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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 ›
Canto 1 · Chapter 16: How Parīkṣit Received the Age of Kali
1.16.31.16.5

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 1.16.4

Manvantara· The Manus and right duty
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Sūta Gosvāmīsince 1.16.1inside 1 frame: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya

निजग्राहौजसा वीर: कलिं दिग्विजये क्‍वचित् ।

नृपलिङ्गधरं शूद्रं घ्नन्तं गोमिथुनं पदा ॥ ४ ॥

nijagrāhaujasā vīraḥ

kaliṁ digvijaye kvacit

nṛpa-liṅga-dharaṁ śūdraṁ

ghnantaṁ go-mithunaṁ padā

Translation

Once, when Mahārāja Parīkṣit was on his way to conquer the world, he saw the master of Kali-yuga, who was lower than a śūdra, disguised as a king and hurting the legs of a cow and bull. The King at once caught hold of him to deal sufficient punishment.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Leadership Means Protection, Not Self-Importance

  1. 1

    Mahārāja Parīkṣit's tour was not for aggression or self-aggrandizement. As the Lord's representative, he was inspecting whether the state was being governed according to the Lord's will.

  2. 2

    When he saw a man dressed as a king hurting a cow and bull, he immediately intervened. The purport explains that cow protection is essential for maintaining brahminical culture.

  3. 3

    Brahminical culture requires education in the quality of goodness. Leaders without higher aims encourage mismanagement and quarrel, which Mahārāja Parīkṣit wanted to stop at their beginning.

Key points from the purport
  • Mahārāja Parīkṣit went out to conquer the world after his ascendance to the throne, but this was not for the purpose of aggression on other states.
  • Thus as soon as Mahārāja Parīkṣit saw that a lower-class man in the dress of a king was hurting the legs of a cow and a bull, at once he arrested and punished him.
  • Mahārāja Parīkṣit, trained as he was, got the scent of this root cause of all quarrel in the world.

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

Moral alarm → Resolve. The king's duty is tested in a deteriorating age.

Chapters 16–17 of Canto 1: Parīkṣit confronts Kali. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 16: How Parīkṣit Received the Age of Kali

Parīkṣit rules as a devotee while the personality of religion and mother earth discuss their distress.

Back to this verse in chapter 1.16
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. nijagrāhasufficiently punished
  2. ojasāby prowess
  3. vīraḥvaliant hero
  4. kalimunto Kali, the master of the age
  5. digvijayeon his way to conquer the world
  6. kvacitonce upon a time
  7. nṛpa-liṅga-dharamone who passes in the dress of a king
  8. śūdramthe lower class
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Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Manvantara · The change of Manus

    What gives human life its right direction? · Subject 6 of 10

  • Rāja-dharma · Devotional leadership

    Serving and protecting through responsibility. · Theme in SB 1.16

    In this verse: “king”, “governed”

  • Rakṣā · Divine protection

    Protection of devotees through the Lord’s intervention. · Theme in SB 1.16

    In this verse: “protection”

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

Do I use the responsibility I have to protect others or to increase my own importance?

Practice

Use one opportunity today to care for an animal rather than ignore its needs.

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. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Live this todayLeadership Means Protection, Not Self-ImportanceThis 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 1.16.4? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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