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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

1Chant the verse. Say the Sanskrit slowly and carefully.
2Read the word meanings. Go through each Sanskrit word and its meaning.
3Find the meaning yourself. Before the translation, piece the meaning together from the words.
4Read the translation. Ask: what is the Lord teaching here, and how does it apply to my life?
5Read the purport slowly. Read it two or three times. Don't rush.
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 47: The Song of the Bee

10.47.17 10.47.19

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 10.47.18

Mukti· Liberation

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:The gopīsince 10.47.12inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

यदनुचरितलीलाकर्णपीयूषविप्रुट्-

सकृददनविधूतद्वन्द्वधर्मा विनष्टा: ।

सपदि गृहकुटुम्बं दीनमुत्सृज्य दीना

बहव इह विहङ्गा भिक्षुचर्यां चरन्ति ॥ १८ ॥

yad-anucarita-līlā-karṇa-pīyūṣa-vipruṭ-

sakṛd-adana-vidhūta-dvandva-dharmā vinaṣṭāḥ

sapadi gṛha-kuṭumbaṁ dīnam utsṛjya dīnā

bahava iha vihaṅgā bhikṣu-caryāṁ caranti

Translation

To hear about the pastimes that Kṛṣṇa regularly performs is nectar for the ears. For those who relish just a single drop of that nectar, even once, their dedication to material duality is ruined. Many such persons have suddenly given up their wretched homes and families and, themselves becoming wretched, traveled here to Vṛndāvana to wander about like birds, begging for their living.

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.

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Hearing Kṛṣṇa Dissolves Material Duality

1
Material duality rests on false divisions such as “This is mine, and that is yours.” In truth, everyone exists within the one Absolute Truth, Kṛṣṇa, to whom everything belongs.
2
Hearing about Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes is nectar for the ears. Truly tasting that nectar spoils one’s dedication to the illusion of material duality.
3
The purport gives an alternate reading in which hearing cleanses irreligious duality and makes one spiritually sober. One then gives up attachment to fleeting material relationships and gains essential discrimination, symbolized by swans.

Key points from the purport

His beauty and pleasure are also absolute and infinite, and if one actually hears about this Absolute Truth, called Kṛṣṇa, one’s dedication to the illusion of mundane duality is spoiled.
Then the entire line becomes part of a single compound, the meaning of which is that hearing about Kṛṣṇa cleanses one of irreligious duality and thus one is not vanquished (avinaṣṭa) by material illusion.
The word dīnāḥ is then given the alternate reading of dhīrāḥ, meaning that one becomes spiritually sober and thus gives up attachment to fleeting material relationships.

The purport'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

Heartache → Unbroken remembrance. Love endures and deepens despite visible absence.

Chapters 46–49 of Canto 10: Uddhava, the gopīs and the Song of the Bee. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 47: The Song of the Bee

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Imagining the bee to be a messenger from Him, She said, “Just as bees wander among various flowers, Śrī Kṛṣṇa has abandoned the young girls of Vraja and developed affection for other women.” The gopī continued to speak in this way, contrasting Her own supposed ill fortune to Her rival lovers’ good fortune, all the while glorifying the names, forms, qualities and pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in chapter 10.47

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

yatwhose
anucaritaconstantly performed activities
līlāof such pastimes
karṇafor the ears
pīyūṣaof the nectar
vipruṭof a drop
sakṛtjust once
adanaby the partaking

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
Moha · Material attachment
The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 10.47
In this verse: “material”, “attachment”, “illusion”
Kīrtana · Hearing and chanting
Remembering the Lord through sacred sound. · Theme in SB 10.47
In this verse: “hearing”
Śuddhi · Inner transformation
The reorientation of the heart toward service. · Theme in SB 10.47
In this verse: “cleanses”

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Where does the thought “mine and yours” shape my attachments?

Practice

Read this verse aloud, then choose one possession and remember that it belongs to Kṛṣṇa.

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayHearing Kṛṣṇa Dissolves Material DualityThis 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.

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