SB 1.7.7
yasyam vai sruyamanayam
krsne parama-puruse
bhaktir utpadyate pumsah
soka-moha-bhayapaha
Translation by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada:
Simply by giving aural reception to this Vedic literature, the feeling for loving devotional service to Lord Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, sprouts up at once to extinguish the fire of lamentation, illusion and fearfulness.
Purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada:
There are various senses, of which the ear is the most effective. This sense works even when a man is deep asleep. One can protect himself from the hands of an enemy while awake, but while asleep one is protected by the ear only. The importance of hearing is mentioned here in connection with attaining the highest perfection of life, namely getting free from three material pangs. Everyone is full of lamentation at every moment, he is after the mirage of illusory things, and he is always afraid of his supposed enemy. These are the primary symptoms of the material disease. And it is definitely suggested herein that simply by hearing the message of Srimad-Bhagavatam one gets attachment for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, and as soon as this is effected the symptoms of the material disease disappear. Srila Vyasadeva saw the all-perfect Personality of Godhead, and in this statement the all-perfect Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, is clearly confirmed.
The ultimate result of devotional service is to develop genuine love for the Supreme Personality. Love is a word which is often used in relation with man and woman. And love is the only word that can be properly used to indicate the relation between Lord Krsna and the living entities. The living entities are mentioned as prakrti in the Bhagavad-gita, and in Sanskrit prakrti is a feminine object. The Lord is always described as the parama-purusa, or the supreme male personality. Thus the affection between the Lord and the living entities is something like that between the male and the female. Therefore the term love of Godhead is quite appropriate.
Loving devotional service to the Lord begins with hearing about the Lord. There is no difference between the Lord and the subject matter heard about Him. The Lord is absolute in all respects, and thus there is no difference between Him and the subject matter heard about Him. Therefore, hearing about Him means immediate contact with Him by the process of vibration of the transcendental sound. And the transcendental sound is so effective that it acts at once by removing all material affections mentioned above. As mentioned before, a living entity develops a sort of complexity by material association, and the illusory encagement of the material body is accepted as an actual fact. Under such false complexity, the living beings under different categories of life become illusioned in different ways. Even in the most developed stage of human life, the same illusion prevails in the form of many isms and divides the loving relation with the Lord and thereby divides the loving relation between man and man. By hearing the subject matter of Srimad-Bhagavatam this false complexity of materialism is removed, and real peace in society begins, which politicians aspire for so eagerly in so many political situations. The politicians want a peaceful situation between man and man, and nation and nation, but at the same time, because of too much attachment for material domination, there is illusion and fearfulness. Therefore the politicians’ peace conferences cannot bring about peace in society. It can only be done by hearing the subject matter described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam about the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna. The foolish politicians may go on holding peace and summit conferences for hundreds of years, but they will fail to achieve success. Until we reach the stage of reestablishing our lost relation with Krsna, the illusion of accepting the body as the self will prevail, and thus fearfulness will also prevail. As for the validity of Sri Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, there are hundreds and thousands of evidences from revealed scriptures, and there are hundreds and thousands of evidences from personal experiences of devotees in various places like Vrndavana, Navadvipa and Puri. Even in the Kaumudi dictionary the synonyms of Krsna are given as “the son of Yasoda” and “the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Parabrahman.” The conclusion is that simply by hearing the Vedic literature Srimad-Bhagavatam, one can have direct connection with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, and thereby one can attain the highest perfection of life by transcending worldly miseries, illusion and fearfulness. These are practical tests for one who has actually given a submissive hearing to the readings of the Srimad-Bhagavatam.