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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

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

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How to study this verse, in six steps

1Chant the verse. Say the Sanskrit slowly and carefully.
2Read the word meanings. Go through each Sanskrit word and its meaning.
3Find the meaning yourself. Before the translation, piece the meaning together from the words.
4Read the translation. Ask: what is the Lord teaching here, and how does it apply to my life?
5Read the purport slowly. Read it two or three times. Don't rush.
6Write down what touched you. Note the main points in your own notebook.

Read the full guide: how to hear the Bhāgavatam ›

Canto 12 · Chapter 8: Mārkaṇḍeya’s Prayers to Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi

12.8.33-34 12.8.36

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 12.8.35

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:Sūta Gosvāmīsince 12.8.6inside 1 frame: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya

A turning point forMārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi· A request for vision

ते वै भगवतो रूपे नरनारायणावृषी ।

द‍ृष्ट्वोत्थायादरेणोच्चैर्ननामाङ्गेन दण्डवत् ॥ ३५ ॥

te vai bhagavato rūpe

nara-nārāyaṇāv ṛṣī

dṛṣṭvotthāyādareṇoccair

nanāmāṅgena daṇḍa-vat

Translation

These two sages, Nara and Nārāyaṇa, were the direct personal forms of the Supreme Lord. When Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi saw Them, he immediately stood up and then with great respect offered Them obeisances by falling down flat on the ground like a stick.

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.

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Respond to the Lord With Reverence

1
Nara and Nārāyaṇa were the direct personal forms of the Supreme Lord.
2
Upon seeing Them, Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi immediately stood up.
3
With great respect, he offered obeisances by falling flat on the ground like a stick.

How it feels

Inquiry → Reverence. The transmission of sacred knowledge continues beyond the king's life.

Chapters 7–8 of Canto 12: The Vedic corpus and Mārkaṇḍeya's devotion. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 8: Mārkaṇḍeya’s Prayers to Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

This chapter describes how Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi performed austerities, defeated by his potency Cupid and all his associates, and offered prayers to Lord Śrī Hari in His forms of Nara and Nārāyaṇa. Śrī Śaunaka was confused about the extraordinarily long life span of Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya, who had taken birth in Śaunaka’s own dynasty yet who had moved about alone in the ocean of devastation millions of years previously and seen a wonderful young child lying upon a banyan leaf.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in chapter 12.8