SB 1.2.17

शृण्वतां स्वकथाः कृष्णः पुण्यश्रवणकीर्तनः ।
हृद्यन्तःस्थो ह्यभद्राणि विधुनोति सुहृत्सताम् ॥१७॥

śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ
hṛdy antaḥ stho hy abhadrāṇi
vidhunoti suhṛt satām

śṛṇvatāmplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigśṛṇvatām

being heard; by continuous hearing; continuously hearing; hearing; listening; of persons who hear this narration; of those hearing; of those who listen; those who have developed the urge to hear the message of; were listening; while hearing; who are very eager to hear; who desired to hear.—those who have developed the urge to hear the message of; svaplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigsva

by himself; by your own; his; his own; in his own; of one's own; of their own; one's own; own; personal, internal; personal, own; with his wealth.-kathāḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigkathah

messages or instructions; narrations; narratives; stories; talks; the stories; the topics; topics; words.—His own words; kṛṣṇaḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigkrsnah

a kind of stag; Arjuna; black; even Lord Kṛṣṇa; Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana; Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Vyāsa; Lord Krṣna; Lord Kṛṣṇa; Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself; Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead; Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead; not different from Kṛṣṇa; the fortnight of the dark moon; the Lord; the Personality of Godhead; the Supreme Personality of Godhead; the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa; the Supreme Personality, Kṛṣṇa; to Lord Kṛṣṇa.—the Personality of Godhead; puṇyaplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigpunya

of reactions of pious activities; of the results of pious activities; piety; pious; pious activities; pious activity; sanctified; virtue; virtues; virtuous.—virtues; śravaṇaplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigśravaṇa

aural reception; by hearing; ear; ears; from hearing; hear; hearing; hearing about whom; hearing power; of hearing; the aural reception; the ear; the ears; to hear; to the ear; topic of hearing; while hearing such blasphemy.—hearing; kīrtanaḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigkīrtanaḥ

chanting.—chanting; hṛdiplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bighṛdi

core of the heart; from the heart; heart; in consciousness or in the heart; in his heart; in my heart; in the core of the heart; in the heart; in the hearts; on the heart; the heart; upon the heart; within my heart; within one's heart; within the core of my heart; within the core of the heart; within the heart. antaḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigantah

a limit; conclusion; disappearance; end; in the core of the heart; in the heart; in the interior; in the transcendental world; inner; inside (the palace or home); inside; interior; internal; internally; internally or not manifested; limit; out of sight; the cause of dissolution; to the end; within; within herself; within his heart; within the cores of our hearts. sthaḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigsthah

situated.—within one’s heart; hiplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bighi

addressed; all; also; and above all; and exactly; as a matter of fact; assuredly; because; because of which; certainly; certainly are; exactly; exactly like; for; for this reason; from which; in deed; in fact; indeed (You can be realized by the devotees); indeed; is certainly; only; positively; reason of; since; surely; than; though; thus; undoubtedly; without fail.—certainly; abhadrāṇiplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigabhadrāṇi

all inauspiciousness or annihilation; any misfortunes; desire to enjoy matter.—desire to enjoy matter; vidhunotiplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigvidhunoti

cleanses; clears up; purifies; specifically cleanses; washes; washes away; washes off.—cleanses; suhṛtplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigsuhrt

a friend; a well-wisher; and constant well-wisher; and friends; benefactor; by nature a well-wisher; dear; friend; friends; friends and well-wishers; intimate friend; kinsmen; most intimate friend; of a friend; relatives; the best well-wisher and friend; the friend; the most well-wishing friend; the well-wisher; well-wisher; well-wishers; well-wishing friend.—benefactor; satāmplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigsatam

among elevated devotees; by great devotees; by the devotees; civilized gentlemen; devotees; good; of all devotees; of devotees; of great saintly persons; of persons who prefer the impersonal feature of the Lord; of pure devotees; of saintly persons; of the devotees; of the devotees of the Lord; of the great devotees; of the great sages; of the most respectable; of the pious; of the saintly persons; of the transcendentalists; of the truthful; of the Vaiṣṇavas; of the virtuous; of those who are spiritually fixed; of those who are to exist eternally; to the saintly.—of the truthful. ¶

Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramātmā [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted. ¶

Messages of the Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa are nondifferent from Him. Whenever, therefore, offenseless hearing and glorification of God are undertaken, it is to be understood that Lord Kṛṣṇa is present there in the form of transcendental sound, which is as powerful as the Lord personally. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, in His Śikṣāṣṭaka, declares clearly that the holy name of the Lord has all the potencies of the Lord and that He has endowed His innumerable names with the same potency. There is no rigid fixture of time, and anyone can chant the holy name with attention and reverence at his convenience. The Lord is so kind to us that He can be present before us personally in the form of transcendental sound, but unfortunately we have no taste for hearing and glorifying the Lord’s name and activities. We have already discussed developing a taste for hearing and chanting the holy sound. It is done through the medium of service to the pure devotee of the Lord. ¶

The Lord is reciprocally respondent to His devotees. When He sees that a devotee is completely sincere in getting admittance to the transcendental service of the Lord and has thus become eager to hear about Him, the Lord acts from within the devotee in such a way that the devotee may easily go back to Him. The Lord is more anxious to take us back into His kingdom than we can desire. Most of us do not desire at all to go back to Godhead. Only a very few men want to go back to Godhead. But anyone who desires to go back to Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa helps in all respects. ¶

One cannot enter into the kingdom of God unless one is perfectly cleared of all sins. The material sins are products of our desires to lord it over material nature. It is very difficult to get rid of such desires. Women and wealth are very difficult problems for the devotee making progress on the path back to Godhead. Many stalwarts in the devotional line fell victim to these allurements and thus retreated from the path of liberation. But when one is helped by the Lord Himself, the whole process becomes as easy as anything by the divine grace of the Lord. ¶

To become restless in the contact of women and wealth is not an astonishment, because every living being is associated with such things from remote time, practically immemorial, and it takes time to recover from this foreign nature. But if one is engaged in hearing the glories of the Lord, gradually he realizes his real position. By the grace of God such a devotee gets sufficient strength to defend himself from the state of disturbances, and gradually all disturbing elements are eliminated from his mind. ¶