स उपामन्त्रितो राज्ञा कथायामिति सत्पतेः ।
ब्रह्मरातो भृशं प्रीतो विष्णुरातेन संसदि ॥२७॥
sÅ«ta uvÄca
sa upÄmantrito rÄjñÄ
kathÄyÄm iti sat-pateḥ
brahmarÄto bhṛśaá¹ prÄ«to
viṣṇurÄtena saá¹sadi
sÅ«taḥ uvÄca - ÅšrÄ«la SÅ«ta GosvÄmÄ« said; saḥ - he (Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ«); upÄmantritaḥ - thus being inquired; rÄjÃ±Ä - by the King; kathÄyÄm - in the topics; iti - thus; sat-pateḥ - of the highest truth; brahma-rÄtaḥ - Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ«; bhṛśam - very much; prÄ«taḥ - pleased; viṣṇu-rÄtena - by MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it; saá¹sadi - in the meeting.
SÅ«ta GosvÄmÄ« said: Thus Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ«, being invited by MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it to speak on topics of the Lord ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa with the devotees, was very much pleased.
ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam can be legitimately discussed only among the devotees of the Lord. As the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ was authoritatively discussed between Lord Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna (the Lord and the devotee respectively), similarly ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam, which is the postgraduate study of the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ, can also be discussed between the scholars and devotees like Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« and MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it. Otherwise the real taste of the nectar cannot be relished. Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« was pleased with MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it 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-gÄ«tÄ and ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam when they have no access to the subject matter. There is no use in nondevotees’ meddling with the two topmost Vedic literatures, and therefore Åšaá¹…karÄcÄrya did not touch ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam for commentation. In his commentation on the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ, ÅšrÄ«pÄda Åšaá¹…karÄcÄrya 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 ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam.
ÅšrÄ«la Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« was protected by Lord Kṛṣṇa (vide Brahma-vaivarta PurÄṇa), and therefore he is known as BrahmarÄta, and ÅšrÄ«mÄn ParÄ«ká¹£it MahÄrÄja was protected by Viṣṇu, and thus he is known as ViṣṇurÄta. As devotees of the Lord, they are always protected by the Lord. It is clear also in this connection that a ViṣṇurÄta should hear ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam from BrahmarÄta and no one else because others misrepresent the transcendental knowledge and thus spoil one’s valuable time.
