Canto 3: The Status Quo
SB3.21

Canto 3 · Chapter 21 · 56 verses · 1 story

Conversation Between Manu and Kardama

Kardama performs penance, receives the Lord’s blessings, and welcomes Manu, who travels with his wife and daughter.

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Themes of SB 3.21Dharma4Vairāgya4Bhakti3Vātsalya3from its story phase
Connected storiesLord Kapila and DevahūtiMahārāja PriyavrataKing YayātiDakṣa
Who is speakingSūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → ViduraEvery voice in this chapter ›

What this chapter speaks about · the ten subjects

In this chapter

Who · Kardama Muni, the Supreme Lord, Svāyambhuva Manu, Śatarūpā, Devahūti

The story · Ordered by Brahmā to beget children, Kardama Muni practiced penance beside the Sarasvatī for ten thousand years. The Lord appeared to him and foretold the arrival of Manu and Śatarūpā. Manu came with his daughter and appealed to Kardama with affection and humility. Kardama agreed to marry Devahūti, on the condition that he would later take up the life of devotional service described by Lord Viṣṇu. After giving gifts to the couple, Manu and Śatarūpā returned home.

What it teaches · Kardama kept devotional service as the aim beyond household life. Manu likewise passed his time thinking of Vāsudeva and engaging in matters concerning Him.

SB 3.21.6SB 3.22.19SB 3.22.36Read chapter 21 ›

Beyond this chapter

Connected stories across the Bhāgavatam

Stories told in other chapters that this chapter's verses or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purports bring in, the other Bhāgavatam verses the purports quote, and stories in other cantos with the same themes. Each link shows the sentence it comes from.

Lord Kapila and Devahūti

SB 3.24 · Kapila appears and Kardama renouncesSB 3.25–29 · Kapila teaches His motherSB 3.30–32 · Kapila describes the soul’s wandering

What it teaches · The Lord appears to support His devotees. True renunciation means surrendering one’s activities to Him and seeking Him through unfailing devotional service.

O great sage, I shall manifest My own plenary portion through your wife, Devahūti, along with your nine daughters, and I shall instruct her in the system of philosophy that deals with the ultimate principles or categories.

O holy brāhmaṇa, O sinless one, you have spoken of his daughter, known by the name Devahūti, as the wife of the sage Kardama, the lord of created beings.

Read the story in SB 3.24

Mahārāja Priyavrata

SB 5.1 · Priyavrata accepts the kingdom

What it teaches · Śukadeva Gosvāmī explains that devotional service is transcendental to material influences. A devotee who takes shelter of the Lord’s lotus feet can overcome material distress and conquer the mind and senses.

The two great sons of Svāyambhuva Manu — Priyavrata and Uttānapāda — ruled the world, consisting of seven islands, just according to religious principles.

In this verse the names of Priyavrata and Uttānapāda, sons of Svāyambhuva, are mentioned.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 3.21.2 (Text 2)
Read the story in SB 5.1

King Yayāti

SB 9.18–19 · Yayāti gives up enjoyment

What it teaches · Lust and greed cannot be satisfied even by all the world’s wealth. One who understands the temporary nature of material happiness turns away from pursuing it.

We have evidences from the history of the Vedic age that Śukrācārya offered his daughter to Mahārāja Yayāti, but the King had to refuse to marry the daughter of a brāhmaṇa;

Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 3.21.28 (Text 28)
Read the story in SB 9.18–19

Dakṣa

SB 4.2–4 · Satī confronts Dakṣa’s envySB 4.5–7 · Dakṣa’s sacrifice is restoredSB 6.4 · Dakṣa’s prayers to the Lord

What it teaches · Lord Śiva explains that false ego produces envy of self-realized persons. Satī identifies envy of Lord Śiva, who is free from enmity, as a grave offense.

O holy sage, tell me how the worshipful Ruci and Dakṣa, the son of Brahmā, generated children after securing as their wives the other two daughters of Svāyambhuva Manu.

Svāyambhuva Manu is also known as Prajāpati, as is Dakṣa, another son of Brahmā.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 3.21.5 (Text 5)
Read the story in SB 4.2–4

Same themes in another canto

Both chapters carry these themes strongly in the themes map, an editorial reading of each chapter's story.

  1. Learn
  2. Live
  3. Lead
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