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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
11.10.511.10.7

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 11.10.6

Mukti· Liberation
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

अमान्यमत्सरो दक्षो निर्ममोद‍ृढसौहृद: ।

असत्वरोऽर्थजिज्ञासुरनसूयुरमोघवाक् ॥ ६ ॥

amāny amatsaro dakṣo

nirmamo dṛḍha-sauhṛdaḥ

asatvaro ’rtha-jijñāsur

anasūyur amogha-vāk

Translation

The servant or disciple of the spiritual master should be free from false prestige, never considering himself to be the doer. He should be active and never lazy and should give up all sense of proprietorship over the objects of the senses, including his wife, children, home and society. He should be endowed with feelings of loving friendship toward the spiritual master and should never become deviated or bewildered. The servant or disciple should always desire advancement in spiritual understanding, should not envy anyone and should always avoid useless conversation.

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.

Replace Ownership With Loving Service

  1. 1

    A disciple should be active, humble, free from envy and eager for spiritual understanding. Loving friendship with the spiritual master should remain firm, and useless conversation should be avoided.

  2. 2

    No one is the permanent proprietor or ultimate creator of family, home or society. God creates the bodies and material elements on which these temporary relationships depend.

  3. 3

    Before death takes these things away, we should voluntarily engage them in loving service to the spiritual master, Lord Kṛṣṇa’s bona fide representative. Then they become causes of happiness rather than lamentation.

Key points from the purport
  • No one can claim to be the permanent proprietor of his so-called wife, family, home, society, and so on.
  • No one can claim to be the creator of the material elements that produced one’s home, society and family.
  • Therefore, before death drags these things out of our grasp, we should voluntarily engage them in the loving service of the spiritual master, who is the bona fide representative of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

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

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 so-called knowledge received through one’s material senses, mind and intelligence is as useless as the dreams experienced by a sleeping person attached to sense gratification. Therefore, one should give up work performed for sense gratification and accept work as a matter of duty.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 11.10
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. amānīwithout false ego
  2. amatsaraḥnot considering oneself to be the doer
  3. dakṣaḥwithout laziness
  4. nirmamaḥwithout any sense of proprietorship over one’s wife, children, home, society, etc.
  5. dṛḍha-sauhṛdaḥbeing fixed in the mood of loving friendship with the spiritual master, who is one’s worshipable deity
  6. asatvaraḥwithout becoming bewildered due to material passion
  7. artha-jijñāsuḥdesiring knowledge of the Absolute Truth
  8. anasūyuḥfree from envy
  9. amogha-vākcompletely free from useless conversation
3

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

  • Vairāgya · Freedom from attachment

    Release from possessiveness and false identities. · Theme in SB 11.10

    In this verse: “give up”, “free from”

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 11.10

    In this verse: “understanding”

  • Sakhya · Sacred friendship

    The affection of companions and friends of the Lord. · Theme in SB 11.10

    In this verse: “friendship”

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 do you think of as 'mine' that could instead be engaged in loving service?

Practice

Use one possession today for a small act of service in keeping with the spiritual master’s guidance.

Live this todayReplace Ownership With Loving ServiceThis 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 11.10.6? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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