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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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Choose a chapter to see all its verses.

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 4: The Appearance of Śrī Nārada
1.4.221.4.24

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 1.4.23

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Sūta Gosvāmīsince 1.4.14inside 1 frame: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya

त एत ऋषयो वेदं स्वं स्वं व्यस्यन्ननेकधा ।

शिष्यै: प्रशिष्यैस्तच्छिष्यैर्वेदास्ते शाखिनोऽभवन् ॥ २३ ॥

ta eta ṛṣayo vedaṁ

svaṁ svaṁ vyasyann anekadhā

śiṣyaiḥ praśiṣyais tac-chiṣyair

vedās te śākhino ’bhavan

Translation

All these learned scholars, in their turn, rendered their entrusted Vedas unto their many disciples, granddisciples and great-granddisciples, and thus the respective branches of the followers of the Vedas came into being.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Vedic Knowledge Flows Through Disciplic Succession

  1. 1

    The learned scholars passed their entrusted Vedas to disciples, granddisciples and great-granddisciples. Thus different branches of Vedic followers arose.

  2. 2

    The Vedas are the original source of knowledge. The purport explains that both mundane and transcendental knowledge belong to this original source.

  3. 3

    Through different disciplic successions, Vedic knowledge was distributed throughout the world. No one can therefore claim independent knowledge beyond the Vedas.

Key points from the purport
  • The original source of knowledge is the Vedas.
  • In other words, the Vedic knowledge, broken into different branches by different disciplic successions, has been distributed all over the world.
  • No one, therefore, can claim independent knowledge beyond the Vedas.

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

Dissatisfaction → Inspired clarity. Even great accomplishment leaves Vyāsa without contentment until devotion is centered.

Chapters 4–6 of Canto 1: Vyāsa is dissatisfied; Nārada directs him to the Lord. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 4: The Appearance of Śrī Nārada

The sages inquire about Parīkṣit, while Sūta describes Vyāsadeva’s division of the Vedas and dissatisfaction.

Back to this verse in chapter 1.4
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. tethey
  2. eteall these
  3. ṛṣayaḥlearned scholars
  4. vedamthe respective Vedas
  5. svam svamin their own entrusted matters
  6. vyasyanrendered
  7. anekadhāmany
  8. śiṣyaiḥdisciples
3

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

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 1.4

    In this verse: “knowledge”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does remembering the teachers who preserve knowledge affect my attitude toward learning?

Practice

Before studying today, pause to appreciate the succession of teachers who passed down Vedic knowledge.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayVedic Knowledge Flows Through Disciplic SuccessionThis 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 1.4.23? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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