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Chapter 3: Pure Devotional Service: The Change in Heart

Verse 13 of 20
SB 2.3.13

शौनक उवाच इत्यभिव्याहृतं राजा निशम्य भरतर्षभः किमन्यत्पृष्टवान्भूयो वैयासकिमृषिं कविम्

śaunaka uvāca ity abhivyāhṛtaṁ rājā niśamya bharatarṣabhaḥ kim anyat pṛṣṭavān bhūyo vaiyāsakim ṛṣiṁ kavim

Synonyms

itithus; abhivyāhṛtamall that was spoken; rājāthe king; niśamyaby hearing; bharata-ṛṣabhaḥMahārāja Parīkṣit; kimwhat; anyatmore; pṛṣṭavāndid he inquire from him; bhūyaḥagain; vaiyāsakimunto the son of Vyāsadeva; ṛṣimone who is well versed; kavimpoetic..

Translation

Śaunaka said, The son of Vyāsadeva, Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī, was a highly learned sage and was able to describe things in a poetic manner. What did Mahārāja Parīkṣit again inquire from him after hearing all that he said?

Purport

A pure devotee of the Lord automatically develops all godly qualities, and some of the prominent features of those qualities are as follows: He is kind, peaceful, truthful, equable, faultless, magnanimous, mild, clean, nonpossessive, a well-wisher to all, satisfied, surrendered to Kṛṣṇa, without hankering, simple, fixed, self-controlled, a balanced eater, sane, mannerly, prideless, grave, sympathetic, friendly, poetic, expert, and silent. Out of these twenty-six prominent features of a devotee, as described by Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja in his Caitanya-caritāmṛta, the qualification of being poetic is especially mentioned herein in relation to Śukadeva Gosvāmī. The presentation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by his recitation is the highest poetic contribution. He was a self-realized learned sage. In other words, he was a poet amongst the sages.

Verse 13 of 20
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