Text 40]
Mother Pārvatī Curses Citraketu
207
itihāsam imam puṇyam citraketor mahātmanaḥ māhātmyam viṣṇu-bhaktānām śrutvā bandhād vimucyate
itihāsam—history; imam—this; puṇyam—very pious; citraketoḥ—  of Citraketu;  mahā-ātmanaḥ —the exalted devotee;  māhātmyam —con- taining glory;  viṣṇu-bhaktānām —from the devotees of Viṣṇu;  śrutvā — hearing;  bandhāt —from bondage or conditional, material life;  vimucy-   ate —is freed.
TRANSLATION
Citraketu was a great devotee [mahātmā]. If one hears this history of Citraketu from a pure devotee, the listener also is freed from the conditional life of material existence.
PURPORT
The historical incidents in the  Purāṇas , such as the history of Citraketu explained in the  Bhāgavata Purāṇa , are sometimes mis-understood by outsiders, or nondevotees. Therefore Śukadeva Gosvāmī advised that the history of Citraketu be heard from a devotee. Anything about devotional service or the characteristics of the Lord and His devotees must be heard from a devotee, not from a professional reciter. This is advised herein. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's secretary also advised that one learn the history of  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  from a devotee:  yāha, bhāgavata paḍa vaiṣṇavera sthāne . One should not hear the statements of  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  from professional reciters, or else they will not be effective. Quoting from  Padma Purāṇa , Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī has strictly forbidden us to hear about the activities of the Lord and His devotees from the mouths of nondevotees:
avaiṣṇava-mukhodgīrṇam pūtam hari-kathāmṛtam śravaṇam naiva kartavyam sarpocchiṣtam yathā payaḥ
“One should not hear anything about Kṛṣṇa from a non-Vaiṣṇava. Milk touched by the lips of a serpent has poisonous effects; similarly, talks