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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 5: Nārada’s Instructions on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam for Vyāsadeva
1.5.91.5.11

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 1.5.10

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Nārada Munisince 1.5.8inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaNārada Muni → Vyāsadeva

न यद्वचश्चित्रपदं हरेर्यशो

जगत्पवित्रं प्रगृणीत कर्हिचित् ।

तद्वायसं तीर्थमुशन्ति मानसा

न यत्र हंसा निरमन्त्युशिक्क्षया: ॥ १० ॥

na yad vacaś citra-padaṁ harer yaśo

jagat-pavitraṁ pragṛṇīta karhicit

tad vāyasaṁ tīrtham uśanti mānasā

na yatra haṁsā niramanty uśik-kṣayāḥ

Translation

Those words which do not describe the glories of the Lord, who alone can sanctify the atmosphere of the whole universe, are considered by saintly persons to be like unto a place of pilgrimage for crows. Since the all-perfect persons are inhabitants of the transcendental abode, they do not derive any pleasure there.

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Choose Words That Glorify the Lord

  1. 1

    Words describing the Lord’s glories can sanctify the whole universe. Saintly persons take no pleasure in words that lack such glorification.

  2. 2

    Decorative language about bodily and mental enjoyment cannot satisfy the spiritual urge. The purport compares beautiful writing without the Lord’s glories to decoration of a dead body.

  3. 3

    Swanlike, spiritually advanced people maintain voluntary transcendental service to the Lord. They enjoy literature glorifying Him because they have grasped the essence of human activities.

Key points from the purport
  • The crows take pleasure in a place where garbage is thrown out, just as the passionate fruitive workers take pleasure in wine and woman and places for gross sense pleasure.
  • The swans do not take pleasure in the places where crows are assembled for conferences and meetings.
  • Spiritually advanced men who are compared to the swans do not take pleasure in such dead literatures, which are sources of pleasure for men who are spiritually dead.

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· 1

Quoted in the purport ofSB 12.12.53

This and the previous two verses are found in a slightly different form in the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.5.10-12).

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

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 5: Nārada’s Instructions on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam for Vyāsadeva

Nārada urges Vyāsadeva to describe the Lord’s glories and recalls his own service to sages.

Back to this verse in chapter 1.5
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. nanot
  2. yatthat
  3. vacaḥvocabulary
  4. citra-padamdecorative
  5. hareḥof the Lord
  6. yaśaḥglories
  7. jagatuniverse
  8. pavitramsanctified
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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

  • Kīrtana · Hearing and chanting

    Remembering the Lord through sacred sound. · Theme in SB 1.5

    In this verse: “glorification”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Does my choice of reading nourish devotional service or mainly bodily and mental enjoyment?

Practice

Replace five minutes of reading about sense pleasure with reading that describes the Lord’s glories.

5

The story around it

The stories 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 · quoted in 8 more lectures. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Quoted in 8 other 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 todayChoose Words That Glorify 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 1.5.10? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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