Śukadeva Goswami is giving advice to Parīkṣit Mahārāja, because he was on the verge of death. He said tasmād, "therefore." Tasmād means "therefore." Tasmād bhārata. Parīkṣit Mahārāja belonged to the family of Bhārata Mahārāja; therefore he is addressed as Bhārata. This India . . . not India; this planet was known as Bhāratvarṣa, and the king of this planet was called Bhārata.
- tasmād bhārata sarvātmā
- bhagavān hariḥīśvaro
- śrotavyaḥ
- (SB 2.1.5)
He finalizes his conclusion. Śrotavyaḥ means "You have to hear, because hearing there is, but you have to, especially you, because you are on the verge of death." So who is not on the verge of death? Everyone. We cannot say that my life is guaranteed. It is not possible. At least Parīkṣit Mahārāj, his life was guaranteed for seven days, because a brāhmaṇa boy cursed him that "You shall die within seven days." So these seven days there was life, there was some assurance that at least seven days he would live. But for us, we do not know whether we shall live another seven minutes or seven seconds. Any moment the heart can fail. Any moment I go on the street, there may be some accident. Huh? So there is no guarantee of life. So how much we should be interested in hearing about the Supreme Lord!
The point is, Parīkṣit Mahārāja advised, he was on the verge of death, and he was advised that for the persons who have no vision of self-realization, they have got multi subject matter for hearing. But those who are actually interested in self-realization, for them, śro . . .
- tasmād bhārata sarvātmā
- bhagavān hariḥīśvaro
- śrotavyaḥ
- (SB 2.1.5)
He should be heard. Who? Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Who is He? Sarvātmā: who is living in everyone's heart. Tasmād sarvātmā bhagavān, Supreme Personality of Godhead, bhagavān. Bhagavān means "with all opulences." Īśvaraḥ—"controller"; hariḥ—"who can give us relief from all miserable condition of life. "Śrotavyaḥ—"He should be heard." That is the difference between gṛhamedhī and gṛhastha. They are interested of hearing in so many subject matter, because they have no idea of self-realization. But those who are actually interested to understand his position in this world, then he should hear about the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the supreme controller living in everyone's heart, sarvātmā hariḥīśvaro. Śrotavyaḥ, smartavyaś: not only hearing, but remembering also. What you hear in this meeting, you should again remember. That will be very nice. That will fix up the idea: śrotavyaḥ, smartavyaś, pūjyaś ca nityadā.