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

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Canto 3 · The Status Quo · 33 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 3 · Chapter 20: Conversation Between Maitreya and Vidura
3.20.343.20.36

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 3.20.35

Ūti· What drives us to act
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Lord Brahmāsince 3.20.26inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → Vidura

या वा काचित्त्वमबले दिष्टय‍ा सन्दर्शनं तव ।

उत्सुनोषीक्षमाणानां कन्दुकक्रीडया मन: ॥ ३५ ॥

yā vā kācit tvam abale

diṣṭyā sandarśanaṁ tava

utsunoṣīkṣamāṇānāṁ

kanduka-krīḍayā manaḥ

Translation

Whosoever you may be, O beautiful girl, we are fortunate in being able to see you. While playing with a ball, you have agitated the minds of all onlookers.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Choose Unending Spiritual Happiness

  1. 1

    The demons enjoyed watching the girl play with a ball. The purport explains that entertainment can become a means of cultivating subtle sexual enjoyment.

  2. 2

    So-called yogīs may encourage sense enjoyment while promising that a manufactured mantra will make someone God. The purport warns that such teachers are worldly enjoyers dressed as yogīs.

  3. 3

    Material enjoyment is limited, while spiritual happiness is unending. Like a patient accepting restraint to recover, one must give up entangling enjoyment to enter spiritual life.

Key points from the purport
  • If one wants to enjoy real sense enjoyment, then one must get free of the entanglement of material existence.
  • In spiritual life we can enjoy sense enjoyment which has no end.
  • Even if a man engages in material sex enjoyment, he cannot enjoy it for long.

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

The purport of SB 3.20.35 quotesSB 5.5.1

In the Bhāgavatam (5.5.1) it is stated that brahma-saukhya, spiritual happiness, is ananta, unending.

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

Longing and service → Preparedness. Family devotion turns toward higher spiritual fulfillment.

Chapters 20–24 of Canto 3: Kardama, Devahūti, family and renunciation. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 20: Conversation Between Maitreya and Vidura

Questions about Manu lead to further accounts of Brahmā’s creation of demigods, demons, and other beings.

Back to this verse in chapter 3.20
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. yāwhosoever
  2. vāor
  3. kācitanyone
  4. tvamyou
  5. abaleO beautiful girl
  6. diṣṭyāby fortune
  7. sandarśanamseeing
  8. tavaof you
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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

  • Vairāgya · Freedom from attachment

    Release from possessiveness and false identities. · Theme in SB 3.20

    In this verse: “give up”

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 3.20

    In this verse: “material”

Chapter themes come from the story phase this chapter belongs to.

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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Which entertainment leaves me more entangled in desire rather than spiritually satisfied?

Practice

Set aside one entertainment today that feeds sexual desire, and spend a minute reflecting on unending spiritual happiness.

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Connected stories

Keep going: stories told elsewhere in the Bhāgavatam that this verse or its purport brings in.

The purport quotesSB 5.5.1

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 3.20's connections

Live this todayChoose Unending Spiritual HappinessThis 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 3.20.35? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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