Srimad Bhagavatam — Chaturtha Skandha, Shloka 16
Lord Śiva Instructs the Pracetās (Śiva-stuti and the Path of Bhakti)
विदुर उवाच प्रचेतसां गिरित्रेण यथासीत्पथि सङ्गम: । यदुताह हर: प्रीतस्तन्नो ब्रह्मन् वदार्थवत् ॥ १६ ॥
vidura uvāca pracetasāṁ giritreṇa yathāsīt pathi saṅgamaḥ yad utāha haraḥ prītas tan no brahman vadārthavat
Vidura asked Maitreya: My dear brāhmaṇa, why did the Pracetās meet Lord Śiva on the way? Please tell me how the meeting happened, how Lord Śiva became very pleased with them and how he instructed them. Certainly such talks are important, and I wish that you please be merciful upon me and describe them.
Whenever there are some important talks between a devotee and the Lord or between exalted devotees, one should be very much curious to hear them. At the meeting of Naimiṣāraṇya, where Sūta Gosvāmī spoke Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to all the great sages, Sūta Gosvāmī was also asked about the talks between Mahārāja Parīkṣit and Śukadeva Gosvāmī, for the sages believed that the talks between Śukadeva Gosvāmī and Mahārāja Parīkṣit must have been as important as the talks between Lord Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna. As everyone is still eager to learn the subject of Bhagavad-gītā in order to become perfectly enlightened, Vidura was similarly eager to learn from the great sage Maitreya about the talks between Lord Śiva and the Pracetās.
FAQs
It records Vidura’s request to the sage to explain how the Pracetās met Lord Śiva and what Śiva, pleased with them, spoke—setting the stage for Śiva’s devotional instructions.
Because the meeting leads to Lord Śiva’s significant teachings and blessings for the Pracetās, and Vidura wants the account explained clearly and with spiritual purpose.
It emphasizes sincere inquiry: asking qualified teachers to explain sacred events and teachings ‘arthavat’—in a way that is meaningful and transformative, not merely informational.