A structural review of the main topics of Bhagavatam (video)
Translation
The Supreme Being, the Personality of Godhead, is the essence of all Vedic knowledge, the root of all religious principles, and the memory of great authorities. O King Yudhiṣṭhira, this principle of religion is to be understood as evidence. On the basis of this religious principle, everything is satisfied, including one’s mind, soul and even one’s body.
Purport
As stated by Yamarāja, dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam. Yamarāja, the representative of the Lord who takes care of the living beings after their death, gives his verdict as to how and when the living being will change his body. He is the authority, and he says that the religious principles consist of the codes and laws given by God. No one can manufacture religion, and therefore manufactured religious systems are rejected by the followers of the Vedic principles. In Bhagavad-gītā (15.15) it is said, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ: Vedic knowledge means to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, whether one speaks of the Vedas, scriptures, religion or the principles of everyone’s occupational duty, all of them must aim at understanding Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.6) therefore concludes:
sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo
yato bhaktir adhokṣaje
ahaituky apratihatā
yayātmā suprasīdati
In other words, religious principles aim at learning how to render transcendental loving service to the Lord. That service must be unmotivated and unchecked by material conditions. Then human society will be happy in all respects.
The smṛti, the scriptures following the principles of Vedic knowledge, are considered the evidence of Vedic principles. There are twenty different types of scripture for following religious principles, and among them the scriptures of Manu and Yājñavalkya are considered to be all-pervading authorities. In the Yājñavalkya-smṛti it is said:
śruti-smṛti-sadācāraḥ
svasya ca priyam ātmanaḥ
samyak saṅkalpajaḥ kāmo
dharma-mūlam idaṁ smṛtam
One should learn human behavior from śruti, the Vedas, and from smṛti, the scriptures following the Vedic principles. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in his Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu says:
śruti-smṛti-purāṇādi-
pañcarātra-vidhiṁ vinā
aikāntikī harer bhaktir
utpātāyaiva kalpate
The purport is that to become a devotee one must follow the principles laid down in śruti and smṛti. One must follow the codes of the Purāṇas and the pāñcarātrikī-vidhi. One cannot be a pure devotee without following the śruti and smṛti, and the śruti and smṛti without devotional service cannot lead one to the perfection of life.
Therefore, from all the evidence the conclusion is that without bhakti, devotional service, there is no question of religious principles. God is the central figure in the performance of religious principles. Almost everything going on in this world as religion is devoid of any idea of devotional service and is therefore condemned by the verdict of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Without devotional service, so-called religious principles are only cheating.
To understand Krisna in His highest manifestation as Vraja Krisna is very difficult, even though it may seem to be easy for us, and "Srimad-Bhagavatam" is purifying our heart to give us this experience – Krisna’s darsan.
The second part of the Seventh Canto is describing varnasrama. Following varnasrama dharma without being a devotee is useless because it will not bring you to the ultimate goal of life. The purpose of all the rules and regulations is to please the Lord, as a result we ourselves and all the people around us will be satisfied.
Bhakti is available to everyone, you don't need a preliminary qualification. The only qualification for this is faith, and anyone can develop it. A direct way to develop pure devotion is to come in contact with the pure devotee, open your heart, listen with faith and serve him. The essence of the second part of the Seventh Canto is to understand how by following the duty of varnasrama one prepares one’s heart for bhakti and how one becomes receptive to bhakti.
The essence of varnasrama system is to help people to get purified from material desires. And after that they will very easily develop sraddha in the process of bhakti and will start worshipping the Lord, and the Lord will start reciprocating with them.
Watch it here: https://bit.ly/3OP8ae9
