# Cc. Madhya 24.313 ## Text > ahaṁ vedmi śuko vetti > vyāso vetti na vetti vā > bhaktyā bhāgavataṁ grāhyaṁ > na buddhyā na ca ṭīkayā ## Synonyms *aham*—I (Lord Śiva); *vedmi*—know; *śukaḥ*—Śukadeva Gosvāmī; *vetti*—knows; *vyāsaḥ*—Vyāsadeva; *vetti*—knows; *na* *vetti* *vā*—or may not know; *bhaktyā*—by devotional service (executed in nine different processes); *bhāgavatam*—the *Bhāgavata Purāṇa* (called *Paramahaṁsa-saṁhitā,* the text or treatise readable by the topmost transcendentalists); *grāhyam*—to be accepted; *na*—not; *buddhyā*—by so-called intelligence or experimental knowledge; *na*—nor; *ca*—also; *ṭīkayā*—by imaginary commentary. ## Translation **"[Lord Śiva said,] 'I may know; Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the son of Vyāsadeva, may know; and Vyāsadeva may know or may not know the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. On the whole, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the spotless Purāṇa, can be learned only through devotional service, not by material intelligence, speculative methods or imaginary commentaries.' "** ## Purport Devotional service includes nine processes, beginning with hearing, chanting and remembering the activities of Lord Viṣṇu. Only one who has taken to devotional service can understand *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,* which is the spotless *Purāṇa* for a transcendentalist (*paramahaṁsa*). So-called commentaries are useless for this purpose. According to the Vedic injunction: *yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā gurau.* All Vedic literatures maintain that *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* has to be learned from the person *bhāgavata,* and to understand it one has to engage in pure devotional service. *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* cannot be understood by so-called erudite scholars or grammarians. One who has developed pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness and has served the pure devotee, the spiritual master, can understand *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.* Others cannot.