Prabhupāda: Śravaṇam kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇam (SB 7.5.23)—this is bhāgavata-mārga. And arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sākhyam ātmā-nivedanam—that is pañcarātrika, arcanam. So out of the nine—nine, eight, seven, six, five—whatever you do, that is sufficient because absolute. Any item, even one item, you can, if you perform perfectly, that is sufficient. But there are nine alternative items.
Just like Haridāsa Ṭhākura, he simply chanted, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam. He did not establish any Deity, but he got perfection. There were many others. Just like Parīkṣit Mahārāja. At the last stage of his life he simply concentrated in hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śravaṇam. So if śravaṇa is perfect, that is sufficient. Any one of the nine items, if it is done perfectly, that is sufficient.
Parīkṣit Mahārāja, he did not go to the temple. He sat on the bank of the Ganges, and he was very serious because he knew that "I am going to die within seven days. Let me finish as soon as possible simply hearing of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam." He was intelligent; otherwise . . . not that simply he was hearing. He was questioning, as you have seen in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So he was very scholar. It means as the spiritual master, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, was a great scholar in Sanskrit, the king was also a great scholar. Therefore quickly he was reciting, and he was understanding. And as soon as there was some difficulty, he was immediately questioning.
So both the spiritual master and the disciple, they became perfect simply by śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam. This is bhāgavata-mārga. Simply by hearing and chanting. The spiritual master chanted, recited Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and that is being imitated. Again this karma-kāṇḍīya . . . this karma-kāṇḍīya vicāra, fruitive activities, the smārta brāhmins, they have manufactured a way of bhāgavata-saptaha. That is a farce only, because it is imitation of the process adopted by Parīkṣit Mahārāja and Śukadeva Gosvāmī.
But they are . . . these people, at the present moment, they are neither Parīkṣit Mahārāja nor Śukadeva Gosvāmī. So how it is possible to finish Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam within seven days? That is not possible. It has become a profession, that gorgeousness. They will make a mañcha, they will perform some ceremonies and there is some charitable.
The result is that the professional reciter will gather some money and some goods and he will maintain his family. That's all. And these people will take that, "I have heard for seven days Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam." Of course, there is some effect, but this is not recommended in anywhere in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that one has to hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam within seven days. No.
So far we see in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it is said, nityam bhāgavata-sevayā. People should hear daily, regularly Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Why seven days? Regularly. Naṣṭa-prāyeṣu abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā (SB 1.2.18). Nityam, daily, regularly, if one hears and chants Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, then naṣṭa-prāyeṣu abhadreṣu, then the dirty things within his heart becomes almost cleansed.
Now, just try to understand. By daily hearing . . . because we are so much contaminated that it is very difficult to get us freed from the contamination, so nityam, regularly, there should be regularly class, hearing of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Naṣṭa-prāyeṣu abhadreṣu.