vyÄsa uvÄca
iti bruvÄṇaá¹ saá¹stÅ«ya
munÄ«nÄá¹ dÄ«rgha-satriṇÄm
vá¹›ddhaḥ kula-patiḥ sÅ«taá¹
bahvṛcaḥ śaunako 'bravīt
vyÄsaḥ - VyÄsadeva; uvÄca - said; iti - thus; bruvÄṇam - speaking; saá¹stÅ«ya - congratulating; munÄ«nÄm - of the great sages; dÄ«rgha - prolonged; satriṇÄm - of those engaged in the performance of sacrifice; vá¹›ddhaḥ - elderly; kula-patiḥ - head of the assembly; sÅ«tam - unto SÅ«ta GosvÄmÄ«; bahu-á¹›caḥ - learned; Å›aunakaḥ - of the name Åšaunaka; abravÄ«t - addressed.
VyÄsadeva said: On hearing SÅ«ta GosvÄmÄ« speak thus, Åšaunaka Muni, who was the elderly, learned leader of all the ṛṣis engaged in that prolonged sacrificial ceremony, congratulated SÅ«ta GosvÄmÄ« by addressing him as follows.
In a meeting of learned men, when there are congratulations or addresses for the speaker, the qualifications of the congratulator should be as follows. He must be the leader of the house and an elderly man. He must be vastly learned also. ÅšrÄ« Åšaunaka Ṛṣi had all these qualifications, and thus he stood up to congratulate ÅšrÄ« SÅ«ta GosvÄmÄ« when he expressed his desire to present ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam exactly as he heard it from Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« and also realized it personally. Personal realization does not mean that one should, out of vanity, attempt to show one’s own learning by trying to surpass the previous ÄcÄrya. He must have full confidence in the previous ÄcÄrya, and at the same time he must realize the subject matter so nicely that he can present the matter for the particular circumstances in a suitable manner. The original purpose of the text must be maintained. No obscure meaning should be screwed out of it, yet it should be presented in an interesting manner for the understanding of the audience. This is called realization. The leader of the assembly, Åšaunaka, could estimate the value of the speaker, ÅšrÄ« SÅ«ta GosvÄmÄ«, simply by his uttering yathÄdhÄ«tam and yathÄ-mati, and therefore he was very glad to congratulate him in ecstasy. No learned man should be willing to hear a person who does not represent the original ÄcÄrya. So the speaker and the audience were bona fide in this meeting where BhÄgavatam was being recited for the second time. That should be the standard of recitation of BhÄgavatam, so that real purpose can be served without difficulty. Unless this situation is created, BhÄgavatam recitation for extraneous purposes is useless labor both for the speaker and for the audience.
