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saunakah—Saunaka; uvaca—said; suta suta—O Suta Gosvami; maha-bhaga—the most fortunate; vada—please speak; nah—unto us; vadatam—of those who can speak; vara—respected; katham—message; bhagavatim—of the Bhagavatam; punyam—pious; yat—which; aha—said; bhagavan—greatly powerful; sukah—Sri Sukadeva Gosvami.

Saunaka said: O Suta Gosvami, you are the most fortunate and respected of all those who can speak and recite. Please relate the pious message of Srimad-Bhagavatam, which was spoken by the great and powerful sage Sukadeva Gosvami.

Suta Gosvami is twice addressed herein by Saunaka Gosvami out of great joy because he and the members of the assembly were eager to hear the text of Bhagavatam uttered by Sukadeva Gosvami. They were not interested in hearing it from a bogus person who would interpret in his own way to suit his own purpose. Generally the so-called Bhagavatam reciters are either professional readers or so-called learned impersonalists who cannot enter into the transcendental personal activities of the Supreme Person. Such impersonalists twist some meanings out of Bhagavatam to suit and support impersonalist views, and the professional readers at once go to the Tenth Canto to misexplain the most confidential part of the Lord’s pastimes. Neither of these reciters are bona fide persons to recite Bhagavatam. Only one who is prepared to present Bhagavatam in the light of Sukadeva Gosvami and only those who are prepared to hear Sukadeva Gosvami and his representative are bona fide participants in the transcendental discussion of Srimad-Bhagavatam.

SB1.4.3

TEXT 3

kasmin yuge pravrtteyam

sthane va kena hetuna

kutah sancoditah krsnah

krtavan samhitam munih

kasmin—in which; yuge—period; pravrtta—was begun; iyam—this; sthane—in the place; va—or; kena—on what; hetuna—ground; kutah—wherefrom; sancoditah—inspired by; krsnah—Krsna-dvaipayana Vyasa; krtavan—compiled; samhitam—Vedic literature; munih—the learned.

In what period and at what place was this first begun, and why was this taken up? From where did Krsna-dvaipayana Vyasa, the great sage, get the inspiration to compile this literature?

Because Srimad-Bhagavatam is the special contribution of Srila Vyasadeva, there are so many inquiries by the learned Saunaka Muni. It was known to them that Srila Vyasadeva had already explained the text of the Vedas in various ways up to the Mahabharata for the understanding of less intelligent women, sudras and fallen members of the family of twice-born men. Srimad-Bhagavatam is transcendental to all of them because it has nothing to do with anything mundane. So the inquiries are very intelligent and relevant.

SB1.4.4

TEXT 4

tasya putro maha-yogi

sama-drn nirvikalpakah

ekanta-matir unnidro

gudho mudha iveyate

tasya—his; putrah—son; maha-yogi—a great devotee; sama-drk—equibalanced; nirvikalpakah—absolute monist; ekanta-matih—fixed in monism or oneness of mind; unnidrah—surpassed nescience; gudhah—not exposed; mudhah—stunted; iva—like; iyate—appears like.

His [Vyasadeva’s] son was a great devotee, an equibalanced monist, whose mind was always concentrated in monism. He was transcendental to mundane activities, but being unexposed, he appeared like an ignorant person.

Srila Sukadeva Gosvami was a liberated soul, and thus he remained always alert not to be trapped by the illusory energy. In the Bhagavad-gita this alertness is very lucidly explained. The liberated soul and the conditioned soul have different engagements. The liberated soul is always engaged in the progressive path of spiritual attainment, which is something like a dream for the conditioned soul. The conditioned soul cannot imagine the actual engagements of the liberated soul. While the conditioned soul thus dreams about spiritual engagements, the liberated soul is awake. Similarly, the engagement of a conditioned soul appears to be a dream for the liberated soul. A conditioned soul and a liberated soul may apparently be on the same platform, but factually they are differently engaged, and their attention is always alert, either in sense enjoyment or in self-realization. The conditioned soul is absorbed in matter, whereas the liberated soul is completely indifferent to matter. This indifference is explained as follows.

SB1.4.5

TEXT 5

drstvanuyantam rsim atmajam apy anagnam

devyo hriya paridadhur na sutasya citram

tad viksya prcchati munau jagadus tavasti

stri-pum-bhida na tu sutasya vivikta-drsteh

drstva—by seeing; anuyantam—following; rsim—the sage; atmajam—his son; api—in spite of; anagnam—not naked; devyah—beautiful damsels; hriya—out of shyness; paridadhuh—covered the body; na—not; sutasya—of the son; citram—astonishing; tat viksya—by seeing that; prcchati—asking; munau—unto the muni (Vyasa); jagaduh—replied; tava—your; asti—there are; stri-pum—male and female; bhida—differences; na—not; tu—but; sutasya—of the son; vivikta—purified; drsteh—of one who looks.

While Sri Vyasadeva was following his son, beautiful young damsels who were bathing naked covered their bodies with cloth, although Sri Vyasadeva himself was not naked. But they had not done so when his son had passed. The sage inquired about this, and the young ladies replied that his son was purified and when looking at them made no distinction between male and female. But the sage made such distinctions.

In the Bhagavad-gita (5.18) it is said that a learned sage looks equally on a learned and gentle brahmana, a candala (dog-eater), a dog or a cow due to his spiritual vision. Srila Sukadeva Gosvami attained that stage. Thus he did not see a male or female; he saw all living entities in different dress. The ladies who were bathing could understand the mind of a man simply by studying his demeanor, just as by looking at a child one can understand how innocent he is. Sukadeva Gosvami was a young boy sixteen years old, and therefore all the parts of his body were developed. He was naked also, and so were the ladies. But because Sukadeva Gosvami was transcendental to sex relations, he appeared very innocent. The ladies, by their special qualifications, could sense this at once, and therefore they were not very concerned about him. But when his father passed, the ladies quickly dressed. The ladies were exactly like his children or grandchildren, yet they reacted to the presence of Vyasadeva according to the social custom because Srila Vyasadeva played the part of a householder. A householder has to distinguish between a male and female, otherwise he cannot be a householder. One should, therefore, attempt to know the distinction between spirit soul without any attachment for male and female. As long as such distinction is there, one should not try to become a sannyasi like Sukadeva Gosvami. At least theoretically one must be convinced that a living entity is neither male nor female. The outward dress is made of matter by material nature to attract the opposite sex and thus keep one entangled in material existence. A liberated soul is above this perverted distinction. He does not distinguish between one living being and another. For him they are all one and the same spirit. The perfection of this spiritual vision is the liberated stage, and Srila Sukadeva Gosvami attained that stage. Srila Vyasadeva was also in the transcendental stage, but because he was in the householder’s life, he did not pretend to be a liberated soul, as a matter of custom.

SB1.4.6

TEXT 6

katham alaksitah pauraih

sampraptah kuru-jangalan

unmatta-muka-jadavad

vicaran gaja-sahvaye

katham—how; alaksitah—recognized; pauraih—by the citizens; sampraptah—reaching; kuru-jangalan—the Kuru-jangala provinces; unmatta—mad; muka—dumb; jadavat—stunted; vicaran—wandering; gaja-sahvaye—Hastinapura.

How was he [Srila Sukadeva, the son of Vyasa] recognized by the citizens when he entered the city of Hastinapura [now Delhi], after wandering in the provinces of Kuru and Jangala, appearing like a madman, dumb and retarded?