186
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta
[Antya-lilā, Ch. 5]
thus hears the  Bhāgavatam  regularly and sincerely, his heart is purified of all material contamination.
naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā bhagavaty uttama-śloke bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī
“As one regularly hears the  Bhāgavatam  or renders service unto the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is practically destroyed, and loving service unto the glorious Lord, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.” ( Bhāg.  1.2.18)
This is the proper process, but people are accustomed to being misled by professional  Bhāgavatam  reciters. Therefore Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī herein advises that one should not hear  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  from professional reciters. Instead, one must hear and learn the  Bhāgavatam  from a self-realized Vaiṣṇava. Sometimes it is seen that when a Māyāvādī  sannyāsī  reads the  Bhāgavatam , flocks of men go to hear jugglery of words that cannot awaken their dormant love for Kṛṣṇa. Sometimes people go to see professional dramas and offer food and money to the players, who are expert at collecting these offerings very nicely. The result is that the members of the audience remain in the same position of  gṛham andhakūpam , family affection, and do not awaken their love for Kṛṣṇa.
In the  Bhāgavatam  (7.5.30), it is said,  matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ svato vā mitho ‘bhipadyeta gṛha-vratānām:  the  gṛhavratas , those who are determined to continue following the materialistic way of life, will never awaken their dormant love of Kṛṣṇa, for they hear the  Bhāgavatam  only to solidify their position in household life and to be happy in family affairs and sex. Condemning this process of hearing the  Bhāgavatam  from professionals, Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī says,  yāha, bhāgavata paḍa vaiṣṇavera sthāne:  “To understand the  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam , you must approach a self-realized Vaiṣṇava.” One should rigidly avoid hearing the  Bhāgavatam  from a Māyāvādī or other nondevotee who simply performs a grammatical jugglery of words to twist some meaning from the text, collect money from the innocent public, and thus keep people in darkness.
Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī strictly prohibits the behavior of the materialistic so-called hearers of  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam . Instead of awakening real love for Kṛṣṇa, such hearers of the  Bhāgavatam  become more and more attached to household affairs and sex life ( yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tuccham ). One should hear  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  from a person who has no connection with material activities, or, in other words, from a  paramahaṁsa  Vaiṣṇava, one who has achieved the highest stage of  sannyāsa . This, of course, is not possible unless one takes shelter of the lotus feet of  Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu . The  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  is understandable only for one who can follow in the footsteps of  Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu .