The sages assembled in Naimiṣāraṇya extolled Śrīla Sūta Gosvāmī for his unparalleled qualities to be an ideal candidate to recite Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. We summarize his qualities as follows:
- He was free from vice (anagha). (SB 1.1.6)
- He has studied (adhītāni) religious scriptures (dharma-śāstrāṇi), supplementary (Puranic) scriptures (purāṇāni) and histories (itihāsāni ca) under guidance.(SB 1.1.6)
- He has also (api) explained (ākhyātāny) them to others. (SB 1.1.6)
- He was the most senior (śreṣṭho) scholar of the Vedas (veda-vidāṁ) and knew (viduḥ) all great learned scholars (parāvara-vido) including Śrīla Vyāsadeva (bhagavān bādarāyaṇaḥ), the composer of the Vedas. (SB 1.1.7)
- Since he was a gentle (saumya) and submissive (snigdhasya) disciple (śiṣyasya), he was, in fact (tattvatas), endowed with (uta) all the secrets (guhyam) of the Vedas by his teachers (guravo) as a result of their favor (tad-anugrahāt) upon him. (SB 1.1.8)
