So what Śukadeva Gosvāmī did, that after assimilating the whole Vedic literature, he distributed it. That is another instinct. If you really have learned the essence of Vedic knowledge, automatically you'll be inclined to preach it. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam. Śravaṇam means to hear, to receive the knowledge. And next, kīrtanam, means to distribute or describe the knowledge. Yaḥ svānubhāvam akhila-śruti-sāram ekam adhyātma-dīpam (SB 1.2.3). Dīpam means lamp. So this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is just like the lamp in the darkness to see Kṛṣṇa, or God. Adhyātma-dīpam.
And for whom is it meant? Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is not meant for the street boys, or who are accustomed to read so many nonsense literature. They want to waste their time. They have no engagement. They purchase some book, fictitious book, and read it. Not only they—even elderly men, they read it. But this book is different from those books. It is meant for person . . . those who are desiring to get out of this world of ignorance. Tamo 'ndham. Gṛha andha-kūpam. Andha. Andha means blind or darkness.
So our materialistic way of life is described as gṛha andha-kūpam (SB 7.5.5). This family life is just like dark well. We are already in the darkness, and another darkness is to fall in the dark well. If one falls down in the dark well, it is very difficult to get out, because he may cry very loudly and people may not hear. These dark well are sometimes there in the paddy field.