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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.
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Canto 3 · Chapter 22: The Marriage of Kardama Muni and Devahūti
3.22.153.22.17

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 3.22.16

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:The great sagesince 3.22.15inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → Vidura

काम: स भूयान्नरदेव तेऽस्या:

पुत्र्या: समाम्नायविधौ प्रतीत: ।

क एव ते तनयां नाद्रियेत

स्वयैव कान्त्या क्षिपतीमिव श्रियम् ॥ १६ ॥

kāmaḥ sa bhūyān naradeva te ’syāḥ

putryāḥ samāmnāya-vidhau pratītaḥ

ka eva te tanayāṁ nādriyeta

svayaiva kāntyā kṣipatīm iva śriyam

Translation

Let your daughter’s desire for marriage, which is recognized in the Vedic scriptures, be fulfilled. Who would not accept her hand? She is so beautiful that by her bodily luster alone she excels the beauty of her ornaments.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Follow Scriptural Guidance in Marriage

  1. 1

    Kardama Muni wanted Devahūti's desire for marriage fulfilled in the manner recognized by Vedic scriptures.

  2. 2

    He praised her natural beauty, saying that her bodily luster surpassed the beauty of her ornaments.

  3. 3

    The purport describes offering a daughter to a suitable son-in-law as a pious household activity. It also explains that some marriage customs of former ages are forbidden in the present age.

Key points from the purport
  • Kardama Muni wanted to marry Devahūti in the recognized manner of marriage prescribed in the scriptures.
  • As stated in the Vedic scriptures, the first-class process is to call the bridegroom to the home of the bride and hand her to him in charity with a dowry of necessary ornaments, gold, furniture and other household paraphernalia.
  • Formerly, at their pleasure kṣatriyas would kidnap a princess from another royal house and there would be a fight between the kṣatriya and the girl’s family; then, if the kidnapper was the winner, the girl would be offered to him for marriage.

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

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 22: The Marriage of Kardama Muni and Devahūti

Kardama marries Devahūti with plans for later renunciation, and Manu returns home absorbed in Vāsudeva.

Back to this verse in chapter 3.22
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. kāmaḥdesire
  2. saḥthat
  3. bhūyātlet it be fulfilled
  4. nara-devaO King
  5. teyour
  6. asyāḥthis
  7. putryāḥof the daughter
  8. samāmnāya-vidhauin the process of the Vedic scriptures
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

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 3.22

    In this verse: “luster”, “household”

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

Do I distinguish scriptural guidance for the present age from customs described from the past?

Practice

Reread the purport and identify one distinction it makes between former marriage customs and present guidance.

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.

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 3.22's connections

Live this todayFollow Scriptural Guidance in MarriageThis 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 3.22.16? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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