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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 25: The Glories of Devotional Service
3.25.113.25.13

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 3.25.12

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Maitreya Ṛṣisince 3.25.12inside 4 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → ViduraLord Kapila → Devahūti

मैत्रेय उवाच

इति स्वमातुर्निरवद्यमीप्सितं

निशम्य पुंसामपवर्गवर्धनम् ।

धियाभिनन्द्यात्मवतां सतां गति-

र्बभाष ईषत्स्मितशोभितानन: ॥ १२ ॥

maitreya uvāca

iti sva-mātur niravadyam īpsitaṁ

niśamya puṁsām apavarga-vardhanam

dhiyābhinandyātmavatāṁ satāṁ gatir

babhāṣa īṣat-smita-śobhitānanaḥ

Translation

Maitreya said: After hearing of His mother’s uncontaminated desire for transcendental realization, the Lord thanked her within Himself for her questions, and thus, His face smiling, He explained the path of the transcendentalists, who are interested in self-realization.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Sincere Spiritual Questions Please the Lord

  1. 1

    Devahūti admits her material entanglement and expresses her desire for release. Lord Kapila is pleased because her questions encourage the desire for liberation.

  2. 2

    Human life is meant for understanding our spiritual position, not simply eating, sleeping, fearing and mating. Sincere spiritual inquiry helps us use this opportunity well.

  3. 3

    The soul is eternal, but taking shelter of the temporary material world brings anxiety. When one takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one stands on the eternal spiritual platform.

Key points from the purport
  • Her questions to Lord Kapila are very interesting for persons who are actually trying to get liberation from material entanglement and attain the perfectional stage of human life.
  • Lord Kapila was very much satisfied by His mother’s questions because the answers stimulate one’s desire for liberation from the conditional life of material existence.
  • As spirit soul, everyone exists eternally, but the asat has accepted the material world as his shelter, and therefore he is full of anxiety.

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

Entanglement → Insight and liberation. Inquiry matures into instruction in devotion and spiritual nature.

Chapters 25–33 of Canto 3: Kapila instructs Devahūti. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 25: The Glories of Devotional Service

Kapila teaches Devahūti the glories of devotional service, association with devotees, and freedom from material attachment.

Back to this verse in chapter 3.25
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. maitreyaḥ uvācaMaitreya said
  2. itithus
  3. sva-mātuḥof His mother
  4. niravadyamuncontaminated
  5. īpsitamdesire
  6. niśamyaafter hearing
  7. puṁsāmof people
  8. apavargacessation of bodily existence
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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

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 3.25

    In this verse: “inquiry”, “understanding”

  • Kīrtana · Hearing and chanting

    Remembering the Lord through sacred sound. · Theme in SB 3.25

    In this verse: “hearing”

  • Vātsalya · Parental affection

    Affection and protective concern for the Lord as a child. · Theme in SB 3.25

    In this verse: “mother’s”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What sincere question would help me better understand my spiritual position?

Practice

Write down one question about spiritual life, then reread this passage with a desire to learn.

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.

1 lecture given on it. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Live this todaySincere Spiritual Questions Please the LordThis 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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