Śukadeva Gosvāmī is supposed to be liberated soul from the beginning of his life. That is a long story. He was sixteen years within his mother's womb. Anyway, he's accepted as a liberated soul. But still, he's attracted by the activities of the narration of the activities of the Lord, and he says that, idaṁ bhāgavataṁ nāma purāṇam, nairguṇya-sthā ramante sma guṇānukathane hareḥ. Idaṁ bhāgavataṁ nāma. This Bhāgavata, this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, brahma-sammitam... Brahma-sammitam. So "I heard it from my father, Dvaipāyana." Vyāsadeva, he composed this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and he found his son, Śukadeva Gosvāmī... He had many other sons, but this son, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, because he thought that "This body is liberated," so he taught him about the lessons of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and this is the first time... Because śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam. He heard it from his father, Dvaipayana, and he is now narrating, kīrtanam. He got the chance of narrating Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam at the time of death of Parīkṣit Mahārāja.
So here he admits that idaṁ bhāgavataṁ nāma purāṇaṁ brahma-sammitam. Brahma-sammitam means it is actually transcendental knowledge. Brahma-sammitam, adhītavān dvāparādau. So "By the end of Dvāpara Yuga I studied it from my great father, Kṛṣṇa Dvaipayana Vyāsa." So
- pariniṣṭhito 'pi nairguṇya
- uttama-śloka-līlayā
- gṛhīta-cetā rājarṣe
- ākhyānaṁ yad adhī...
Now the question may be that "You are liberated person. Why you are attracted with the narration of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam? " So he says that pariniṣṭhito 'pi nairguṇya. "Yes, although I'm situated in the transcendental position, uttama-śloka-līlā, the narration of Kṛṣṇa..." Kṛṣṇa is called uttama-śloka. Uttama-śloka means when Kṛṣṇa is described, He's described by chosen language, not ordinary language. You'll find, those who are students of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, you'll find each and every word so nice and so sublime, even from literary point of view. Therefore He's called Uttama-śloka. And His līlā, His pastimes So Śukadeva Gosvāmī admits that "Although I was situated in the liberated stage of life, still I was attracted by the activities or pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa." Pariniṣṭhito' pi nairguṇya uttama-śloka-līlayā, gṛhīta-ceta rājarṣe. "My dear King, I, I heard it wholeheartedly. It was, it is so nice, it is so sublime that it was attractive to me."
So the question is that a liberated person is never attracted with anything which is material. That is the sign of liberated person. But he was attracted by the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa. That means the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa are not material activities. Otherwise how a liberated person can be attracted? For example, Lord Caitanya. Lord Caitanya, He took sannyāsa. He was very... Sannyāsī. For a sannyāsī to talk with women, to mix with women, is very restricted. So he was very much careful about Him, about this matter. Even some of the women who were wives of His disciples and devotees, they could not come near Caitanya Mahāprabhu. They would offer their obeisances from a distant place. They were not forbidden, but that was the system. But this Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He took pleasure in hearing about the gopīs. Just try to understand. So therefore gopīs' pastime with Kṛṣṇa, they are not material. They are spiritual. Otherwise, how Caitanya Mahāprabhu was attracted?
So Kṛṣṇa and His pastimes, His name, quality, paraphernalia, entourage, everything is spiritual. That is accepted by great scholars like Śaṅkarācārya. He says: nārāyaṇa parā. "Nārāyaṇa, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is beyond this material world." There are many examples. In your Bible also, those who are Christians, God said, "Let there be creation." So there was creation. Now this world, this word is not vibration of this material world. In the material world, if I say, "Let there be some mango," so no. That is not possible. But in the spiritual vibration, that is possible. That is possible. So the study is that God said, "Let there be creation." So there was creation. Now this word existed before the creation, because "Let there be creation" means when God is speaking there was no creation. And the creation means this material world. Therefore this vibration is not material. So when God is saying, "Let there be creation," then He's a person. Therefore His personality is also transcendental, spiritual. Otherwise how He speaks? These things are there in the Vedic literature. Sa aikṣata: "He glanced over, and there was creation." And Bhagavad-gītā also it is said that mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10) .
So Kṛṣṇa's or God's position is always transcendental. Therefore those who are impersonalists, they are not attracted with the variegatedness of this material life. They want to make it void, because they have no information of the spiritual variegatedness. But this Śukadeva Gosvāmī, he became attracted with the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa because Kṛṣṇa's pastimes are not variegatedness of this material world. It completely spiritual. And to discuss about Kṛṣṇa, to hear about Kṛṣṇa, to chant about Kṛṣṇa, to glorify about Kṛṣṇa, everything is spiritual. So if you are engaged twenty-four hours in this business you are not in this material world. You are in the spiritual world.