Text 21
yogīndrāya namas tasmai
śukāya brahma-rūpiṇe
saṁsāra-sarpa-daṣṭaṁ yo
viṣṇu-rātam amūmucat
yogi-indrāya — to the king of mystics; namaḥ — obeisances; tasmai — to him; śukaya — Śukadeva Gosvāmī; brahma-rūpiṇe — who is a personal manifestation of the Absolute Truth; saṁsāra-sarpa — by the snake of material existence; daṣṭam — bitten; yaḥ — who; viṣṇu-rātam — Parīkṣit Mahārāja; amūmucat — freed.
I offer my humble obeisances to Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the best of mystic sages and a personal manifestation of the Absolute Truth. He saved Mahārāja Parīkṣit, who was bitten by the snake of material existence.
Sūta Gosvāmī now offers obeisances to his own spiritual master, Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura clarifies that just as Arjuna was placed into material confusion so that Bhagavad-gītā might be spoken, so King Parīkṣit, a pure, liberated devotee of the Lord, was cursed to die so that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam might be spoken. Actually, King Parīkṣit is viṣṇu-rāta, eternally under the protection of the Lord. Śukadeva Gosvāmī liberated the king from his so-called illusion to exhibit the merciful nature of a pure devotee and the enlightening effect of his association.