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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
1.13.541.13.56

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 1.13.55

Mukti· Liberation
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Nārada Munisince 1.13.41inside 1 frame: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya

विज्ञानात्मनि संयोज्य क्षेत्रज्ञे प्रविलाप्य तम् ।

ब्रह्मण्यात्मानमाधारे घटाम्बरमिवाम्बरे ॥ ५५ ॥

vijñānātmani saṁyojya

kṣetrajñe pravilāpya tam

brahmaṇy ātmānam ādhāre

ghaṭāmbaram ivāmbare

Translation

Dhṛtarāṣṭra will have to amalgamate his pure identity with intelligence and then merge into the Supreme Being with knowledge of his qualitative oneness, as a living entity, with the Supreme Brahman. Being freed from the blocked sky, he will have to rise to the spiritual sky.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Pure Spiritual Identity Finds Fulfillment in Service

  1. 1

    The desire to dominate matter and refuse cooperation with the Lord covers the living being's pure spiritual identity. False identification develops through material intelligence, mind and senses.

  2. 2

    Self-realization includes understanding one's qualitative oneness with the Supersoul. Its highest perfection is transcendental loving service to the Lord.

  3. 3

    Dhṛtarāṣṭra attained perfection through the grace of Vidura and the Lord by actually practicing Vidura's instructions. Devotional service carries the liberated soul beyond the material coverings.

Key points from the purport
  • The living being, by his desiring to lord it over the material world and declining to cooperate with the Supreme Lord, contacts the sum total of the material world, namely the mahat-tattva, and from the mahat-tattva his false identity with the material world, intelligence, mind and senses is developed.
  • In other words, he has to realize that qualitatively he is nondifferent from the Supersoul, and thus he transcends the material sky by his pure identical intelligence and thus becomes engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord.
  • His so-called material body does not exist, being surcharged with the spiritual current of the Lord’s identical interest, and thus he is permanently freed from all contaminations of the sum total of the mahat-tattva.

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· 1

Quoted in the purport ofSB 6.10.11

In this regard, one may refer to the incident of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s leaving his body, as described in the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.13.55).

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
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. vijñānapurified identity
  2. ātmaniin intelligence
  3. saṁyojyaperfectly fixing
  4. kṣetra-jñein the matter of the living being
  5. pravilāpyamerging
  6. tamhim
  7. brahmaṇiin the Supreme
  8. ātmānampure living being
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Mukti · Liberation

    What is real freedom for the soul? · Subject 9 of 10

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

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

    In this verse: “knowledge”, “understanding”

  • Moha · Material attachment

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

    In this verse: “material”

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

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

    In this verse: “devotional service”

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

Am I only appreciating spiritual instructions, or am I putting them into practice?

Practice

Choose one spiritual instruction you have received and take one concrete step to follow it today.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayPure Spiritual Identity Finds Fulfillment in ServiceThis 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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