What does the Bhagwatam tell us about a family person following the path to God? You know, we think of ourselves; we, in this case, everybody is pretty realistic about their state in this world or their situation. You know, when people talk to me they say, “I'm like this. I'm like that. I'm so tied down in the world. I have so many responsibilities. I'm so busy. I have so many worldly desires. How can I follow the path?”
So, as bad as we may think we are, or as difficult a situation we may think we're in, in the Bhagwatam in the very beginning Shaunakadik Paramhans asked Sut ji Maharaj a question about the souls of Kaliyug. And what they describe is even worse than how we think of ourselves, and yet they're asking, “What should these souls do?”
They say, “Maharaj, in Kaliyug, first of all, people have a very short lifespan. They don't live for long. Add to that, sumand-matayo. ‘Mandamati’ means to be a little bit slow up here.” ‘Sumandamati’ means ‘parakashtha’. So, he's saying the souls of Kaliyug not only are they short-lived, but their minds are very slow. Not only that, they're not very motivated. Souls in Kaliyug are lazy. So, for short-lived, dull-witted, lazy… he's not done yet. He says, “Add to that that their body never stays healthy. Their body is always bothering them. Disease always chases them. Their body is always uncomfortable. They can't sit for long. Their mind is disturbed by all different kinds of things: anger and other people.”
“So, these types of souls who are like this in Kaliyug, tell us what should they do to attain God, to attain shreya?” ‘Shreya’ means the ultimate thing, absolute happiness - God. “What should such souls do?” “Not only that,” they said, “but the scriptures which hold the answer to all these questions and which tell the path to God, these scriptures are very extensive and they tell so many different paths. No one can study it all in one lifetime, let alone understand it all. So, Maharaj, you please distill all of this knowledge down for us and just tell us the simple direct path to God that even these souls of Kaliyug can follow?”
Sut ji Maharaj first praised them for asking such a beneficial question that the whole world would get benefited from, and then he answered it simply and straight with a straightforward shlok:
“स वै पुंसां परो धर्मो यतो भक्तिरधोक्षजे । अहैतुक्यप्रतिहता ययात्मा सुप्रसीदति “ ॥६॥
Sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣhaje. ahaitukyapratihatā
yayātmā suprasīdati.
Śhrīmad-Bhāgwatam 1.2.6
“The atma can attain its ultimate happiness only by following the path of bhakti and that path of bhakti should be followed selflessly and uninterruptedly throughout the whole life.” Such a path of bhakti is the supreme duty of every soul.
