TEXT 13
tat sarvam nah samacaksva
prsto yad iha kincana
manye tvam visaye vacam
snatam anyatra chandasat
SYNONYMS
tatthat; sarvamall; nahunto us; samacaksvaclearly explain; prstahquestioned; yat ihaherein; kincanaall that; manyewe think; tvamyou; visayein all subjects; vacammeanings of words; snatamfully acquainted; anyatraexcept; chandasatportion of the Vedas.
TRANSLATION
We know that you are expert in the meaning of all subjects, except some portions of the Vedas, and thus you can clearly explain the answers to all the questions we have just put to you.
PURPORT
The difference between the Vedas and the Puranas is like that between the brahmanas and the parivrajakas. The brahmanas are meant to administer some fruitive sacrifices mentioned in the Vedas, but the parivrajakacaryas, or learned preachers, are meant to disseminate transcendental knowledge to one and all. As such, the parivrajakacaryas are not always expert in pronouncing the Vedic mantras, which are practiced systematically by accent and meter by the brahmanas who are meant for administering Vedic rites. Yet it should not be considered that the brahmanas are more important than the itinerant preachers. They are one and different simultaneously because they are meant for the same end, in different ways.
There is no difference also between the Vedic mantras and what is explained in the Puranas and Itihasa. According to Srila Jiva Gosvami, it is mentioned in the Madhyandina-sruti that all the Vedas, namely the Sama, Atharva, Rg, Yajur, Puranas, Itihasas, Upanisads, etc., are emanations from the breathing of the Supreme Being. The only difference is that the Vedic mantras are mostly begun with pranava omkara, and it requires some training to practice the metric pronunciation of the Vedic mantras. But that does not mean that Srimad-Bhagavatam is of less importance than the Vedic mantras. On the contrary, it is the ripened fruit of all the Vedas, as stated before. Besides that, the most perfectly liberated soul, Srila Sukadeva Gosvami, is absorbed in the studies of the Bhagavatam, although he is already self-realized. Srila Suta Gosvami is following his footsteps, and therefore his position is not the least less important because he was not expert in chanting Vedic mantras with metric pronunciation, which depends more on practice than actual realization. Realization is more important than parrotlike chanting.

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