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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
1.5.31.5.5

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 1.5.4

Mukti· Liberation
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Addressing Vyāsadeva, the son of Parāśara, Nāradasince 1.5.2inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaNārada Muni → Vyāsadeva

जिज्ञासितमधीतं च ब्रह्म यत्तत्सनातनम् ।

तथापि शोचस्यात्मानमकृतार्थ इव प्रभो ॥ ४ ॥

jijñāsitam adhītaṁ ca

brahma yat tat sanātanam

tathāpi śocasy ātmānam

akṛtārtha iva prabho

Translation

You have fully delineated the subject of impersonal Brahman as well as the knowledge derived therefrom. Why should you be despondent in spite of all this, thinking that you are undone, my dear prabhu?

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Scholarship Yet a Sense of Incompleteness

  1. 1

    Vyāsadeva fully explained impersonal Brahman and the knowledge derived from that understanding.

  2. 2

    His Vedānta-sūtra, also called Brahma-sūtra, offers a scholarly deliberation on the impersonal absolute feature and eternity.

  3. 3

    His transcendental scholarship was beyond doubt. Yet Nārada asked why he still lamented and felt incomplete.

Key points from the purport
  • The Vedānta-sūtra, or Brahma-sūtra, compiled by Śrī Vyāsadeva is the full deliberation of the impersonal absolute feature, and it is accepted as the most exalted philosophical exposition in the world.
  • It covers the subject of eternity, and the methods are scholarly.
  • So there cannot be any doubt about the transcendental scholarship of Vyāsadeva.

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 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. jijñāsitamdeliberated fully well
  2. adhītamthe knowledge obtained
  3. caand
  4. brahmathe Absolute
  5. yatwhat
  6. tatthat
  7. sanātanameternal
  8. tathāpiin spite of that
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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

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 1.5

    In this verse: “knowledge”, “understanding”

  • Viraha · Longing in separation

    Love and remembrance experienced in apparent absence. · Theme in SB 1.5

    In this verse: “lamented”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Can I acknowledge a sense of incompleteness even when my studies have gone well?

Practice

Take a minute to name one unresolved spiritual question without dismissing what you have already learned.

5

The story around it

The stories this chapter belongs to.

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Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks

His recorded lectures on this verse, and the talks where he quotes it.

3 lectures given on it. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Show 1 more lecture on it
Live this todayScholarship Yet a Sense of IncompletenessThis 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 1.5.4? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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