śrīmadbhāgavata kī āratī

A Hindi arati addressed not to a god but to a book, sung to the refrain, the arati of the most purifying Purana, the mine of dharma and devotion and understanding. Its images for the Bhagavata are all of things that come out of something else. It is the ripe fruit of the Veda's wish-tree, fallen from Shuka's mouth; it is a great healing herb, and the herb is the singing of Hari's deeds. What it is credited with doing is put in verbs rather than epithets: it churns the dirt of the Kali age, it quiets the three afflictions, it destroys the delusion that comes of pleasure in objects, it opens out clear dispassion and discrimination, it uncovers the secret of what God is. Its last verse turns to who reads it — the swan-like sages whose minds it gladdens, and the destitute, whose beloved story it is.