166 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 6, Ch. 3

etavan eva loke ’smin
pumsdam dharmah parah smrtah
bhakti-yogo bhagavati
tan-nama-grahanddibhih

etavan—this much; eva—indeed; loke asmin—in this material world;
pumsam—of the living entities; dharmah—the religious principles;
parah—transcendental; smrtah—recognized; bhakti-yogah—bhakti-
yoga, or devotional service; bhagavati—to the Supreme Personality of
Godhead (not to the demigods) ; tat—His; nadma—of the holy name;
grahana-adibhih—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, dharmarh bhagavatam, real religious
principles, are bhdgavata-dharma, the principles described in Srimad-
Bhaégavatam itself or in Bhagavad-gitd, the preliminary study of the
Bhagavatam. What are these principles? The Bhagavatam says, dhar-
mah projjhita-kaitavo ‘tra: in Srimad-Bhagavatam there are no cheating
religious systems. Everything in the Bhdgavatam is directly connected
with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Bhagavatam further
says, Sa vai purisdm paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhoksaje: the supreme
religion is that which teaches its followers how to love the Supreme Per-
sonality of Godhead, who is beyond the reach of experimental knowl-
edge. Such a religious system begins with tan-ndma-grahana, chanting
of the holy name of the Lord (Sravanam kirtanam visnoh smaranam
pada-sevanam). 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-
