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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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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 3: Pure Devotional Service: The Change in Heart
2.3.172.3.19

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 2.3.18

Ūti· What drives us to act
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śaunaka Ṛṣisince 2.3.13inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

तरव: किं न जीवन्ति भस्त्रा: किं न श्वसन्त्युत ।

न खादन्ति न मेहन्ति किं ग्रामे पशवोऽपरे ॥ १८ ॥

taravaḥ kiṁ na jīvanti

bhastrāḥ kiṁ na śvasanty uta

na khādanti na mehanti

kiṁ grāme paśavo ’pare

Translation

Do the trees not live? Do the bellows of the blacksmith not breathe? All around us, do the beasts not eat and discharge semen?

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Spiritual Value Matters More Than Long Life

  1. 1

    A prolonged life without spiritual value is not very important. Trees may live for hundreds or thousands of years, but longevity alone does not show human advancement.

  2. 2

    Breathing, eating and sexual enjoyment do not fulfill the special purpose of human life. Bellows move air, and animals also eat and mate.

  3. 3

    Life is meant for tapasya, or austerity, to purify existence and prepare for eternal life. Simply increasing bodily comforts leaves this purpose unfulfilled.

Key points from the purport
  • Life is meant for the maximum duration of existence for eating, drinking, sexual intercourse, making merry and enjoying life.
  • One may doubt that trees have life because they do not breathe.
  • The Bhāgavatam says that the bellows of the blacksmith breathes very soundly, but that does not mean that the bellows has 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.

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 3: Pure Devotional Service: The Change in Heart

Everyone should worship the Supreme Lord and engage the senses in devotion that changes the heart.

Back to this verse in chapter 2.3
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. taravaḥthe trees
  2. kimwhether
  3. nado not
  4. jīvantilive
  5. bhastrāḥbellows
  6. kimwhether
  7. nado not
  8. śvasantibreathe
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

  • Śuddhi · Inner transformation

    The reorientation of the heart toward service. · Theme in SB 2.3

    In this verse: “purify”

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

Am I measuring a worthwhile life mainly by comfort and length, or by spiritual purification?

Practice

Forgo one small indulgence today and use that time to reflect on this passage’s purpose for human life.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

6

Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks

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

2 lectures given on it · quoted in 7 more lectures. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Quoted in 7 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 todaySpiritual Value Matters More Than Long LifeThis 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.

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