ta ekadÄ tu munayaḥ
prÄtar huta-hutÄgnayaḥ
sat-ká¹›taá¹ sÅ«tam ÄsÄ«naá¹
papracchur idam ÄdarÄt
1 times this text was mentioned in purports to other texts: LSB(1)
te - the sages; ekadÄ - one day; tu - but; munayaḥ - sages; prÄtaḥ - morning; huta - burning; huta-agnayaḥ - the sacrificial fire; sat-ká¹›tam - due respects; sÅ«tam - ÅšrÄ« SÅ«ta GosvÄmÄ«; ÄsÄ«nam - seated on; papracchuḥ - made inquiries; idam - on this (as follows); ÄdarÄt - with due regards.
One day, after finishing their morning duties by burning a sacrificial fire and offering a seat of esteem to ÅšrÄ«la SÅ«ta GosvÄmÄ«, the great sages made inquiries, with great respect, about the following matters.
Morning is the best time to hold spiritual services. The great sages offered the speaker of the BhÄgavatam an elevated seat of respect called the vyÄsÄsana, or the seat of ÅšrÄ« VyÄsadeva. ÅšrÄ« VyÄsadeva is the original spiritual preceptor for all men. And all other preceptors are considered to be his representatives. A representative is one who can exactly present the viewpoint of ÅšrÄ« VyÄsadeva. ÅšrÄ« VyÄsadeva impregnated the message of BhÄgavatam unto ÅšrÄ«la Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ«, and ÅšrÄ« SÅ«ta GosvÄmÄ« heard it from him (ÅšrÄ« Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ«). All bona fide representatives of ÅšrÄ« VyÄsadeva in the chain of disciplic succession are to be understood to be gosvÄmÄ«s. These gosvÄmÄ«s restrain all their senses, and they stick to the path made by the previous ÄcÄryas. The gosvÄmÄ«s do not deliver lectures on the BhÄgavatam capriciously. Rather, they execute their services most carefully, following their predecessors who delivered the spiritual message unbroken to them.
Those who listen to the BhÄgavatam may put questions to the speaker in order to elicit the clear meaning, but this should not be done in a challenging spirit. One must submit questions with a great regard for the speaker and the subject matter. This is also the way recommended in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ. One must learn the transcendental subject by submissive aural reception from the right sources. Therefore these sages addressed the speaker SÅ«ta GosvÄmÄ« with great respect.
