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

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Canto 2 · The Cosmic Manifestation · 10 chapters

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Choose a chapter to see all its verses.

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 2 · Chapter 1: The First Step in God Realization
2.1.22.1.4

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 2.1.3

Ūti· What drives us to act
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 2.1.1inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

निद्रया ह्रियते नक्तं व्यवायेन च वा वय: ।

दिवा चार्थेहया राजन् कुटुम्बभरणेन वा ॥ ३ ॥

nidrayā hriyate naktaṁ

vyavāyena ca vā vayaḥ

divā cārthehayā rājan

kuṭumba-bharaṇena vā

Translation

The lifetime of such an envious householder is passed at night either in sleeping or in sex indulgence, and in the daytime either in making money or maintaining family members.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Make Human Life Spiritually Profitable

  1. 1

    A life spent only in sleeping, sex indulgence, earning money and maintaining family brings no spiritual profit. The Bhāgavata school condemns making these activities the whole purpose of civilization.

  2. 2

    Vedic knowledge is directed toward liberating the spirit soul from the contamination of matter. Knowledge concerning this is called ātma-tattva.

  3. 3

    Human life is not meant merely for hard labor and material enjoyment. It is specially meant for solving the problems and miseries of material life.

Key points from the purport
  • The present human civilization is primarily based on the principles of sleeping and sex indulgence at night and earning money in the day and spending the same for family maintenance.
  • The human life is not meant for hard labor for economic development, nor is it meant for sex indulgence like that of the dogs and hogs.
  • So the karmīs waste their valuable human life by sleeping and sex indulgence at night, and by laboring hard in the daytime to accumulate wealth, and after doing so, they try to improve the standard of materialistic life.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

Connected verses· 1

Quoted in the purport ofSB 4.22.23

kuṭumba-bharaṇena vā. This is a typical example of materialistic persons.

Each link is a verse the purport itself quotes, or a purport elsewhere that quotes this verse, shown with the purport's own words.

How it feels

Death anxiety → Steady attention. The answer to mortality begins with spiritual focus.

Chapters 1–3 of Canto 2: The practice of hearing, remembering and devotion. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 1: The First Step in God Realization

Śukadeva describes the value of conscious living, self-control, and meditation on the Lord’s universal form.

Back to this verse in chapter 2.1
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. nidrayāby sleeping
  2. hriyatewastes
  3. naktamnight
  4. vyavāyenasex indulgence
  5. caalso
  6. vāeither
  7. vayaḥduration of life
  8. divādays
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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 2.1

    In this verse: “householder”, “material”

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 2.1

    In this verse: “knowledge”, “spirit soul”

  • Śuddhi · Inner transformation

    The reorientation of the heart toward service. · Theme in SB 2.1

    In this verse: “contamination”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Where in my daily routine am I making room for knowledge of the spirit soul?

Practice

Set aside five minutes today to study this purport’s explanation of ātma-tattva rather than pursuing another material comfort.

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The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

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Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks

His recorded lectures on this verse, and the talks where he quotes it.

9 lectures given on it · quoted in 23 more lectures. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Show 7 more lectures on it
Quoted in 23 other lectures

In each of these he quotes this verse while speaking on another verse or subject. "Find the quote" opens the transcript at that spot.

Live this todayMake Human Life Spiritually ProfitableOne of the 108 chosen lessons: a practice and a question from this verse

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 2.1.3? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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