Text 10]
The First Step in God Realization
17
bhṛtyārti-haṁ praṇata-pāla bhavābdhi-potaṁ vande mahāpuruṣa te caraṇāravindam.  (Bhāg. 11.5.33)
tyaktvā su-dus-tyaja-surepsita-rājya-lakṣmīṁ dharmiṣṭha ārya-vacasā yad agād-araṇyam māyā-mṛgaṁ dayitayepsitam anvadhāvad vande mahāpuruṣa te caraṇāravindam.  (Bhāg. 11.5.34)
In other words,  puruṣa  means the enjoyer, and  mahāpuruṣa  means the supreme enjoyer, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa. One who deserves to approach the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is called the  mahāpauruṣika . Anyone who hears  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  attentively from its bona fide reciter is sure to become a sincere devotee of the Lord, who is able to award liberation. There was none so attentive as Mahārāja Parīkṣit in the matter of hearing  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam , and there was none so qualified as Śukadeva Gosvāmī to recite the text of  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam . Therefore, anyone who follows the footsteps of either the ideal reciter or the ideal hearer, Śukadeva Gosvāmī and Mahārāja Parīkṣit respectively, will undoubtedly attain salvation like them. Mahārāja Parīkṣit attained salvation by hearing only, and Śukadeva Gosvāmī attained salvation by reciting only. Recitation and hearing are two processes out of nine devotional activities, and by strenuously following the principles, either in all or by parts, one can attain the absolute plane. So the complete text of  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam , beginning with the “ janmādyasya ” verse up to the last one in the twelfth canto, was spoken by Śukadeva Gosvāmī for the attainment of salvation by Mahārāja Parīkṣit. In the  Padma Purāṇa , it is mentioned that Gautama Muni advised Mahārāja Ambarīṣa to hear regularly  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  as it was recited by Śukadeva Gosvāmī, and herein it is confirmed that Mahārāja Ambarīṣa heard  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  from the very beginning to the end, as it was spoken by Śukadeva Gosvāmī. One who is, therefore, actually interested in the  Bhāgavatam  must not play with it by reading or hearing a portion from here and a portion from there, but one must follow the footsteps of great kings like Mahārāja Ambarīṣa or Mahārāja Parīkṣit and hear it from a bona fide representative of Śukadeva Gosvāmī.