Text 9
śaunaka uvāca
sa vai nivṛtti-nirataḥ
sarvatropekṣako muniḥ
kasya vā bṛhatīm etām
ātmārāmaḥ samabhyasat
śaunakaḥ uvāca — Śrī Śaunaka asked; saḥ — he; vai — of course; nivṛtti — on the path of self-realization; nirataḥ — always engaged; sarvatra — in every respect; upekṣakaḥ — indifferent; muniḥ — sage; kasya — for what reason; vā — or; bṛhatīm — vast; etām — this; ātma-ārāmaḥ — one who is pleased in himself; samabhyasat — undergo the studies.
シュリー・ソウナカはスータ・ゴースワミーに尋ねた：シュリー・シュカデーヴァ・ゴースワミーはもうすでに自己実現の道にいた。それで、彼は自分自身の自己に喜びを感じていた。それならなぜ彼は、そのような膨大な文献を学ぶという困難な経験をすることにしたのだろうか？
For the people in general the highest perfection of life is to cease from material activities and be fixed on the path of self-realization. Those who take pleasure in sense enjoyment, or those who are fixed in material bodily welfare work, are called karmīs. Out of thousands and millions of such karmīs, one may become an ātmārāma by self-realization. Ātmā means self, and ārāma means to take pleasure. Everyone is searching after the highest pleasure, but the standard of pleasure of one may be different from the standard of another. Therefore, the standard of pleasure enjoyed by the karmīs is different from that of the ātmārāmas. The ātmārāmas are completely indifferent to material enjoyment in every respect. Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī had already attained that stage, and still he was attracted to undergo the trouble of studying the great Bhāgavatam literature. This means that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is a postgraduate study even for the ātmārāmas, who have surpassed all the studies of Vedic knowledge.