Text 5]
Questions by the Sages
61
TEXT 5
त एकदा तु मुनयः प्रातर्हुतहुताग्रयः । सत्कृतं स्वतमासीनं पप्रच्छुरिदमादरात् ॥ ५ ॥
ta ekadā tu munayaḥ prātar huta-hutāgnayaḥ satkṛtaṁ sūtam āsīnaṁ papracchur idam ādarāt
te—the sages; ekadā—one day; tu—but; munayaḥ—sages; prātaḥ—morning; huta—burning; huta-agnayaḥ—the sacrificial fire; sat-kṛtam—due respects; sūtam—Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī; āsīnam—seated on; papracchuḥ—made inquiries; idam—on this (as follows); ādarāt—with due regards.
TRANSLATION
One day, after finishing their morning duties by burning a sacrificial fire and respectfully offering a seat to Śrīla Sūta Gosvāmī, the great sages made earnest inquiries about the following matters.
PURPORT
Morning is the best time to hold spiritual services. The great sages offered the speaker of the  Bhāgavatam  an elevated seat of respect called the  Vyāsāsana , or the seat of Śrī Vyāsadeva. Śrī Vyāsadeva 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 Śrī Vyāsadeva. Śrī Vyāsadeva impregnated the message of  Bhāgavatam  unto Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī, and Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī heard it from him (Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī). All bona fide representatives of Śrī Vyāsadeva in the chain of disciplic succession are to be understood to be Gosvāmīs. These Gosvāmīs restrain all their senses, and they stick to the path made by the previous  ācāryas . The Gosvāmīs do not deliver lectures on the  Bhāgavatam  capriciously. Rather, they execute their services most carefully, following their predecessors who delivered the spiritual message unbroken to them.
Those who listen to the  Bhāgavatam  may put questions to the speaker in order to elicit the clear meaning, but this should not be done in a