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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 9: The Passing Away of Bhīṣmadeva in the Presence of Lord Kṛṣṇa
1.9.391.9.41

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 1.9.40

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Bhīṣmadevasince 1.9.32inside 1 frame: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya

ललितगतिविलासवल्गुहास-

प्रणयनिरीक्षणकल्पितोरुमाना: ।

कृतमनुकृतवत्य उन्मदान्धा:

प्रकृतिमगन् किल यस्य गोपवध्व: ॥ ४० ॥

lalita-gati-vilāsa-valguhāsa-

praṇaya-nirīkṣaṇa-kalpitorumānāḥ

kṛtam anukṛtavatya unmadāndhāḥ

prakṛtim agan kila yasya gopa-vadhvaḥ

Translation

Let my mind be fixed upon Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, whose motions and smiles of love attracted the damsels of Vrajadhāma [the gopīs]. The damsels imitated the characteristic movements of the Lord [after His disappearance from the rāsa dance].

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Honor the Gopīs’ Pure Loving Service

  1. 1

    The gopīs’ relationship with Kṛṣṇa is especially praiseworthy because of their purified loving service. His movements and loving smiles fully attracted their minds.

  2. 2

    Their oneness with the Lord is not the impersonalist’s sāyujya liberation. It is perfect loving ecstasy, in which the interests of the lover and the beloved become identical.

  3. 3

    The Lord is especially satisfied when His pure devotees are glorified. By remembering the gopīs, Bhīṣmadeva also prayed for their mercy at the last stage of his life.

Key points from the purport
  • By intense ecstasy in loving service, the damsels of Vrajabhūmi attained qualitative oneness with the Lord by dancing with Him on an equal level, embracing Him in nuptial love, smiling at Him in joke, and looking at Him with a loving attitude.
  • The relation of the Lord with Arjuna is undoubtedly praiseworthy for devotees like Bhīṣmadeva, but the relation of the gopīs with the Lord is still more praiseworthy because of their still more purified loving service.
  • The Lord is satisfied more when His pure devotees are glorified, and therefore Bhīṣmadeva has not only glorified the acts of Arjuna, his immediate object of attraction, but has also remembered the gopīs, who were endowed with unrivalled opportunities for rendering loving service to 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.

How it feels

Grief → Trust. Violence and bereavement make Kṛṣṇa's protective presence precious.

Chapters 7–9 of Canto 1: Postwar anguish, Kuntī and Bhīṣma. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 9: The Passing Away of Bhīṣmadeva in the Presence of Lord Kṛṣṇa

Bhīṣmadeva instructs Yudhiṣṭhira and fixes his attention on Kṛṣṇa as he prepares to pass away.

Back to this verse in chapter 1.9
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. lalitaattractive
  2. gatimovements
  3. vilāsafascinating acts
  4. valgu-hāsasweet smiling
  5. praṇayaloving
  6. nirīkṣaṇalooking upon
  7. kalpitamentality
  8. urumānāḥhighly glorified
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

  • Prema · Transcendental love

    The intimacy and sweetness of devotion to Kṛṣṇa. · Theme in SB 1.9

    In this verse: “love”, “lover”, “ecstasy”

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 1.9

    In this verse: “devotees”

  • Kṛpā · Divine mercy

    Grace received beyond material calculations. · Theme in SB 1.9

    In this verse: “mercy”

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

How might your service change if you focused more on the Lord’s interests than your own?

Practice

Offer a short prayer appreciating the gopīs’ pure loving service and asking for their mercy.

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.

1 lecture given on it. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

7

Connected stories

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

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 1.9's connections

Live this todayHonor the Gopīs’ Pure Loving ServiceThis 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 1.9.40? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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