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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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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
10.10.1510.10.17

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 10.10.16

Mukti· Liberation
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Nārada Munisince 10.10.8inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

नित्यं क्षुत्क्षामदेहस्य दरिद्रस्यान्नकाङ्क्षिण: ।

इन्द्रियाण्यनुशुष्यन्ति हिंसापि विनिवर्तते ॥ १६ ॥

nityaṁ kṣut-kṣāma-dehasya

daridrasyānna-kāṅkṣiṇaḥ

indriyāṇy anuśuṣyanti

hiṁsāpi vinivartate

Translation

Always hungry, longing for sufficient food, a poverty-stricken man gradually becomes weaker and weaker. Having no extra potency, his senses are automatically pacified. A poverty-stricken man, therefore, is unable to perform harmful, envious activities. In other words, such a man automatically gains the results of the austerities and penances adopted voluntarily by saintly persons.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Keep the Body Fit for Spiritual Advancement

  1. 1

    The translation describes how poverty and hunger weaken the senses and reduce the capacity for harmful, envious activities.

  2. 2

    The purport advises neither overeating nor undereating. We should eat frugally and keep the body fit for advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

  3. 3

    The real business of human life is advancement in spiritual realization. Strengthening the senses unnecessarily can increase disease, envy and a fighting spirit.

Key points from the purport
  • According to the opinion of experienced medical practitioners, diabetes is a result of voracious eating, and tuberculosis is a disease of undereating.
  • The real business of human life is to keep oneself fit for advancement in spiritual realization.
  • Human life is not meant for making the senses unnecessarily strong so that one suffers from disease and one increases in an envious, fighting spirit.

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

The purport of SB 10.10.16 quotesSB 1.2.10

As recommended elsewhere in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.10): The real business of human life is to keep oneself fit for advancement in spiritual realization.

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

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:

For such bewildered persons ( ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā), who especially deride devotees, the proper punishment is to be again stricken with poverty. The Vedic rules and regulations prescribe how to control the false sense of prestige by the practice of yama, niyama and so on ( tapasā brahmacaryeṇa śamena ca damena ca).
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 10.10
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. nityamalways
  2. kṣutwith hunger
  3. kṣāmaweak, without necessary strength
  4. dehasyaof the body of a poor man
  5. daridrasyapoverty-stricken
  6. anna-kāṅkṣiṇaḥalways desiring to get sufficient food
  7. indriyāṇithe senses, which are compared to snakes
  8. anuśuṣyantigradually become weaker and weaker, with less potency
  9. hiṁsā apithe tendency to be envious of others
  10. vinivartatereduces
3

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

  • Viraha · Longing in separation

    Love and remembrance experienced in apparent absence. · Theme in SB 10.10

    In this verse: “longing”

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

Do my eating habits support spiritual advancement or unnecessary sense gratification?

Practice

Eat one moderate, nourishing meal today with the intention of keeping your body fit for Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

6

Connected stories

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

The purport quotesSB 1.2.10

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 10.10's connections

Live this todayKeep the Body Fit for Spiritual AdvancementThis 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 10.10.16? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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