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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 88: Lord Śiva Saved from Vṛkāsura
10.88.710.88.9

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 10.88.8

Poṣaṇa· The Lord's protection
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:The Personality of Godheadsince 10.88.8inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

श्रीभगवानुवाच

यस्याहमनुगृह्णामि हरिष्ये तद्धनं शनै: ।

ततोऽधनं त्यजन्त्यस्य स्वजना दु:खदु:खितम् ॥ ८ ॥

śrī-bhagavān uvāca

yasyāham anugṛhṇāmi

hariṣye tad-dhanaṁ śanaiḥ

tato ’dhanaṁ tyajanty asya

svajanā duḥkha-duḥkhitam

Translation

The Personality of Godhead said: If I especially favor someone, I gradually deprive him of his wealth. Then the relatives and friends of such a poverty-stricken man abandon him. In this way he suffers one distress after another.

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.

The Lord’s Favor May Include Loss

  1. 1

    The Personality of Godhead says that His special favor may involve gradually taking away someone’s wealth. Friends and relatives may then abandon that person, bringing further distress.

  2. 2

    Devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa destroys karmic reactions. The purport explains a devotee’s happiness and distress as effects of loving reciprocation with the Lord, rather than ordinary consequences of material work.

  3. 3

    The Lord watches over His devotee at every stage of devotion. His merciful strictness can deepen the devotee’s eagerness to call upon Him.

Key points from the purport
  • Devotees of the Supreme Lord experience both happiness and distress — not as consequences of material work but as incidental effects of their loving reciprocation with the Lord.
  • Thus despite the fact that the happiness and distress devotees experience resemble ordinary karmic reactions, they are in fact given by the Lord Himself.
  • But if the Lord is so compassionate to His devotees, why does He expose them to special suffering?

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 10.88.8 quotesSB 10.87.40

As the Bhāgavatam (10.87.40) states, bhavad-uttha-śubhāśubhayoḥ: A mature devotee recognizes the superficially good and bad conditions he encounters as signs of the direct guidance of his ever well-wishing Lord.

The purport of SB 10.88.8 quotesSB 1.9.15

Even though great philosophers inquire exhaustively, they are bewildered.”

The purport of SB 10.88.8 quotesSB 6.3.29

Please bring me all such fools and rascals.”

The purport of SB 10.88.8 quotesBG 4.8

As Kṛṣṇa Himself says in Bhagavad-gītā (4.8): “To deliver the pious and annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium.”

Quoted in the purport ofSB 5.14.10

As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.88.8): yasyāham anugṛhṇāmi hariṣye tad-dhanaṁ śanaiḥ.

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

Awe → Reverent fulfillment. The canto closes with theological wonder.

Chapters 87–90 of Canto 10: The Vedas praise and the Lord's glories conclude. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 88: Lord Śiva Saved from Vṛkāsura

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

At the end of the performance of his Aśvamedha sacrifices, King Yudhiṣṭhira had asked this same question of Lord Kṛṣṇa, who replied, “When I feel special compassion for someone, I gradually deprive him of his wealth. Then the poverty-stricken man’s children, wife and other relations all abandon him.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 10.88
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. śrī-bhagavān uvācathe Personality of Godhead said
  2. yasyawhom
  3. ahamI
  4. anugṛhṇāmifavor
  5. hariṣyeI will take away
  6. tathis
  7. dhanamwealth
  8. śanaiḥgradually
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Poṣaṇa · Protection by the Lord

    How does the Lord care for His devotees? · Subject 4 of 10

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 10.88

    In this verse: “wealth”, “material”

  • Kṛpā · Divine mercy

    Grace received beyond material calculations. · Theme in SB 10.88

    In this verse: “favor”, “merciful”

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 10.88

    In this verse: “devotional service”, “devotee’s”

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

When difficulties arise, how can I keep turning toward the Lord in devotional service?

Practice

Take one quiet moment to call upon Kṛṣṇa and remember Him amid a present difficulty.

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 10.87.40SB 1.9.15SB 6.3.29

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 10.88's connections

Live this todayThe Lord’s Favor May Include LossThis 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 10.88.8? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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