By Vraja Vilasa dasa
Srila Prabhupada instituted the daily Srimad Bhagavatam class as an essential pillar for ISKCON’s preaching movement. He also left us with many instructions on how we can best benefit from this class. The importance of hearing properly from proper sources is always emphasized by Srila Prabhupada. The first duty, of someone who wants to get the right information in the right way, is to select a proper speaker to hear from: “Therefore, first one should select a competent and bona fide speaker and then hear from him.” (SB 1.8.36). However, we see many different types of speakers of all kinds in ISKCON temples and, because many devotees remain unaware of the necessary qualifications for selecting a speaker for Srimad Bhagavatam class, they may fail to select speakers of the appropriate standard. So, in order to remind everyone of Srila Prabhupada's merciful instructions on this matter, here are some references to inform their decisions on who exactly should be selected to speak to the assembled devotees in ISKCON temples. Many devotees may be surprised at the standard required.