Śravaṇam—hearing. Somebody is speaking, and somebody is hearing. So both speaking and hearing, both of them are in the process of devotional service. But that talking or speaking and hearing, not about newspaper, Nixon news—Viṣṇu. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ (SB 7.5.23). There are so many things people are interested in newspaper, hearing and speaking. Radio talks, they are also speaking, and so many millions of people are hearing. Television, that is also speaking, hearing. News column . . . there are so many speaking and hearing. The whole world is full of speaking and hearing. But the distinction between ordinary speaking and hearing and this speaking and hearing about the glorification of the Lord is different.
So we cannot remain without speaking or hearing. That is a practical fact. But when that speaking and hearing is engaged in the matter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that is called devotional service. We cannot avoid speaking and hearing. That is not possible. If you don’t speak here or hear here, then I will have to find out some television or some radio or some meeting, conference, or in some bioscope or cinema. I cannot remain free from these processes of speaking and hearing. That is not possible. When that speaking and hearing is engaged in the matter of the glorification of the Lord, that is called devotional service.
So Parīkṣit Mahārāj was on the point of death, and because he was emperor of the whole world . . . so people generally, if something happens to Mr. Nixon, and everyone hears about it within few minutes. Similarly, when it was decided that Parīkṣit Mahārāja would die within seven days, so he prepared himself. He went to the bank of the Ganges to spend the remaining seven days of his life, and many saintly persons—sages, kings and demigods—came to see him. That is natural, a very, very great emperor. So in that great meeting the king asked—there were many saintly persons—"What is my duty now? I am going to die after seven days." So there are different opinions, different scriptures, different philosophers. Somebody said that "You do this," somebody said, "You do this." But all the saintly persons, they regarded Śukadeva Goswāmī– although he was the youngest at that time, only sixteen years old—they agreed that what Śukadeva Goswāmī would prescribe, that is nice; that will be very nice.