Regular service to Bhagavatam and devotees purifies the heart, establishing unshakeable devotion to Krishna.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.2.18 — August 21, 1972, Los Angeles 720821SB-LOS ANGELES [57:00 Minutes] SB-01.02.18_720821SB-LOS ANGELES [Govindam prayers playing] [Prabhupāda sings along]
Prabhupāda: [sings Jaya Rādhā-Mādhava] [indistinct] Mṛdaṅga. [prema-dhvani] Thank you very much.
Devotees: All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. All glories to Śrī Guru and Gauranga. [devotees offer obeisances]
Prabhupāda: Hmm? Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya.
Text number 18. [leads chanting of verse] [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat] naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā bhagavaty uttama-śloke bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī [SB 1.2.18] Prabhupāda: Ladies. Ladies. [Līlāvatī chants] Very good.
[more ladies chant] That's all. Word meaning? Pradyumna: [leads chanting of synonyms] naṣṭa—destroyed; prāyeṣu—almost to nil; abhadreṣu—all that is inauspicious; nityam—regularly; bhāgavata—Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, or the pure devotee; sevayā—by serving; bhagavati—unto the Personality of Godhead; uttama—transcendental; śloke—prayers; bhaktiḥ—loving service; bhavati—comes into being; naiṣṭhikī—irrevocable. [13:30] Translation: "By regularly hearing the Bhāgavatam and rendering service unto the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is practically destroyed, and loving service unto the glorious Lord, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact." Prabhupāda: Hmm. So here it is said bhāgavata-sevayā, not bhagavān-sevayā.
Bhagavān is Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and bhāgavata means in relation with Bhagavān, who has got relationship with Bhagavān. So here it is recommended bhāgavata-sevayā, not bhagavān-sevayā. The idea is that you cannot approach Bhagavān, God, directly. That is not possible.