I offer my humble obeisances to Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the best of yogīs, and the very form of para-brahman, who saved Mahārāja Parīkṣit, bitten by the snake of material existence. He offers respects to Śukadeva. He is addressed as king of the yogīs because he is the chief master of bhakti-yoga, jṣāna-yoga, karma-yoga and aśṭāṅga-yoga. He is the very form of parabrahman (brahma-rūpine). He delivered Parīkṣit who was bitten by the snake of saṁsāra. Just as the Lord removed Arjuna’s illusion by teaching the Gītā, and he removed Uddhava’s illusion by instructions in the Eleventh Canto, Śukadeva removed Parīkṣit saṁsāra by the Bhāgavatam. This is a statement made for common people. Actually, since all three are eternal associates of the Lord, they have no trace of saṁsāra. It is seen that the system for the continuation of beneficial teachings takes support of a single, great devotee among many merciful devotees who expertly bear the task of making the jīvas receive benefit. In this case the word viṣṇu-rāta is used to describe Parīkṣit. Viṣṇu-rāta means Parīkṣit who was given (rāta) to Yudhiṣṭhira by the mercy of Viṣṇu, or who was received by the Lord himself. What foolish person could think he was affected by saṁsāra? Moreover, just as in this world a mantra to remove poison does not depend are material knowledge, so, whether one knows or does not know material subjects, the sounds of the Bhāgavatam completely uproot the poison of saṁsāra. This is the intention of the speaker in choosing his words.