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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 23: Devahūti’s Lamentation
3.23.353.23.38

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Texts 3.23.36-37

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Maitreya Ṛṣisince 3.23.12inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → Vidura

स तां कृतमलस्‍नानां विभ्राजन्तीमपूर्ववत् ।

आत्मनो बिभ्रतीं रूपं संवीतरुचिरस्तनीम् ॥ ३६ ॥

विद्याधरीसहस्रेण सेव्यमानां सुवाससम् ।

जातभावो विमानं तदारोहयदमित्रहन् ॥ ३७ ॥

sa tāṁ kṛta-mala-snānāṁ

vibhrājantīm apūrvavat

ātmano bibhratīṁ rūpaṁ

saṁvīta-rucira-stanīm

vidyādharī-sahasreṇa

sevyamānāṁ suvāsasam

jāta-bhāvo vimānaṁ tad

ārohayad amitra-han

Translation

The sage could see that Devahūti had washed herself clean and was shining forth as though no longer his former wife. She had regained her own original beauty as the daughter of a prince. Dressed in excellent robes, her charming breasts duly girded, she was waited upon by a thousand Gandharva girls. O destroyer of the enemy, his fondness for her grew, and he placed her on the aerial mansion.

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Beauty Can Attract Even a Sage

  1. 1

    While serving Kardama Muni in his cottage, Devahūti had lacked the means to care for herself like a princess. Her former royal beauty had faded.

  2. 2

    After the Gandharva girls bathed her, she regained her original beauty. Kardama Muni’s fondness grew, and he placed her aboard the aerial mansion.

  3. 3

    Even a great sage could feel attracted by bodily beauty. Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya therefore warns those seeking transcendental realization not to be attracted by breasts, which are an interaction of fat and blood.

Key points from the purport
  • Before her marriage, when Devahūti was brought by her parents before the sage Kardama, she was the perfectly beautiful princess, and Kardama Muni remembered her former beauty.
  • Now, after being bathed by the Gandharva girls by the order of Kardama Muni’s yogic power, she regained her beauty, and Kardama Muni felt attracted to the beauty she had shown before the marriage.
  • When Kardama Muni saw the breasts of his wife so nicely decorated, increasing her beauty many times, he was attracted, even though he was a great sage.

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 23: Devahūti’s Lamentation

Devahūti serves Kardama, shares his extraordinary household life, and asks who will comfort her after his departure.

Back to this verse in chapter 3.23
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. saḥthe sage
  2. tāmher (Devahūti)
  3. kṛta-mala-snānāmbathed clean
  4. vibhrājantīmshining forth
  5. apūrva-vatunprecedentedly
  6. ātmanaḥher own
  7. bibhratīmpossessing
  8. rūpambeauty
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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

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

How can remembering the body’s physical composition help you examine attraction?

Practice

When bodily beauty catches your attention today, pause briefly and remember the purport’s warning to transcendentalists.

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The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayBeauty Can Attract Even a SageThis 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 3.23.36-37? Get an answer from the verses themselves.