Text 16] Pure Devotional Service: The Change in Heart 147
TRANSLATION
Sukadeva Gosvami, the son of Vyasadeva, is also full in transcendental
knowledge and a great devotee of Lord Krsna, son of Vasudeva. So there
must have been discussion of Lord Krsna, who is glorified by great phi-
losophers and in the company of great devotees.
PURPORT
The word satam is very important in this verse. Satam means the pure
devotees who have no other desire than to serve the Lord. In the associa-
tion of such devotees, only the transcendental glories of Lord Krsna are
properly discussed. It is said by the Lord that His topics are all full of
spiritual significance, and once one properly hears about Him in the
association of the satdm, certainly one senses the great potency and so
automatically attains to the devotional stage of life. As already described,
Maharaja Pariksit was a great devotee of the Lord from his very birth and
so was Sukadeva Gosvami. Both of them were on the same level, although
it appeared that Maharaja Pariksit was a great King accustomed to royal
facilities whereas Sukadeva Gosvami was a typical renouncer of the world,
so much so that he did not even put a cloth on his body. Superficially,
Maharaja Pariksit and Sukadeva Gosvami might seem to be opposites, but
basically they were both unalloyed pure devotees of the Lord. When such
devotees are assembled together, there can be no topics save discussions of
the glories of the Lord, or bhakti-yoga. In the Bhagavad-gitd also, when
there were talks between the Lord and his devotee Arjuna, there could not
be any other topic except bhakti-yoga, however the mundane scholars may
speculate on it in their own ways. The use of the word ca after vaiydsakih
suggests, according to Srila Jiva Gosvami, that both Sukadeva Gosvami
and Maharaja Pariksit were of the same category, settled long before, al-
though one was playing the part of the master and the other the disciple.
Since Lord Krsna is the center of the topics, the word vdsudeva-parayanah,
or devotee of Vasudeva, suggests devotee of Lord Krsna, the common aim.
Although there were many others who assembled at the place where
Maharaja Pariksit was fasting, the natural conclusion is that there was no
other topic except the glorification of Lord Krsna, because the principal
speaker was Sukadeva Gosvami, and the chief audience was Maharaja
Pariksit. So Srimad-Bhagavatam, as it was spoken and heard by two princi-
pal devotees of the Lord, is only for the glorification of the Supreme Lord
Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna.
