श्रोतारोऽथ निरूप्यन्ते श्रीमद् विष्णुकथाश्रयाः ।
प्रवरा अवराश्चेति श्रोतारो द्विविधापताः ॥
प्रवराश्चातको हंसः शुको मीनादयस्तथा ।
अवरा वृकभूरुण्डवृषोष्ट्राद्याः प्रकीर्तिताः ॥
अखिलोपेक्षया यस्तु कृष्णशास्त्रश्रुतौ व्रती ।
सः चातको यथाम्भोदमुक्ते पाथसि चातकः ॥
हंसः स्यात् सारमादत्ते यः श्रोता विविधाच्छ्रुतात् ।
दुग्धेनैक्यं गतात्तोयाद्यथा हंसोऽमलं पयः ॥
शुकः सुष्ठु मितं वक्ति व्यासम् श्रोतॄंश्च हर्षयन् ।
सुपाठितः शुको यद्वत् शिक्षकं पार्श्वगानपि ॥
शब्दं नानिमिषो जातु करोत्यास्वादयन् रसम् ।
श्रोता स्निग्धो भवेन्मीनो मीनः क्षीरनिधौ यथा ॥
यस्तुदन्रसिकान्श्रोतॄन्व्रौत्यज्ञो वृको हि सः ।
वेणुस्वनरसासक्तान्वृकोऽरण्ये मृगान्यथा ॥
भूरुण्डः शिक्षयेदन्यात् श्रुत्वा न स्वयमाचरेत् ।
यथा हिमवतः शृङ्गे भूरुण्डाख्यो विहंगमः ॥
सर्वं श्रुतमुपादत्ते सारासारान्धधीर्वृषः ।
स्वादुद्राक्षां खलिं चापि निर्विशेषं यथा वृषः ॥
स उष्ट्रो मधुरं मुञ्चन् विपरीते रमेत यः ।
यथा निम्बं चरत्युष्ट्रो हित्वाम्रमपि तद्युतम् ॥
अन्येऽपि बहवो भेदा द्वयोर्भृङ्गखरादयः ।
विज्ञेयास्तत्तदाचारैः तत्तत्प्रकृतिसम्भवैः ॥
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.”