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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
  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 59: The Killing of the Demon Naraka
10.59.510.59.7

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 10.59.6

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 10.59.2-3inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

पाञ्चजन्यध्वनिं श्रुत्वा युगान्तशनिभीषणम् ।

मुर: शयान उत्तस्थौ दैत्य: पञ्चशिरा जलात् ॥ ६ ॥

pāñcajanya-dhvaniṁ śrutvā

yugāntaśani-bhīṣaṇam

muraḥ śayāna uttasthau

daityaḥ pañca-śirā jalāt

Translation

The five-headed demon Mura, who slept at the bottom of the city’s moat, awoke and rose up out of the water when he heard the vibration of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s Pāñcajanya conchshell, a sound as terrifying as the thunder at the end of the cosmic age.

Read this verse on Vedabase.io

This verse has no purport; its meaning is explained by the verses around it.

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.

Pāñcajanya’s Sound Awakens Mura

  1. 1

    The five-headed demon Mura was sleeping at the bottom of the city’s moat.

  2. 2

    He awoke and rose from the water when he heard Lord Kṛṣṇa’s Pāñcajanya conchshell.

  3. 3

    The sound was as terrifying as the thunder at the end of the cosmic age.

How it feels

Yearning and danger → Marriage and reciprocity. A wider range of divine relationships appears.

Chapters 50–59 of Canto 10: Dvārakā, Rukmiṇī and royal rescues. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 59: The Killing of the Demon Naraka

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

On a field outside the city He decapitated the demon Mura with His disc. Then He fought Mura’s seven sons and sent them all to the abode of death, after which Narakāsura himself entered the battlefield on the back of an elephant.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 10.59
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. pāñcajanyaof Pāñcajanya, Lord Kṛṣṇa’s conchshell
  2. dhvanimthe vibration
  3. śrutvāhearing
  4. yugaof the universal era
  5. antaat the end
  6. aśani(like the sound) of lightning
  7. bhīṣaṇamterrifying
  8. muraḥMura
3

Key ideas in this verse

The subject this verse serves and the themes it speaks of.

  • Īśānukathā · The science of God

    Who is the Lord, and how do His devotees live? · Subject 7 of 10

  • Kīrtana · Hearing and chanting

    Remembering the Lord through sacred sound. · Theme in SB 10.59

    In this verse: “heard”

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

What does the comparison with thunder help you understand about Pāñcajanya’s sound?

Practice

Reread the description of Pāñcajanya and pause to appreciate Lord Kṛṣṇa’s power.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayPāñcajanya’s Sound Awakens MuraThis 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 10.59.6? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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