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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 29: Kṛṣṇa and the Gopīs Meet for the Rāsa Dance
10.29.910.29.12

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Texts 10.29.10-11

Mukti· Liberation
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 10.29.1inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

दु:सहप्रेष्ठविरहतीव्रतापधुताशुभा: । ध्यानप्राप्ताच्युताश्लेषनिर्वृत्या क्षीणमङ्गला: ॥ १० ॥ तमेव परमात्मानं जारबुद्ध्यापि सङ्गता: । जहुर्गुणमयं देहं सद्य: प्रक्षीणबन्धना: ॥ ११ ॥

duḥsaha-preṣṭha-viraha-

tīvra-tāpa-dhutāśubhāḥ

dhyāna-prāptācyutāśleṣa-

nirvṛtyā kṣīṇa-maṅgalāḥ

tam eva paramātmānaṁ

jāra-buddhyāpi saṅgatāḥ

jahur guṇa-mayaṁ dehaṁ

sadyaḥ prakṣīṇa-bandhanāḥ

Translation

For those gopīs who could not go to see Kṛṣṇa, intolerable separation from their beloved caused an intense agony that burned away all impious karma. By meditating upon Him they realized His embrace, and the ecstasy they then felt exhausted their material piety. Although Lord Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Soul, these girls simply thought of Him as their male lover and associated with Him in that intimate mood. Thus their karmic bondage was nullified and they abandoned their gross material bodies.

Read the purport on Vedabase.io

From Canto 10, chapter 14 onward, the translation and purports were completed by Śrīla Prabhupāda's disciples after his departure, and published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.

1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Love for Kṛṣṇa Transcends Karmic Bondage

  1. 1

    The gopīs who could not go to Kṛṣṇa experienced intense separation. By meditating upon Him, they experienced His embrace and great transcendental joy.

  2. 2

    Hearing of the gopīs’ separation and joy can free one from both sinful and pious reactions. Neither separation from the Supreme Lord nor direct association with Him belongs to the category of karma.

  3. 3

    Under a bona fide spiritual master’s instructions, devotees engage their senses in hearing, chanting, remembering and serving the Lord. By making His transcendental qualities the objects of their senses, their bodies transcend the material modes.

Key points from the purport
  • By using the word kalyāṇyaḥ in this verse, the Lord implies, ‘Even though these gopīs wanted to give up their bodies because of their husbands’ prohibitions and the torment of separation from Me, for them to die at the very beginning of the most auspicious festival of the rāsa dance would have been displeasing to Me and thus inauspicious.
  • Thus the conclusion is that they gave up their material bodies without dying.
  • Other muni-cārī gopīs still retained some connection with the external material body, but even they, after being parched by the heat of separation from Śrī Kṛṣṇa, gave up the materiality of their bodies and assumed perfectly transcendental bodies, purified of all taint of contact with other men.

The purport'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 10.29.10-11 quotesSB 10.47.61

‘These ladies of Vraja abandoned their families and their advanced religious principles, even though to do so is very difficult.’

The purport of SB 10.29.10-11 quotesSB 1.9.39

‘I concentrate upon the chariot driver of Arjuna, who stood with a whip in His right hand and a bridle rope in His left, and who was very careful to protect Arjuna’s chariot by all means.’

The purport of SB 10.29.10-11 quotesSB 11.25.26

Thus the devotees make the Lord’s transcendental qualities the objects of their senses, as stated by the Lord Himself: nirguṇo mad-apāśrayaḥ.

The purport of SB 10.29.10-11 quotesSB 11.2.42

This transformation is described in the following verse from the Bhāgavatam (11.2.42): ‘Devotion, direct experience of the Supreme Lord, and detachment from other things — these three occur simultaneously for one who has taken shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in the same way that pleasure, nourishment and relief from hunger come simultaneously and increasingly, with each bite, for…

The purport of SB 10.29.10-11 quotesSB 10.47.37

As the Lord Himself states: ‘Some of those all-auspcious gopīs could not directly join Me in enjoying the rāsa dance on that night in this Vṛndāvana forest, yet still they achieved My association by remembering My transcendental pastimes.’

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

Separation → Transcendental intimacy. The peak of longing reveals the intensity of selfless love.

Chapters 29–33 of Canto 10: The gopīs' yearning, reunion and rasa. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 29: Kṛṣṇa and the Gopīs Meet for the Rāsa Dance

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

All the gopīs had purely spiritual bodies, but when some of the gopīs’ husbands and other family members stopped the young girls from going, Lord Kṛṣṇa arranged for them to temporarily exhibit material bodies, which they then left at the sides of their husbands. In this way they deceived their relatives and went off to meet Kṛṣṇa.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 10.29
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. duḥsahaintolerable
  2. preṣṭhafrom their beloved
  3. virahafrom separation
  4. tīvraintense
  5. tāpaby the burning pain
  6. dhutaremoved
  7. aśubhāḥall inauspicious things in their hearts
  8. dhyānaby meditation
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

  • Prema · Transcendental love

    The intimacy and sweetness of devotion to Kṛṣṇa. · Theme in SB 10.29

    In this verse: “lover”, “ecstasy”

  • Viraha · Longing in separation

    Love and remembrance experienced in apparent absence. · Theme in SB 10.29

    In this verse: “separation”

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 10.29

    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 I engage my senses in devotion to Kṛṣṇa rather than in mundane distractions?

Practice

Spend two minutes reading these descriptions of the gopīs’ devotion, then quietly remember Kṛṣṇa.

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 10.47.61SB 1.9.39SB 11.25.26SB 11.2.42SB 10.47.37

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 10.29's connections

Live this todayLove for Kṛṣṇa Transcends Karmic BondageThis 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 10.29.10-11? Get an answer from the verses themselves.