Setting the Stage in Naimisharanya Canto 1 Chapter 4 Text 1-4

vy ā sa uv ā ca iti bruv ā ṇ a ṁ sa ṁ st ū ya mun ī n ā ṁ d ī rgha-satri ṇ ā m v ṛ ddha ḥ kula-pati ḥ s ū ta ṁ bahv ṛ ca ḥ śaunako ’brav ī t Vy ā sadeva said: On hearing S ū ta Gosv ā m ī speak thus, Śaunaka Muni, who was the elderly, learned leader of all the ṛṣ is engaged in that prolonged sacrificial ceremony, congratulated S ū ta Gosv ā m ī by addressing him as follows.

The qualification of the a person who can congratulate another learned man in a meeting should be as follows: He must be the leader of the house and an elderly man and he must be vastly learned also. Śr ī Śaunaka Ṛṣ i had all these qualifications, and thus he stood up to congratulate Śr ī S ū ta Gosv ā m ī when he expressed his desire to present Śr ī mad-Bh ā gavatam exactly as he heard it from Śukadeva Gosv ā m ī 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 ā c ā rya. He must have full confidence in the previous ā c ā rya, 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. No learned man should be willing to hear a person who does not represent the original ā c ā rya. So the speaker and the audience were bona fide in this meeting where Bh ā gavatam was being recited for the second time. Suta Goswami reciting Bhagavatam in Naimisharanya Sukhadeva Goswami reciting Bhagavatam to King Praikshit

śaunaka uv ā ca s ū ta s ū ta mah ā -bh ā ga vada no vadat ā ṁ vara kath ā ṁ bh ā gavat ī ṁ pu ṇ y ā ṁ yad ā ha bhagav ā ñ chuka ḥ Śaunaka said: O S ū ta Gosv ā m ī, you are the most fortunate and respected of all those who can speak and recite. Please relate the pious message of Śr ī mad-Bh ā gavatam, which was spoken by the great and powerful sage Śukadeva Gosv ā m ī.

The members of the assembly were eager to hear the text of Bh ā gavatam uttered by Śukadeva Gosv ā m ī. 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 Bh ā gavatam 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 Bh ā gavatam 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. Only one who is prepared to present Bh ā gavatam in the light of Śukadeva Gosv ā m ī and only those who are prepared to hear Śukadeva Gosv ā m ī and his representative are bona fide participants in the transcendental discussion of Śr ī mad- Bh ā gavatam.

kasmin yuge prav ṛ tteya ṁ sth ā ne v ā kena hetun ā kuta ḥ sañcodita ḥ k ṛṣṇ a ḥ k ṛ tav ā n sa ṁ hit ā ṁ muni ḥ --- tasya putro mah ā -yog ī sama-d ṛṅ nirvikalpaka ḥ ek ā nta-matir unnidro g ū ḍ ho m ū ḍ ha iveyate In what period and at what place was this first begun, and why was this taken up? From where did K ṛṣṇ a-dvaip ā yana Vy ā sa, the great sage, get the inspiration to compile this literature? --- His [Vy ā sadeva’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.

Śr ī la Śukadeva Gosv ā m ī was a liberated soul, and thus he remained always alert not to be trapped by the illusory energy. In the Bhagavad-g ī t ā 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.