Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 4

Sanskrit:

तेन प्रोक्ता स्व पुत्राय मनवे पूर्वजाय सा ।ततो भृग्वादयोऽगृह्णन् सप्त ब्रह्ममहर्षय: ॥ ४ ॥

ITRANS:

tena proktā sva-putrāyamanave pūrva-jāya sātato bhṛgv-ādayo ’gṛhṇansapta brahma-maharṣayaḥ

Translation:

Lord Brahmā spoke this Vedic knowledge to his eldest son, Manu, and the seven great sages headed by Bhṛgu Muni then accepted the same knowledge from Manu.

Purport:

Everyone engages in a certain way of life based on one’s own nature and propensities. Bhakti-yoga is the natural activity of one whose nature is completely purified by association with the Supreme Lord. Other processes are meant for those whose nature is still affected by the material modes, and thus such processes, along with their results, are themselves also materially contaminated. Devotional service to the Lord, however, is a pure spiritual process, and by executing it with a pure consciousness one comes directly in touch with the Personality of Godhead, who describes Himself in Bhagavad-gītā (9.2) as pavitram idam uttamam, the supreme pure. The system of paramparā, or disciplic succession, is illustrated in this and the previous verse. The spiritual masters in Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s movement are part of such a disciplic succession, and through them the same Vedic knowledge spoken by Brahmā to Manu is still available.