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

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Canto 12 · The Age of Deterioration · 13 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 ›

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Texts 12.13.4-9

Who is speaking and story frame

ब्राह्मं दशसहस्राणि पाद्मं पञ्चोनषष्टि च ।

श्रीवैष्णवं त्रयोविंशच्चतुर्विंशति शैवकम् ॥ ४ ॥

दशाष्टौ श्रीभागवतं नारदं पञ्चविंशति ।

मार्कण्डं नव वाह्नं च दशपञ्च चतु:शतम् ॥ ५ ॥

चतुर्दश भविष्यं स्यात्तथा पञ्चशतानि च ।

दशाष्टौ ब्रह्मवैवर्तं लैङ्गमेकादशैव तु ॥ ६ ॥

चतुर्विंशति वाराहमेकाशीतिसहस्रकम् ।

स्कान्दं शतं तथा चैकं वामनं दश कीर्तितम् ॥ ७ ॥

कौर्मं सप्तदशाख्यातं मात्स्यं तत्तु चतुर्दश ।

एकोनविंशत्सौपर्णं ब्रह्माण्डं द्वादशैव तु ॥ ८ ॥

एवं पुराणसन्दोहश्चतुर्लक्ष उदाहृत: ।

तत्राष्टदशसाहस्रं श्रीभागवतमिष्यते ॥ ९ ॥

brāhmaṁ daśa sahasrāṇi

pādmaṁ pañcona-ṣaṣṭi ca

śrī-vaiṣṇavaṁ trayo-viṁśac

catur-viṁśati śaivakam

daśāṣṭau śrī-bhāgavataṁ

nāradaṁ pañca-viṁśati

mārkaṇḍaṁ nava vāhnaṁ ca

daśa-pañca catuḥ-śatam

catur-daśa bhaviṣyaṁ syāt

tathā pañca-śatāni ca

daśāṣṭau brahma-vaivartaṁ

laiṅgam ekādaśaiva tu

catur-viṁśati vārāham

ekāśīti-sahasrakam

skāndaṁ śataṁ tathā caikaṁ

vāmanaṁ daśa kīrtitam

kaurmaṁ sapta-daśākhyātaṁ

mātsyaṁ tat tu catur-daśa

ekona-viṁśat sauparṇaṁ

brahmāṇḍaṁ dvādaśaiva tu

evaṁ purāṇa-sandohaś

catur-lakṣa udāhṛtaḥ

tatrāṣṭadaśa-sāhasraṁ

śrī-bhāgavatam iṣyate

Translation

The Brahma Purāṇa consists of ten thousand verses, the Padma Purāṇa of fifty-five thousand, Śrī Viṣṇu Purāṇa of twenty-three thousand, the Śiva Purāṇa of twenty-four thousand and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam of eighteen thousand. The Nārada Purāṇa has twenty-five thousand verses, the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa nine thousand, the Agni Purāṇa fifteen thousand four hundred, the Bhaviṣya Purāṇa fourteen thousand five hundred, the Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa eighteen thousand and the Liṅga Purāṇa eleven thousand. The Varāha Purāṇa contains twenty-four thousand verses, the Skanda Purāṇa eighty-one thousand one hundred, the Vāmana Purāṇa ten thousand, the Kūrma Purāṇa seventeen thousand, the Matsya Purāṇa fourteen thousand, the Garuḍa Purāṇa nineteen thousand and the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa twelve thousand. Thus the total number of verses in all the Purāṇas is four hundred thousand. Eighteen thousand of these, once again, belong to the beautiful Bhāgavatam.

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.

Recognize the Chief of All Purāṇas

  1. 1

    The eighteen Purāṇas contain four hundred thousand verses. Eighteen thousand belong to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

  2. 2

    The purport explains that Vyāsadeva composed the Mahābhārata after compiling the Purāṇas. The Mahābhārata contains their essence and is filled with the ideas of the Vedas.

  3. 3

    Mentioning Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam again emphasizes that it is the chief of all Purāṇic literatures. The purport compares this emphasis to the declaration that Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead.

Key points from the purport
  • Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has quoted from the Matsya Purāṇa as follows:
  • The total number of verses in all the Purāṇas and itihāsas (histories) is thus known in human society to amount to 525,000.”
  • Similarly, after mentioning all of the Purāṇas, Śrī Suta Gosvāmī again mentions the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to emphasize that it is the chief of all Purāṇic literatures.

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

Wonder → Benediction and peace. The work closes by exalting hearing and remembering the Lord.

Chapters 11–13 of Canto 12: The Mahāpuruṣa and the glories of Bhāgavatam. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 13: The Glories of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

The total corpus of the Purāṇas includes four hundred thousand verses, eighteen thousand of which constitute Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa, instructed Brahmā in this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, whose narrations produce detachment from matter and which contains the essence of all the Vedānta.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 12.13
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. brāhmamthe Brahma Purāṇa
  2. daśaten
  3. sahasrāṇithousands
  4. pādmamthe Padma Purāṇa
  5. pañca-ūna-ṣaṣṭifive less than sixty
  6. caand
  7. śrī-vaiṣṇavamthe Viṣṇu Purāṇa
  8. trayaḥ-viṁśattwenty-three
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

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How might recognizing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam’s special position affect the attention I give it?

Practice

Set aside five minutes today for attentive reading of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

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.

Live this todayRecognize the Chief of All PurāṇasThis 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 12.13.4-9? Get an answer from the verses themselves.