Understanding Krishna, even fractionally, grants complete knowledge and liberates one from material suffering.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.2.17 — July 18, 1974, New Vrindaban 740718SB-NEW VRINDAVAN [22:22 Minutes] SB-01.02.17_740718SB-NEW VRINDAVAN [recorded on faulty equipment] Nitāi: "Sri Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramātmā [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of all the truthful devotees, cleanses the desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who relishes His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted." Prabhupāda: śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṇi vidhunoti suhṛt satām [SB 1.2.17] Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ. bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati [Bg. 5.29] This is the way of śānti. Śānti means "peacefulness." How it is? Not by this peace treaty. That kind of śānti, or peace, is going on perpetually—there is never śānti; it is simply formality. Śānti cannot be attained without Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Peacefulness, it is not possible.
Temporary, you can make some arrangement, but it has no value. Even amongst the relatives—father and the son or husband and wife, brother and brother—there is no peace. Everywhere there is some disagreement and separation. This is the law of nature, of the material world, not of the spiritual world.
Spiritual world, there is śānti. The material world: envious. "If you improve more than me, I will become your enemy." This is the nature of material life. Therefore, the bhāgavata-dharma, or the cult of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, is not meant for the materialistic person. It is for the person who is spiritually interested.
"Spiritually interested" means he is a paramahaṁsa. Parama means "the supreme," and haṁsa, haṁsa means "the swan." Paramahaṁsa means "the supreme swan." What is the special qualification of the swan? That if you give the swan to drink milk mixed with water, it has got a special power: she will drink the milk portion, and the water portion will not touch. Haṁsa.
And paramahaṁsa means the person who knows what is the essence of this material world. He is called paramahaṁsa—who knows. Just like we are all living entities. You have got your body; I have got my body; everyone has got his body. And what is the essence of this body?
The essence of this body is the life. If there is no life, you may have very nice, beautiful body; I may have very strong, beautiful body; but as soon as the life is gone, it is has no use[?]. Therefore the essence of the body is the [indistinct]. Similarly, this big, gigantic body, cosmic manifestation, there is also life.
Otherwise, how it is going on? Anyone can understand this philosophy, that this body is very important, belonging to such-and-such great personality, scientist or philosopher, politician—whatever it may be—but so long the life is there. Otherwise, no more politician, no more scientist, no more philosopher. Similarly, it is very simple to think: unless there is life within this cosmic manifestation, how things are going on so nicely? So one who is interested with that essence of this gigantic cosmic manifestation, he is called paramahaṁsa.