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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 ›

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Texts 10.3.34-35

Who is speaking and story frame

वर्षवातातपहिमघर्मकालगुणाननु ।

सहमानौ श्वासरोधविनिर्धूतमनोमलौ ॥ ३४ ॥

शीर्णपर्णानिलाहारावुपशान्तेन चेतसा ।

मत्त: कामानभीप्सन्तौ मदाराधनमीहतु: ॥ ३५ ॥

varṣa-vātātapa-hima-

gharma-kāla-guṇān anu

sahamānau śvāsa-rodha-

vinirdhūta-mano-malau

śīrṇa-parṇānilāhārāv

upaśāntena cetasā

mattaḥ kāmān abhīpsantau

mad-ārādhanam īhatuḥ

Translation

My dear father and mother, you endured rain, wind, strong sun, scorching heat and severe cold, suffering all sorts of inconvenience according to different seasons. By practicing prāṇāyāma to control the air within the body through yoga, and by eating only air and dry leaves fallen from the trees, you cleansed from your minds all dirty things. In this way, desiring a benediction from Me, you worshiped Me with peaceful minds.

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Chanting Is Accessible Transcendental Austerity

  1. 1

    The Lord’s parents endured severe seasonal hardships and practiced austerity until their minds became clean and peaceful. Obtaining the Supreme Personality of Godhead as their son was not easy.

  2. 2

    Human life is meant for transcendental austerity and a spiritually controlled life. Such a life also prepares parents to raise good sons and daughters for society’s benefit.

  3. 3

    Although we cannot perform austerities like Pṛśni and Sutapā, we can chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. This accessible austerity purifies us of material contamination and leads us back home, back to Godhead.

Key points from the purport
  • Vasudeva and Devakī did not obtain the Supreme Personality of Godhead as their son very easily, nor does the Supreme Godhead accept merely anyone as His father and mother.
  • Not practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness but simply encouraging artificial means to check the population will be futile; the population will increase, and it will consist of varṇa-saṅkara, unwanted progeny.
  • The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, therefore, is teaching people not to adopt artificial means of happiness, but to take the real path of happiness as prescribed in the śāstra — the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra — and become perfect in every aspect of material existence.

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

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 3: The Birth of Lord Kṛṣṇa

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Fearing Kaṁsa and desiring that the Lord not be understood by atheistic and materialistic nondevotees, she prayed that the Lord withdraw His transcendental four-armed form and appear like an ordinary child with two hands. The Lord reminded Vasudeva and Devakī of two other incarnations in which He had appeared as their son.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 10.3
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. varṣathe rain
  2. vātastrong wind
  3. ātapastrong sunshine
  4. himasevere cold
  5. gharmaheat
  6. kāla-guṇān anuaccording to seasonal changes
  7. sahamānauby enduring
  8. śvāsa-rodhaby practicing yoga, controlling the breath
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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

  • Vātsalya · Parental affection

    Affection and protective concern for the Lord as a child. · Theme in SB 10.3

    In this verse: “mother”, “father”

  • Śuddhi · Inner transformation

    The reorientation of the heart toward service. · Theme in SB 10.3

    In this verse: “cleansed”, “purifies”, “contamination”

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 10.3

    In this verse: “worshiped”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How can I make room for the simple austerity of chanting in my daily life?

Practice

Spend two minutes today chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.

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The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayChanting Is Accessible Transcendental AusterityThis 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 10.3.34-35? Get an answer from the verses themselves.