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Read one verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with its Sanskrit, word meanings, translation and study points.

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Canto 11 · General History · 31 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 11 · Chapter 10: The Nature of Fruitive Activity
11.10.2311.10.25

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 11.10.24

Ūti· What drives us to act
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:The Supreme Personality of Godheadsince 11.10.1inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitLord Kṛṣṇa → Uddhava

स्वपुण्योपचिते शुभ्रे विमान उपगीयते ।

गन्धर्वैर्विहरन् मध्ये देवीनां हृद्यवेषधृक् ॥ २४ ॥

sva-puṇyopacite śubhre

vimāna upagīyate

gandharvair viharan madhye

devīnāṁ hṛdya-veṣa-dhṛk

Translation

Having achieved the heavenly planets, the performer of ritualistic sacrifices travels in a glowing airplane, which he obtains as the result of his piety on earth. Being glorified by songs sung by the Gandharvas and dressed in wonderfully charming clothes, he enjoys life surrounded by heavenly goddesses.

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.

Piety Brings Heavenly Splendor

  1. 1

    The performer of ritualistic sacrifices reaches the heavenly planets and travels in a glowing airplane.

  2. 2

    This airplane is obtained through pious activities performed on earth.

  3. 3

    The enjoyer wears wonderfully charming clothes, hears the Gandharvas sing his praises and lives surrounded by heavenly goddesses.

How it feels

Uncertainty → Clarity. The coming separation makes the instruction personally urgent.

Chapters 10–20 of Canto 11: Kṛṣṇa's teachings on self, yoga and wisdom. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 10: The Nature of Fruitive Activity

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

The followers of Jaimini and other atheistic philosophers accept regulated material work as the purpose of life. But Kṛṣṇa refutes this by explaining that the embodied soul who has come into contact with segmented material time takes upon himself a perpetual chain of births and deaths and is therefore forced to suffer the consequent happiness and distress.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 11.10
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. svahis own
  2. puṇyaby the pious activities
  3. upaciteaccumulated
  4. śubhreshining
  5. vimānein an airplane
  6. upagīyateis glorified by songs
  7. gandharvaiḥby the heavenly Gandharvas
  8. viharanenjoying life
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Ūti · The creative impetus

    Why do we act, and what keeps us bound? · Subject 5 of 10

  • Kīrtana · Hearing and chanting

    Remembering the Lord through sacred sound. · Theme in SB 11.10

    In this verse: “glorified”

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

Which attracts me most in this description: comfort, beauty or being praised?

Practice

Identify one attraction in the verse and note that it is described as an earned reward of pious activity.

Live this todayPiety Brings Heavenly SplendorThis 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 11.10.24? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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