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Read one verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with its Sanskrit, word meanings, translation and study points.

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How to study this verse, in six steps
  1. 1Chant the verse. Say the Sanskrit slowly and carefully.
  2. 2Read the word meanings. Go through each Sanskrit word and its meaning.
  3. 3Find the meaning yourself. Before the translation, piece the meaning together from the words.
  4. 4Read the translation. Ask: what is the Lord teaching here, and how does it apply to my life?
  5. 5Read the purport slowly. Read it two or three times. Don't rush.
  6. 6Write down what touched you. Note the main points in your own notebook.
Read the full guide: how to hear the Bhāgavatam ›
Canto 1 · Chapter 13: Dhṛtarāṣṭra Quits Home
1.13.91.13.11

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 1.13.10

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhirasince 1.13.8inside 1 frame: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya

भवद्विधा भागवतास्तीर्थभूता: स्वयं विभो ।

तीर्थीकुर्वन्ति तीर्थानि स्वान्त:स्थेन गदाभृता ॥ १० ॥

bhavad-vidhā bhāgavatās

tīrtha-bhūtāḥ svayaṁ vibho

tīrthī-kurvanti tīrthāni

svāntaḥ-sthena gadābhṛtā

Translation

My lord, devotees like your good self are verily holy places personified. Because you carry the Personality of Godhead within your heart, you turn all places into places of pilgrimage.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Pure Devotees Make Places Holy

  1. 1

    A pure devotee always feels the presence of the Personality of Godhead everywhere. The Lord’s presence is manifested through His unalloyed devotees.

  2. 2

    Visiting a holy place means more than bathing in sacred rivers or visiting temples. One should seek pure devotees, learn from them and apply their instructions in practical life.

  3. 3

    Pure devotees desire only to serve the Lord, especially through hearing and chanting His glories. Their presence and service can purify the atmosphere of any place.

Key points from the purport
  • If anyone visits a holy place, he must search out the pure devotees residing in such holy places, take lessons from them, try to apply such instructions in practical life and thus gradually prepare oneself for the ultimate salvation, going back to Godhead.
  • The Personality of Godhead is always with such pure devotees because of their unalloyed service, which is without any tinge of fruitive action or utopian speculation.
  • So by their actions the pure devotees of the Lord can render any place into a place of pilgrimage, and the holy places are worth the name only on their account.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

Connected verses· 5

Quoted in the purport ofSB 4.6.25

Such a pure devotee, who has implicit faith in the lotus feet of the Lord, can create sacred places in any part of the world where he decides to remain: tīrthī-kurvanti tīrthāni.

Quoted in the purport ofSB 4.22.11

In the Bhāgavatam (1.13.10) there is also another reference: tīrthī-kurvanti tīrthāni.

Quoted in the purport ofSB 4.30.37

Tīrthī-kurvanti tīrthāni svāntaḥ-sthena gadā-bhṛtā: because the devotee always carries the Supreme Personality of Godhead within his heart, wherever he goes becomes a place of pilgrimage, a holy place for understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Quoted in the purport ofSB 9.9.6

Tīrthī-kurvanti tīrthāni svāntaḥ-sthena gadābhṛtā. Because saintly devotees always keep the Lord within the core of their hearts, they can perfectly cleanse the holy places of all sinful reactions.

Quoted in the purport ofSB 10.84.11

Because you carry the Personality of Godhead within your heart, you turn all places into places of pilgrimage.”

Each link is a verse the purport itself quotes, or a purport elsewhere that quotes this verse, shown with the purport's own words.

How it feels

Bereavement → Renunciation. The worldly support system recedes and attachment is exposed.

Chapters 13–15 of Canto 1: Dhṛtarāṣṭra departs; Kṛṣṇa disappears; Pāṇḍavas retire. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 13: Dhṛtarāṣṭra Quits Home

Vidura warns of inevitable death; Dhṛtarāṣṭra leaves home, and Yudhiṣṭhira finds his elders absent.

Back to this verse in chapter 1.13
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. bhavatyour good self
  2. vidhāḥlike
  3. bhāgavatāḥdevotees
  4. tīrthathe holy places of pilgrimage
  5. bhūtāḥconverted into
  6. svayampersonally
  7. vibhoO powerful one
  8. tīrthī-kurvantimake into a holy place of pilgrimage
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Key ideas in this verse

The subject this verse serves and the themes it speaks of.

  • Īśānukathā · The science of God

    Who is the Lord, and how do His devotees live? · Subject 7 of 10

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 1.13

    In this verse: “devotees”, “devotee”

  • Kīrtana · Hearing and chanting

    Remembering the Lord through sacred sound. · Theme in SB 1.13

    In this verse: “chanting”, “hearing”

  • Śuddhi · Inner transformation

    The reorientation of the heart toward service. · Theme in SB 1.13

    In this verse: “purify”

Chapter themes come from the story phase this chapter belongs to.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How can I make learning from devotees more central to my spiritual life?

Practice

Read a short instruction from a pure devotee and choose one way to apply it today.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

6

Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks

His recorded lectures on this verse, and the talks where he quotes it.

1 lecture given on it · quoted in 1 more lecture. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Quoted in 1 other lecture

In each of these he quotes this verse while speaking on another verse or subject. "Find the quote" opens the transcript at that spot.

Live this todayPure Devotees Make Places HolyOne of the 108 chosen lessons: a practice and a question from this verse

Study points are short summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport on Vedabase.

Ask the BhāgavatamHave a question about SB 1.13.10? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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