Text 40] Mother Parvati Curses Citraketu 207
itihdsam imam punyam
citraketor mahatmanah
mahatmyam visnu-bhaktanam
Srutva bandhad vimucyate
f itthasam—history; imam—this; punyam—very pious; citraketoh—
of Citraketu; maha-atmanah—the exalted devotee; mahatmyam—con-
taining glory; visnu-bhaktanam—from the devotees of Visnu; srutvd—
hearing; bandhat—from bondage or conditional, material life; vimucy-
ate—is freed.
TRANSLATION
Citraketu was a great devotee [mahatma]. 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 Puranas, such as the history of
Citraketu explained in the Bhagavata Purana, are sometimes mis-
understood by outsiders, or nondevotees. Therefore Sukadeva Gosvami
advised that the history of Citraketu be heard from a devotee. Anything
about devotional service or the characteristics of the Lord and His devo-
tees must be heard from a devotee, not from a professional reciter. This
is advised herein. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s secretary also advised that
one learn the history of Srimad-Bhagavatam from a devotee: yaha,
bhagavata pada vaisnavera sthane. One should not hear the statements
of Srimad-Bhagavatam from professional reciters, or else they will not
be effective. Quoting from Padma Purdna, Sri Sanatana Gosvami has
strictly forbidden us to hear about the activities of the Lord and His
devotees from the mouths of nondevotees:
avaisnava-mukhodgirnam
pitam hari-kathamrtam
Sravanam naiva kartavyam
sarpocchistam yatha payah
“One should not hear anything about Krsna from a non-Vaisnava. Milk
touched by the lips of a serpent has poisonous effects: similarly, talks
