Shloka 27
Parīkṣit’s Comprehensive Inquiries and the Bhāgavata as Śabda-avatāra
सूत उवाच स उपामन्त्रितो राज्ञा कथायामिति सत्पते: । ब्रह्मरातो भृशं प्रीतो विष्णुरातेन संसदि ॥ २७ ॥
sūta uvāca sa upāmantrito rājñā kathāyām iti sat-pateḥ brahmarāto bhṛśaṁ prīto viṣṇurātena saṁsadi
စူတက ပြောသည်—ဗိဿနုရာတ (မဟာရာဇ ပရိက္ခစ်) သည် ဘက္တများ၏ စည်းဝေးပွဲတွင် သတ္ပတိ သရီကృష్ణ၏ ကထာများကို ပြောရန် ဘြဟ္မရာတ (ရှုကဒေဝ) ကို ဖိတ်ခေါ်သဖြင့်၊ သူသည် အလွန်ပျော်ရွှင်လေ၏။
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam can be legitimately discussed only among the devotees of the Lord. As the Bhagavad-gītā was authoritatively discussed between Lord Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna (the Lord and the devotee respectively), similarly Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is the postgraduate study of the Bhagavad-gītā, can also be discussed between the scholars and devotees like Śukadeva Gosvāmī and Mahārāja Parīkṣit. Otherwise the real taste of the nectar cannot be relished. Śukadeva Gosvāmī was pleased with Mahārāja Parīkṣit because he was not at all tired of hearing the topics of the Lord and was more and more anxious to hear them on and on with interest. Foolish interpreters unnecessarily tackle the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam when they have no access to the subject matter. There is no use in nondevotees’ meddling with the two topmost Vedic literatures, and therefore Śaṅkarācārya did not touch Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam for commentation. In his commentation on the Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya accepted Lord Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but later on he commented from the impersonalist’s view. But, being conscious of his position, he did not comment on the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
FAQs
Because he is ‘protected and guided by Viṣṇu’—a devotee-king whose life and destiny are under the Lord’s shelter, especially as he turns to Bhagavata-kathā at the end of life.
Parīkṣit respectfully invited him to speak the Lord’s narrations; such sincere, humble inquiry into Bhagavata-kathā naturally delights a self-realized saint like Śukadeva.
Approach sacred teachings with humility and genuine eagerness; respectful inquiry and attentive hearing invite the blessings of realized teachers and deepen devotion.