Bhagavat-kathā

śrotāro’tha nirūpyante śrīmad-viṣṇu-kathāśrayāḥ |
pravarā avarāś ceti śrotāro dvi-vidhā-patāḥ ||
pravarāś cātako haṁsaḥ śuko mīnādayas tathā |
avarā vṛka-bhūruṇḍa-vṛṣoṣṭādyāḥ prakīrtitāḥ ||
akhilopekṣayā yas tu kṛṣṇa-śāstra-śrutau vratī |
saḥ cātako yathāmbhoda-mukte pāthasi cātakaḥ ||
haṁsaḥ syāt sāram ādatte yaḥ śrotā vividhāc chrutāt |
dugdhenaikyaṁ gatāt toyād yathā haṁso’malaṁ payaḥ ||
śukaḥ suṣṭhu mitaṁ vakti vyāsam śrotṝṁś ca harṣayan |
supāṭhitaḥ śuko yadvat śikṣakaṁ pārśvagān api ||
śabdaṁ nānimiṣo jātu karoty āsvādayan rasam |
śrotā snigdho bhaven mīno mīnaḥ kṣīra-nidhau yathā ||
yas tudan rasikān śrotṝn vrauty ajño vṛko hi saḥ |
veṇu-svana-rasāsaktān vṛko’raṇye mṛgān yathā ||
bhūruṇḍaḥ śikṣayed anyāt śrutvā na svayam ācaret |
yathā himavataḥ śṛṅge bhūruṇḍākhyo vihaṁgamaḥ ||
sarvaṁ śrutam upādatte sārāsārāndha-dhīr vṛṣaḥ |
svādu-drākṣāṁ khaliṁ cāpi nirviśeṣaṁ yathā vṛṣaḥ ||
sa uṣṭro madhuraṁ muñcan viparīte rameta yaḥ |
yathā nimbaṁ caraty uṣṭro hitvāmram api tad-yutam ||
anye’pi bahavo bhedā dvayor bhṛṅga-kharādayaḥ |
vijñeyās tat-tad-ācāraiḥ tat-tat-prakṛti-sambhavaiḥ ||
(Skanda Purāṇa: Bhāgavata-māhātmya, 4.10–20)

“Now, listeners focused on Śrīmad Viṣṇu-kathā are examined. Listeners are set down in two categories: superior and inferior. The superior are called the cātaka, swan, parrot, fish, and so forth, and the inferior are [called] the wolf, bhūruṇḍa, bull, camel, and so forth. One who is avowed to listening [only] to Kṛṣṇa-śāstra with indifference towards all [else] is a cātaka, as the cātaka [bird] is avowed [exclusively] to water released by clouds. A listener who extracts the essence from various śāstras, just as a swan extracts pure milk from water that has been combined with milk, shall be [known as] a swan. A parrot [i.e., the class of listeners known as a parrot] speaks [i.e., recounts what has been heard] superlatively and concisely, delighting the expounder [i.e., the speaker of the Bhāgavatam] and the [other] listeners, just as a well-trained parrot delights his teacher and passers-by. A listener who never makes a sound or blinks, tastes the rasa [i.e., the rasa of the Bhāgavatam], and is affectionate [alt., lustrous] shall be [known as] a fish and is like a fish in the ocean of kṣīra. One who troubles and barks at rasikas and other listeners and is ignorant is a wolf, like a wolf who barks at and troubles deer in the forest fixated upon the rasa of the sound of a flute [played by a hunter]. The bhūruṇḍa will instruct others after listening but not practice himself [what he has heard and instructed others], just as the bird known as the bhūruṇḍa is found on the peaks of the Himalayas [where it listens to the talk of the sages there but does not practice those teachings itself]. The bull, whose mind is blind to [the distinction between] essence and non-essence, takes in everything that is heard, just as a bull indiscriminately takes in tasty grapes and oil-cakes as well. One who leaves aside what is sweet and enjoys the opposite [i.e., bitter things] is a camel, just as a camel grazes on neem and avoids even mangoes beside it. There are many other divisions of these two [i.e., superior and inferior listeners], such as the bee and the mule. They are to be known by their respective behaviors arising from their respective natures.”

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