Text 40]
Appearance of Śukadeva Gosvāmī
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ask some quantity of milk for subsistence. A pound of milk fresh from the milk bag of a cow is sufficient to feed an adult with all vitamin values, and therefore saints and sages live only on milk. Even the poorest of the householders keep at least ten cows, each delivering twelve to twenty quarts of milk, and therefore no one hesitates to spare a few pounds of milk for the mendicants. It is the duty of householders to maintain the saints and sages, like the children. So a saint like Śukadeva Gosvāmī would hardly stay at the house of a householder for more than five minutes in the morning. In other words, such saints are very rarely seen in the houses of householders, and Mahārāja Parīkṣit therefore prayed to him to instruct him as soon as possible. The householders also should be intelligent enough to get some transcendental information from visiting sages. The householder should not foolishly ask a saint to deliver what is available in the market. That should be the reciprocal relation between the saints and the householders.
TEXT 40
सूत उवाच
एवमाभाषितः पृष्ठः स राज्ञा श्लक्ष्णया गिरा ।
प्रत्यभाषत धर्मज्ञो मगवान् बादरायणिः ॥४०॥
sūta uvāca
evam ābhāṣitaḥ pṛṣṭaḥ
sa rājñā ślakṣṇayā girā
pratyabhāṣata dharma-jño
bhagavān bādarāyaṇiḥ
sūtaḥ uvāca—Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī said; evam—thus; ābhāṣitaḥ—being spoken; pṛṣṭaḥ—and asked for; saḥ—he; rājñā—by the King; ślakṣṇayā—by sweet; girā—language; pratyabhāṣata—began to reply; dharma-jñaḥ—one who knows the principles of religion; bhagavān—the powerful personality; bādarāyaṇiḥ—son of Vyāsadeva.
TRANSLATION
Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī said: The King thus spoke and questioned the sage, using sweet language. Then the great and powerful personality, the son of Vyāsadeva, who knew the principles of religion, began his reply.
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the First Canto, Nineteenth Chapter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, "Appearance of Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī."
END OF THE FIRST CANTO