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Study a Verse

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

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Canto 1 · Creation · 19 chapters

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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
1.13.211.13.23

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 1.13.22

Nirodha· Winding up
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Vidurasince 1.13.18inside 1 frame: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya

अन्ध: पुरैव वधिरो मन्दप्रज्ञाश्च साम्प्रतम् ।

विशीर्णदन्तो मन्दाग्नि: सराग: कफमुद्वहन् ॥ २२ ॥

andhaḥ puraiva vadhiro

manda-prajñāś ca sāmprataṁ

viśīrṇa-danto mandāgniḥ

sarāgaḥ kapham udvahan

Translation

You have been blind from your very birth, and recently you have become hard of hearing. Your memory is shortened, and your intelligence is disturbed. Your teeth are loose, your liver is defective, and you are coughing up mucus.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Hear the Warning of Bodily Decline

  1. 1

    Vidura pointed out Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s symptoms of old age as warnings that death was approaching. This dwindling of the material body is called apakṣaya.

  2. 2

    The body is born, develops, stays, produces other bodies, dwindles and vanishes. Trying to make a permanent settlement in it makes us forget our permanent identity and prime duty.

  3. 3

    Genuine saints awaken people to the real situation rather than merely satisfying their senses. Vidura spoke truthfully instead of supporting Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s attachment.

Key points from the purport
  • The symptoms of old age, which had already developed in Dhṛtarāṣṭra, were all one after another pointed out to him as warning that death was nearing very quickly, and still he was foolishly carefree about his future.
  • With such foolish ideas, they become overtaken by such temporary engagements and forget altogether that they must give up this temporary body and take a new one, again to arrange for another term of society, friendship and love, again to perish ultimately.
  • Saints and sages like Vidura approach such foolish men to awaken them to the real situation, but they take such sādhus and saints as parasites of society, and almost all of them refuse to hear the words of such sādhus and saints, although they welcome show-bottle sādhus and so-called saints who can satisfy their senses.

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

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
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. andhaḥblind
  2. purāfrom the beginning
  3. evacertainly
  4. vadhiraḥhard of hearing
  5. manda-prajñāḥmemory shortened
  6. caand
  7. sāmpratamrecently
  8. viśīrṇaloosened
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Nirodha · Returning home, back to Godhead

    What happens when everything here comes to an end? · Subject 8 of 10

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 1.13

    In this verse: “attachment”, “material”

  • Kīrtana · Hearing and chanting

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

    In this verse: “hearing”

  • Dharma · Duty and righteous conduct

    Right action as duty, responsibility and devotion. · Theme in SB 1.13

    In this verse: “duty”

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

Are you willing to hear spiritual guidance that challenges your comfortable assumptions?

Practice

Reread one of Vidura’s warnings here and write down what it asks you to reconsider.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayHear the Warning of Bodily DeclineThis verse's lesson: one practice and one question for today

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 1.13.22? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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