotees.

TRANSLATION

The great sage Maitreya continued: My dear Vidura, whatever you have
asked from me about the great reputation and character of Dhruva
Maharaja I have explained to you in all detail. Great saintly persons and
devotees very much like to hear about Dhruva Maharaja.

PURPORT

Srimad-Bhagavatam means everything in relationship with the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. Whether we hear the pastimes and activities of the
Supreme Lord or we hear about the character, reputation and activities of
His devotees, they are all one and the same. Neophyte devotees simply try
to understand the pastimes of the Lord and are not very interested to hear
about the activities of His devotees, but such discrimination should not be
indulged in by any real devotee. Sometimes less intelligent men try to hear
about the rasa dance of Krsna and do not take care to hear about other
portions of Srimad-Bhagavatam, which they completely avoid. There are
professional Bhdgavata reciters who abruptly go to the rdsa-lila chapters of
Srimad-Bhagavatam as if other portions of Srimad-Bhdgavatam were use-
less. This kind of discrimination and abrupt adoption of the rasa-lila pas-
times of the Lordis not approved by the acaryas. A sincere devotee should
read every chapter and every word of Srimad-Bhagavatam, for the beginning
verses describe that it is the ripened fruit of all Vedic literature. Devotees
should not try to avoid even a word of Srimad-Bhagavatam. The great sage
