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Read one verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with its Sanskrit, word meanings, translation and study points.

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Canto 10 · The Summum Bonum · 90 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 10 · Chapter 10: The Deliverance of the Yamala-arjuna Trees
10.10.1310.10.15

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 10.10.14

Manvantara· The Manus and right duty
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Nārada Munisince 10.10.8inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

यथा कण्टकविद्धाङ्गो जन्तोर्नेच्छति तां व्यथाम् ।

जीवसाम्यं गतो लिङ्गैर्न तथाविद्धकण्टक: ॥ १४ ॥

yathā kaṇṭaka-viddhāṅgo

jantor necchati tāṁ vyathām

jīva-sāmyaṁ gato liṅgair

na tathāviddha-kaṇṭakaḥ

Translation

By seeing their faces, one whose body has been pricked by pins can understand the pain of others who are pinpricked. Realizing that this pain is the same for everyone, he does not want others to suffer in this way. But one who has never been pricked by pins cannot understand this pain.

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Recognizing Shared Pain Encourages Compassion

  1. 1

    Someone who has been pricked by pins can recognize the same pain in another. Understanding this shared experience, one does not want others to suffer.

  2. 2

    The purport explains that actual experience helps one understand pain and happiness in the material world.

  3. 3

    The laws of nature bring consequences for killing animals. The purport explains māṁsa as meaning that the animal one eats will have the opportunity to eat one in return.

Key points from the purport
  • Unless one comes to the platform of actual experience, one cannot realize what is pain and what is happiness in this material world.
  • If one has killed an animal, one must himself be killed by that same animal.
  • In every state, therefore, it is ordinarily the custom that if a person commits murder he is hanged.

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

Worry and play → Parental tenderness. The Supreme becomes the beloved child of His devotees.

Chapters 5–11 of Canto 10: Gokula, Yaśodā and the infant Lord. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 10: The Deliverance of the Yamala-arjuna Trees

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

A poor man can be convinced very easily that the prestige of an opulent position in this material world is temporary, but a rich man cannot. Therefore Nārada Muni set an example by cursing these two persons, Nalakūvara and Maṇigrīva, to become dull and unconscious like trees.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 10.10
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. yathājust as
  2. kaṇṭaka-viddha-aṅgaḥa person whose body has been pinpricked
  3. jantoḥof such an animal
  4. nanot
  5. icchatidesires
  6. tāma particular
  7. vyathāmpain
  8. jīva-sāmyam gataḥwhen he understands that the position is the same for everyone
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Key ideas in this verse

The subject this verse serves and the themes it speaks of.

  • Manvantara · The change of Manus

    What gives human life its right direction? · Subject 6 of 10

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 10.10

    In this verse: “understand”, “understanding”

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 10.10

    In this verse: “material”

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 can a painful experience of my own help me avoid causing pain to another living being?

Practice

Before one action affecting another living being today, pause and consider how you would feel in that being's position.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayRecognizing Shared Pain Encourages CompassionThis 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 10.10.14? Get an answer from the verses themselves.