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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
1.16.61.16.8

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 1.16.7

Mukti· Liberation
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śaunaka Ṛṣisince 1.16.5inside 1 frame: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya

क्षुद्रायुषां नृणामङ्ग मर्त्यानामृतमिच्छताम् ।

इहोपहूतो भगवान्मृत्यु: शामित्रकर्मणि ॥ ७ ॥

kṣudrāyuṣāṁ nṛṇām aṅga

martyānām ṛtam icchatām

ihopahūto bhagavān

mṛtyuḥ śāmitra-karmaṇi

Translation

O Sūta Gosvāmī, there are those amongst men who desire freedom from death and get eternal life. They escape the slaughtering process by calling the controller of death, Yamarāja.

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Hear and Chant the Lord's Holy Name

  1. 1

    As intelligence develops, the living being seeks freedom from death. The purport explains that scientific knowledge cannot free even the scientist from Yamarāja's call.

  2. 2

    Yamarāja is a great devotee of the Lord. He welcomes invitations to kīrtanas and sacrifices from pure devotees constantly engaged in devotional service.

  3. 3

    The sages headed by Śaunaka invited Yamarāja to their sacrifice at Naimiṣāraṇya. The purport presents calling him to hear and chant the Lord's holy name as their means of suspending his work of death.

Key points from the purport
  • The living entity, as he develops from lower animal life to a higher human being and gradually to higher intelligence, becomes anxious to get free from the clutches of death.
  • Modern scientists try to avoid death by physiochemical advancement of knowledge, but alas, the controller of death, Yamarāja, is so cruel that he does not spare even the very life of the scientist himself.
  • The scientist, who puts forward the theory of stopping death by advancement of scientific knowledge, becomes himself a victim of death when he is called by Yamarāja.

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. kṣudravery small
  2. āyuṣāmof the duration of life
  3. nṛṇāmof the human beings
  4. aṅgaO Sūta Gosvāmī
  5. martyānāmof those who are sure to meet death
  6. ṛtameternal life
  7. icchatāmof those who desire it
  8. ihaherein
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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

  • Kīrtana · Hearing and chanting

    Remembering the Lord through sacred sound. · Theme in SB 1.16

    In this verse: “chant”, “kīrtanas”, “holy name”

  • Abhaya · Fearlessness

    Steadiness through faith amid danger and death. · Theme in SB 1.16

    In this verse: “death”

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 1.16

    In this verse: “devotional service”, “devotee”

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

How can awareness of death strengthen my desire to hear and chant the Lord's holy name?

Practice

Set aside a few quiet minutes today to chant and attentively hear the Lord's holy name.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

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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 todayHear and Chant the Lord's Holy NameThis 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 1.16.7? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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