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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 2: Prayers by the Demigods for Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Womb
10.2.3110.2.33

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 10.2.32

Mukti· Liberation
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:The demigodssince 10.2.26inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

येऽन्येऽरविन्दाक्ष विमुक्तमानिन-

स्त्वय्यस्तभावादविशुद्धबुद्धय: ।

आरुह्य कृच्छ्रेण परं पदं तत:

पतन्त्यधोऽनाद‍ृतयुष्मदङ्‌घ्रय: ॥ ३२ ॥

ye ’nye ’ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho ’nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

Translation

[Someone may say that aside from devotees, who always seek shelter at the Lord’s lotus feet, there are those who are not devotees but who have accepted different processes for attaining salvation. What happens to them? In answer to this question, Lord Brahmā and the other demigods said:] O lotus-eyed Lord, although nondevotees who accept severe austerities and penances to achieve the highest position may think themselves liberated, their intelligence is impure. They fall down from their position of imagined superiority because they have no regard for Your lotus feet.

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Devotion, not imagined liberation, brings perfection

  1. 1

    Severe austerities and hard work do not bring the highest perfection when one neglects the Lord’s lotus feet. Those who think themselves liberated without devotion still have impure intelligence and fall down.

  2. 2

    The perfection of life is to become a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Taking shelter of His lotus feet brings satisfaction beyond material blessings.

  3. 3

    The Lord asks us to think of Him, become His devotees, worship Him and offer Him respect. Only through devotional service can one understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead as He is and enter His kingdom.

Key points from the purport
  • There are many varieties of nondevotees who have their respective ways of liberation, but simply because they do not know the shelter of the Lord’s lotus feet, although they falsely think that they have been liberated and elevated to the highest position, they fall down.
  • In the present day, big, big politicians all over the world think that by scheming they can occupy the highest political post, that of president or prime minister, but we actually see that even in this life such big prime ministers, presidents and other politicians, because of being nondevotees, fall down (patanty adhaḥ).
  • Those who are attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead in love always see the Lord’s lotus eyes and lotus feet, whereas others cannot see the Lord’s beauty and are therefore classified as anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ, or neglectful of the Lord’s personal form.

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· 5

The purport of SB 10.2.32 quotesBG 9.3

As clearly stated by the Lord Himself in Bhagavad-gītā (9.3): “Those who are not faithful on the path of devotional service cannot attain Me, O conqueror of foes, but return to birth and death in this material world.”

The purport of SB 10.2.32 quotesSB 7.5.31

The śāstra says, na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum. One achieves the perfection of life by becoming a devotee of Viṣṇu, but people do not know this.

The purport of SB 10.2.32 quotesBG 12.5

Therefore, as stated in Bhagavad-gītā (12.5), kleśo ’dhikataras teṣām avyaktāsakta-cetasām.

The purport of SB 10.2.32 quotesSB 10.14.4

kliśyanti ye kevala-bodha-labdhaye. To achieve understanding, such persons work very hard and undergo severe austerities, but their hard labor and austerities themselves are their only achievement, for they do not actually achieve the real goal of life.

The purport of SB 10.2.32 quotesBG 6.22

Yaṁ labdhvā cāparaṁ lābhaṁ manyate nādhikaṁ tataḥ. If one achieves the shelter of the Lord’s lotus feet, one is fully satisfied and does not need to ask for any material benediction.

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

Terror → Wonder and relief. The threat of destruction yields to divine appearance.

Chapters 1–4 of Canto 10: Threat from Kaṁsa and Kṛṣṇa's birth. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 2: Prayers by the Demigods for Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Womb

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

The prayers of the demigods glorify and exalt devotees and explain the fate of persons who superficially consider themselves liberated from the conditions of material nature. A devotee is always safe.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 10.2
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. ye anyeanyone, or all others
  2. aravinda-akṣaO lotus-eyed one
  3. vimukta-māninaḥfalsely considering themselves free from the bondage of material contamination
  4. tvayiunto You
  5. asta-bhāvātspeculating in various ways but not knowing or desiring more information of Your lotus feet
  6. aviśuddha-buddhayaḥwhose intelligence is still not purified and who do not know the goal of life
  7. āruhyaeven though achieving
  8. kṛcchreṇaby undergoing severe austerities, penances and hard labor
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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

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 10.2

    In this verse: “devotees”, “devotional service”, “devotee”

  • Śaraṇāgati · Wholehearted surrender

    Relinquishing ownership while entrusting oneself to the Lord. · Theme in SB 10.2

    In this verse: “shelter”

  • Kṛpā · Divine mercy

    Grace received beyond material calculations. · Theme in SB 10.2

    In this verse: “blessings”

Chapter themes come from the story phase this chapter belongs to.

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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Am I seeking satisfaction in material achievement, or learning to seek shelter at the Lord’s lotus feet?

Practice

Pause today to think of the Lord and offer Him a respectful bow, asking to grow in devotional service.

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The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

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Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks

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

Quoted in 128 lectures. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Quoted in 128 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.

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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 10.2's connections

Live this todayDevotion, not imagined liberation, brings perfectionThis 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 10.2.32? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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