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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

1Chant the verse. Say the Sanskrit slowly and carefully.
2Read the word meanings. Go through each Sanskrit word and its meaning.
3Find the meaning yourself. Before the translation, piece the meaning together from the words.
4Read the translation. Ask: what is the Lord teaching here, and how does it apply to my life?
5Read the purport slowly. Read it two or three times. Don't rush.
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

1.13.32 1.13.34

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 1.13.33

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:Vidurasince 1.13.18inside 1 frame: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya

अम्बा च हतपुत्रार्ता पितृव्य: क्‍व गत: सुहृत् ।

अपि मय्यकृतप्रज्ञे हतबन्धु: स भार्यया ।

आशंसमान: शमलं गङ्गायां दु:खितोऽपतत् ॥ ३३ ॥

ambā ca hata-putrārtā

pitṛvyaḥ kva gataḥ suhṛt

api mayy akṛta-prajñe

hata-bandhuḥ sa bhāryayā

āśaṁsamānaḥ śamalaṁ

gaṅgāyāṁ duḥkhito ’patat

Translation

Where is my well-wisher, uncle Vidura, and mother Gāndhārī, who is very afflicted due to all her sons’ demise? My uncle Dhṛtarāṣṭra was also very mortified due to the death of all his sons and grandsons. Undoubtedly I am very ungrateful. Did he, therefore, take my offenses very seriously and, along with his wife, drown himself in the Ganges?

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

A Devotee Examines His Own Faults

1
Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira remained conscious of Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Gāndhārī’s grief. He took all possible care of them in their old age.
2
He remembered the protection Dhṛtarāṣṭra had given the fatherless Pāṇḍavas and feared that he had been ungrateful. His fear about their fate was a conjecture, not knowledge of what had happened.
3
Rather than dwelling on his uncle’s misdeeds, Yudhiṣṭhira considered his own unavoidable faults. A devotee of the Lord seeks to recognize and rectify personal faults rather than find fault with others.

Key points from the purport

The Pāṇḍavas, especially Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira and Arjuna, anticipated the aftereffects of the Battle of Kurukṣetra, and therefore Arjuna declined to execute the fighting.
Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was always conscious of the great plight of his uncle Dhṛtarāṣṭra and aunt Gāndhārī, and therefore he took all possible care of them in their old age and aggrieved conditions.
As a pious man, Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira took into account all his unavoidable misdeeds, and he never thought of the misdeeds of his uncle and company.

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

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

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

ambāmother-aunt
caand
hata-putrāwho had lost all her sons
ārtāin a sorry plight
pitṛvyaḥuncle Vidura
kvawhere
gataḥgone
suhṛtwell-wisher

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
Abhaya · Fearlessness
Steadiness through faith amid danger and death. · Theme in SB 1.13
In this verse: “death”, “feared”
Vātsalya · Parental affection
Affection and protective concern for the Lord as a child. · Theme in SB 1.13
In this verse: “mother”, “fatherless”
Dainya · Humility
Ego yields to insight, service and surrender. · Theme in SB 1.13
In this verse: “offenses”

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

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What fault of my own could I work to correct instead of dwelling on someone else’s?

Practice

Identify one mistake you can remedy today, and take a small step to put it right.

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayA Devotee Examines His Own FaultsThis 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.

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