Texts 4-5
śrī-ṛṣir uvāca
sādhu pṛṣṭaṁ mahārāja
hareś caritam adbhutam
yad bhāgavata-māhātmyaṁ
bhagavad-bhakti-vardhanam
gīyate paramaṁ puṇyam
ṛṣibhir nāradādibhiḥ
natvā kṛṣṇāya munaye
kathayiṣye hareḥ kathām
śrī-ṛṣiḥ uvāca — the sage Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said; sādhu — excellent; pṛṣṭam — inquiry; mahā-rāja — O great King; hareḥ — of the Supreme Lord, Hari; caritam — activities; adbhutam — wonderful; yat — from which; bhāgavata — of the Lord’s devotee (Prahlāda); māhātmyam — the glories; bhagavat-bhakti — devotion to the Lord; vardhanam — increasing; gīyate — is sung; paramam — foremost; puṇyam — pious; ṛṣibhiḥ — by the sages; nārada-ādibhiḥ — headed by Śrī Nārada Muni; natvā — after offering obeisances; kṛṣṇāya — to Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa; munaye — the great sage; kathayiṣye — I shall narrate; hareḥ — of Hari; kathām — the topics.
The great sage Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: My dear King, you have put before me an excellent question. Discourses concerning the activities of the Lord, in which the glories of His devotees are also found, are extremely pleasing to devotees. Such wonderful topics always counteract the miseries of the materialistic way of life. Therefore great sages like Nārada always speak upon Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam because it gives one the facility to hear and chant about the wonderful activities of the Lord. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto Śrīla Vyāsadeva and then begin describing topics concerning the activities of Lord Hari.
In this verse Śukadeva Gosvāmī offers his respectful obeisances kṛṣṇāya munaye, which means to Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa. One must first offer one’s respectful obeisances to one’s spiritual master. Śukadeva Gosvāmī’s spiritual master is his father, Vyāsadeva, and therefore he first offers his respectful obeisances to Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa and then begins describing topics of Lord Hari.
Whenever there is an opportunity to hear about the transcendental activities of the Lord, we must take it. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommends, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ: one should always engage in kṛṣṇa-kathā by chanting and talking about Kṛṣṇa and hearing about Him. That is the only occupation of a Kṛṣṇa conscious person.