xiv Srimad-Bhagavatam

in rapt attention continuously for the seven days leading to the King’s
death. The sage Sita Gosvami, who was present on the bank of the
Ganges when Sukadeva Gosvami first recited Srimad-Bhagavatam, later
repeated the Bhdgavatam before a gathering of sages in the forest of
Naimisaranya. Those sages, concerned about the spiritual welfare of the
people in general, had gathered to perform a long, continuous chain of
sacrifices to counteract the degrading influence of the incipient age of
Kali. In response to the sages’ request that he speak the essence of Vedic
wisdom, Sita Gosvami repeated from memory the entire eighteen thou-
sand verses of Srimad-Bhagavatam, as spoken by Sukadeva Gosvami to
Maharaja Pariksit.

The reader of Srimad-Bhagavatam hears Sata Gosvami relate the
questions of Maharaja Pariksit and the answers of Sukadeva Gosvami.
Also, Sita Gosvami sometimes responds directly to questions put by
Saunaka Rsi, the spokesman for the sages gathered at Naimisaranya. One
therefore simultaneously hears two dialogues: one between Maharaja
Pariksit and Sukadeva Gosvami on the bank of the Ganges, and another
at Naimisdranya between Sita Gosvami and the sages at Naimisaranya
Forest, headed by Saunaka Rsi. Furthermore, while instructing King
Pariksit, Sukadeva Gosvami often relates historical episodes and gives
accounts of lengthy philosophical discussions between such great souls as
the saint Maitreya and his disciple Vidura. With this understanding of
the history of the Bhagavatam, the reader will easily be able to follow its
intermingling of dialogues and events from various sources. Since philo-
sophical wisdom, not chronological order, is most important in the text,
one need only be attentive to the subject matter of Srimad-Bhagavatam
to appreciate fully its profound message.

The translator of this edition compares the Bhdgavatam to sugar
candy—wherever you taste it, you will find it equally sweet and
relishable. Therefore, to taste the sweetness of the Bhagavatam, one may
begin by reading any of its volumes. After such an introductory taste,
however, the serious reader is best advised to go back to Volume One of
the First Canto and then proceed through the Bhagavatam, volume after
volume, in its natural order.

This edition of the Bhagavatam is the first complete English transla-
tion of this important text with an elaborate commentary, and it is the
first widely available to the English-speaking public. It is the product of
