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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 23: The Song of the Avantī Brāhmaṇa
11.23.5811.23.60

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 11.23.59

Ūti· What drives us to act
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Lord Kṛṣṇasince 11.23.58inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitLord Kṛṣṇa → Uddhava

सुखदु:खप्रदो नान्य: पुरुषस्यात्मविभ्रम: ।

मित्रोदासीनरिपव: संसारस्तमस: कृत: ॥ ५९ ॥

sukha-duḥkha-prado nānyaḥ

puruṣasyātma-vibhramaḥ

mitrodāsīna-ripavaḥ

saṁsāras tamasaḥ kṛtaḥ

Translation

No other force besides his own mental confusion makes the soul experience happiness and distress. His perception of friends, neutral parties and enemies and the whole material life he builds around this perception are simply created out of ignorance.

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.

Mental Confusion Creates Friends and Enemies

  1. 1

    The soul's experience of material happiness and distress comes from mental confusion. Perceiving people as friends, neutral parties and enemies arises from ignorance.

  2. 2

    People work hard to please friends, defeat enemies and preserve their relations with neutral parties. Much of material life is built around these distinctions.

  3. 3

    These relationships are based on the material body and do not endure beyond its death. The purport calls this bodily understanding material illusion.

Key points from the purport
  • Everyone is working hard to please their friends, defeat their enemies and maintain the status quo with neutral parties.
  • These relations are certainly based on the material body and do not exist beyond the body’s inevitable demise.

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

Striving → Complete devotional trust. The Lord redirects Uddhava toward enduring loving service.

Chapters 21–29 of Canto 11: Spiritual practice culminating in bhakti-yoga. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 23: The Song of the Avantī Brāhmaṇa

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Neither mortal persons, the demigods, the soul, the ruling planets, the reactions of work nor time are the causes of one’s happiness and distress. Rather, the mind alone is their cause, because it is the mind that makes the spirit soul wander in the cycle of material life.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 11.23
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. sukha-duḥkha-pradaḥgiver of happiness and distress
  2. nathere is no
  3. anyaḥother
  4. puruṣasyaof the soul
  5. ātmaof the mind
  6. vibhramaḥbewilderment
  7. mitrafriends
  8. udāsīnaindifferent parties
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

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 11.23

    In this verse: “material”, “illusion”

  • Karuṇā · Compassion

    Concern for others expressed through bhakti. · Theme in SB 11.23

    In this verse: “distress”

  • Sakhya · Sacred friendship

    The affection of companions and friends of the Lord. · Theme in SB 11.23

    In this verse: “friends”

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

How much of your effort is shaped by trying to please friends or defeat perceived enemies?

Practice

Notice one person you label an enemy or a friend, and reflect on how that label depends on bodily circumstances.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayMental Confusion Creates Friends and EnemiesThis 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 11.23.59? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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