Text 44
maitreya uvāca
etat te ’bhihitaṁ sarvaṁ
yat pṛṣṭo ’ham iha tvayā
dhruvasyoddāma-yaśasaś
caritaṁ sammataṁ satām
maitreyaḥ uvāca — the great sage Maitreya said; etat — this; te — unto you; abhihitam — described; sarvam — everything; yat — what; pṛṣṭaḥ aham — I was asked; iha — here; tvayā — by you; dhruvasya — of Dhruva Mahārāja; uddāma — greatly uplifting; yaśasaḥ — whose reputation; caritam — character; sammatam — approved; satām — by great devotees.
The great sage Maitreya continued: My dear Vidura, whatever you have asked from me about the great reputation and character of Dhruva Mahārāja I have explained to you in all detail. Great saintly persons and devotees very much like to hear about Dhruva Mahārāja.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 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 in hearing 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 rāsa dance of Kṛṣṇa and do not take care to hear about other portions of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which they completely avoid. There are professional Bhāgavata reciters who abruptly go to the rāsa-līlā chapters of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, as if other portions of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam were useless. This kind of discrimination and abrupt adoption of the rāsa-līlā pastimes of the Lord is not approved by the ācāryas. A sincere devotee should read every chapter and every word of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The great sage Maitreya therefore affirmed herein that the Bhāgavatam is sammataṁ satām, approved by great devotees.