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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 ›

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 1.13.25

Who is speaking and story frame

तस्यापि तव देहोऽयं कृपणस्य जिजीविषो: ।

परैत्यनिच्छतो जीर्णो जरया वाससी इव ॥ २५ ॥

tasyāpi tava deho ’yaṁ

kṛpaṇasya jijīviṣoḥ

paraity anicchato jīrṇo

jarayā vāsasī iva

Translation

Despite your unwillingness to die and your desire to live even at the cost of honor and prestige, your miserly body will certainly dwindle and deteriorate like an old garment.

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Use Your Remaining Time for Ultimate Good

  1. 1

    The body must dwindle like an old garment, however strongly one wishes to keep living. Vidura urged Dhṛtarāṣṭra to prepare for death rather than live at any cost.

  2. 2

    A kṛpaṇa, or miserly person, misunderstands the value of the body and spends its strength on sense gratification. A brāhmaṇa has a true understanding of himself and the material body.

  3. 3

    Human life is meant for ending the miseries of material existence. Instruction from a self-realized soul helps us use our remaining days for the ultimate good.

Key points from the purport
  • The kṛpaṇa, or the miserly man, has no estimation of his material body, but the brāhmaṇa has a true estimation of himself and the material body.
  • Dhṛtarāṣṭra is addressed herein as a kṛpaṇa because without any estimation of his material body he wants to live at any cost.
  • Only by good luck does such a miserly man meet a self-realized soul like Vidura and by his instruction gets rid of the nescience of material existence.

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
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. tasyaof this
  2. apiin spite of
  3. tavayour
  4. dehaḥbody
  5. ayamthis
  6. kṛpaṇasyaof one who is miserly
  7. jijīviṣoḥof you who desire life
  8. paraitiwill dwindle
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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: “sense gratification”, “material”

  • Abhaya · Fearlessness

    Steadiness through faith amid danger and death. · Theme in SB 1.13

    In this verse: “death”

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 1.13

    In this verse: “understanding”

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

What would it mean to use your remaining time generously rather than miserly?

Practice

Replace five minutes of sense enjoyment today with study of this instruction on life’s ultimate good.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayUse Your Remaining Time for Ultimate GoodThis 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 1.13.25? Get an answer from the verses themselves.