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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 16: How Parīkṣit Received the Age of Kali
1.16.81.16.10

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 1.16.9

Ūti· What drives us to act
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śaunaka Ṛṣisince 1.16.5inside 1 frame: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya

मन्दस्य मन्दप्रज्ञस्य वयो मन्दायुषश्च वै ।

निद्रया ह्रियते नक्तं दिवा च व्यर्थकर्मभि: ॥ ९ ॥

mandasya manda-prajñasya

vayo mandāyuṣaś ca vai

nidrayā hriyate naktaṁ

divā ca vyartha-karmabhiḥ

Translation

Lazy human beings with paltry intelligence and a short duration of life pass the night sleeping and the day performing activities that are for naught.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Human Life Has a Higher Goal

  1. 1

    The human form is a special gift and a chance to escape repeated birth and death. Intelligent people value this opportunity and earnestly work toward freedom from material bondage.

  2. 2

    Working hard only for the temporary body's sense enjoyment misses the purpose of human life. Sense enjoyment is also available to lower animals.

  3. 3

    Days spent solely pursuing bodily enjoyment and nights passed in sleep leave this precious opportunity unused. Sense enjoyment is not the ultimate goal of human life.

Key points from the purport
  • The less intelligent do not know the real value of the human form of life.
  • But the less intelligent are lazy and unable to evaluate the gift of the human body to achieve liberation from the material bondage; they become more interested in so-called economic development and work very hard throughout life simply for the sense enjoyment of the temporary body.
  • But one should definitely try to understand that sense enjoyment is not the ultimate goal of human life.

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
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. mandasyaof the lazy
  2. mandapaltry
  3. prajñasyaof intelligence
  4. vayaḥage
  5. mandashort
  6. āyuṣaḥof duration of life
  7. caand
  8. vaiexactly
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Ūti · The creative impetus

    Why do we act, and what keeps us bound? · Subject 5 of 10

  • Abhaya · Fearlessness

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

    In this verse: “death”

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 1.16

    In this verse: “material”

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

Does my daily effort serve only bodily comfort, or also freedom from material bondage?

Practice

Review today's schedule and reserve ten minutes for considering the higher purpose of human life rather than another bodily pleasure.

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.

Quoted in 2 lectures. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Quoted in 2 lectures

In each of these he quotes this verse while speaking on another verse or subject. "Find the quote" opens the transcript at that spot.

Live this todayHuman Life Has a Higher GoalThis 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 1.16.9? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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