16 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 2, Ch. 1
For advancement of material knowledge there is the need for personal
capacity and researching aptitude, but in the case of spiritual knowledge,
all progress depends more or less on the mercy of the spiritual master.
The spiritual master must be satisfied with the disciple; only then is
knowledge automatically manifest before the student of spiritual science.
It should not, however, be misunderstood to be something like magical
feats whereby the spiritual master acts like a magician and injects spiritual
knowledge into his disciple, as if surcharging him with an electrical current.
The bona fide spiritual master reasonably explains everything to the
disciple on the authorities of Vedic wisdom. The disciple can receive such
teachings not exactly intellectually, but by submissive inquiries and a
service attitude. The idea is that both the spiritual master and the disciple
must be bona fide. In this case, the spiritual master, Sukadeva Gosvami, is
ready to recite exactly what he has learned from his great father Srila
Vyasadeva, and the disciple, Maharaja Pariksit, is a great devotee of Lord
Krsna. A devotee of Lord Krsna is he who believes sincerely that by
becoming a devotee of the Lord one becomes fully equipped with every-
thing spiritual. This teaching is imparted by the Lord Himself in the pages
of the Bhagavad-gita, in which it is clearly described that the Lord
(Sri Krsna) is everything, and to surrender unto Him solely and wholly
makes one the most perfectly pious man. This unflinching faith in Lord
Krsna prepares one to become a student of Srimad-Bhdgavatam, and one
who hears Srimad-Bhagavatam from a devotee like Sukadeva Gosvami is
sure to attain salvation at the end, as Maharaja Pariksit did. The profession-
al reciter of Srimad-Bhagavatam and the pseudo-devotees whose faith
is based on one week’s hearing are different from the duo of Sukadeva
Gosvami and Maharaja Partksit. Srila Vyasadeva explained Srimad-
Bhagavatam unto Sukadeva Gosvami from the very beginning of the
“fanmadyasya” verse, and so Sukadeva Gosvami also explained it to
the King. Lord Krsna is described as the Mahdpurusa in the Srimad-
Bhdagavatam (Canto 11) in His devotional feature as Lord Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Lord Krsna Himself in His
devotional attitude, descended on earth to bestow special favors upon the
fallen souls of this age of Kali. There are two verses particularly suitable
to offer as prayers to this Mahdpurusa feature of Lord Krsna.
dhyeyam sada paribhava-ghnam abhista-dohar
tirthdspadam Siva-virifici-nutam Saranyam
