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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

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

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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 18: Mahārāja Parīkṣit Cursed by a Brāhmaṇa Boy

1.18.15 1.18.17

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 1.18.16

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:The good sagessince 1.18.11inside 1 frame: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya

स वै महाभागवत: परीक्षिद्

येनापवर्गाख्यमदभ्रबुद्धि: ।

ज्ञानेन वैयासकिशब्दितेन

भेजे खगेन्द्रध्वजपादमूलम् ॥ १६ ॥

sa vai mahā-bhāgavataḥ parīkṣid

yenāpavargākhyam adabhra-buddhiḥ

jñānena vaiyāsaki-śabditena

bheje khagendra-dhvaja-pāda-mūlam

Translation

O Sūta Gosvāmī, please describe those topics of the Lord by which Mahārāja Parīkṣit, whose intelligence was fixed on liberation, attained the lotus feet of the Lord, who is the shelter of Garuḍa, the king of birds. Those topics were vibrated by the son of Vyāsa [Śrīla Śukadeva].

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Perfect Liberation Means Serving the Lord

1
Devotees worship the Lord’s transcendental form, while impersonalists meditate on His bodily effulgence, the brahmajyoti. Śukadeva Gosvāmī was initially an impersonalist but became attracted to the Lord’s pastimes and became a devotee.
2
A mahā-bhāgavata, or first-class devotee, sees everything in relation with the Lord. Mahārāja Parīkṣit was such a devotee and was kind even to the personality of Kali.
3
Śukadeva Gosvāmī’s instructions helped Mahārāja Parīkṣit attain the Lord’s service. Freedom from material bondage is liberation, but attaining transcendental service is the perfect stage of liberation.

Key points from the purport

Here in this verse it is said that Mahārāja Parīkṣit attained the lotus feet of the Lord by instructions in knowledge delivered by the son of Vyāsadeva, Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī was also an impersonalist in the beginning, as he himself has admitted in the Bhāgavatam (2.1.9), but later on he was attracted by the transcendental pastimes of the Lord and thus became a devotee.
Therefore knowledge imparted by Śukadeva Gosvāmī unto Mahārāja Parīkṣit helped him attain the service of the Lord.

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· 3

The purport of SB 1.18.16 quotesSB 2.1.9

Śukadeva Gosvāmī was also an impersonalist in the beginning, as he himself has admitted in the Bhāgavatam (2.1.9), but later on he was attracted by the transcendental pastimes of the Lord and thus became a devotee.

The purport of SB 1.18.16 quotesBG 12.5

It is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (12.5) that persons stuck on the impersonal step undergo more sufferings than achievement of reality.

The purport of SB 1.18.16 quotesSB 1.2.12

Such a stage is attained by knowledge and renunciation, as we have already explained, and perfect knowledge, as delivered by Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī, results in the attainment of the transcendental service of the Lord.

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

Remorse and urgency → Surrender and inquiry. Seven days to live become the impetus for complete spiritual hearing.

Chapters 18–19 of Canto 1: Parīkṣit is cursed and welcomes Śukadeva. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 18: Mahārāja Parīkṣit Cursed by a Brāhmaṇa Boy

A sage’s son curses Parīkṣit, but his father condemns the punishment of the saintly king.

Back to this verse in chapter 1.18

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

saḥhe
vaicertainly
mahā-bhāgavataḥfirst-class devotee
parīkṣitthe King
yenaby which
apavarga-ākhyamby the name of liberation
adabhrafixed
buddhiḥintelligence

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
Bhakti · Devotion and loving service
How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 1.18
In this verse: “devotees”, “worship”
Śaraṇāgati · Wholehearted surrender
Relinquishing ownership while entrusting oneself to the Lord. · Theme in SB 1.18
In this verse: “shelter”
Rāja-dharma · Devotional leadership
Serving and protecting through responsibility. · Theme in SB 1.18
In this verse: “king”

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

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Is my spiritual aim only freedom from suffering, or the positive goal of serving the Lord?

Practice

Read these instructions again and write one sentence naming service to the Lord as your spiritual goal.

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Connected stories

Keep going: stories told elsewhere in the Bhāgavatam that this verse or its purport brings in.

The purport quotesSB 2.1.9 SB 1.2.12

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 1.18's connections

Live this todayPerfect Liberation Means Serving the LordThis 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 1.18.16? Get an answer from the verses themselves.

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