0032/SB 2/1/1

Five thousand years ago the great rajarṣi (saintly king) Mahārāja Parīkṣit reigned as emperor of the world. Having received a warning that he would die within a week, he renounced his entire kingdom and retired to the bank of the Ganges at Hastināpura (now Delhi) to fast until death and receive spiritual enlightenment. There, in an assembly of learned saints, he heard the entire Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from the great sage Śukadeva Gosvāmī. The Bhāgavatam begins with Emperor Parīkṣit's sober inquiry to Śukadeva Gosvāmī: "You are the spiritual master of great saints and devotees. I am therefore begging you to show the way of perfection for all persons, and especially for one who is about to die. Please let me know what a man should hear, chant, remember, and worship, and also what he should not do. Please explain all this to me." Śukadeva Gosvāmī's answer to this question and numerous other questions posed by Mahārāja Parīkṣit, concerning everything from the nature of the self to the origin of the universe, held the assembled sages in rapt attention continuously for the seven days leading to the King's death.