Living And Preaching Bhagavata - Prabhupada 0328
740527 - Lecture SB 01.02.03 - Rome
In India now there are a class of men, especially in Vṛndāvana, the gosvāmīs, they make a business. Therefore there are many, many very artistic Bhāgavata reciter, but they could not turn even one man to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, because they are not self-realized, svānubhāvam. Of course, we have tried our best, so in few years there are so many Kṛṣṇa conscious persons come out. This is the secret. Unless one is svānubhāvam, self-realized, life is Bhāgavata, he cannot preach Bhāgavata. That is not . . . that will not be effective. A gramophone will not help. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu's secretary, Svarūpa Dāmodara, recommended, bhāgavata pora giyā bhāgavata-sthāne that, "If you want to read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, you must approach a person who is life living Bhāgavata." Otherwise, there is no question of Bhāgavata realization.