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

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Canto 4 · The Creation of the Fourth Order · 31 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 4 · Chapter 1: Genealogical Table of the Daughters of Manu
4.1.384.1.40

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.1.39

Visarga· Brahmā's creation
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:The three deitiessince 4.1.30inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → Vidura

क्रतोरपि क्रिया भार्या वालखिल्यानसूयत ।

ऋषीन्षष्टिसहस्राणि ज्वलतो ब्रह्मतेजसा ॥ ३९ ॥

krator api kriyā bhāryā

vālakhilyān asūyata

ṛṣīn ṣaṣṭi-sahasrāṇi

jvalato brahma-tejasā

Translation

Kratu’s wife, Kriyā, gave birth to sixty thousand great sages, named the Vālakhilyas. All these sages were greatly advanced in spiritual knowledge, and their bodies were illuminated by such knowledge.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Vālakhilyas’ Spiritual Knowledge and Retirement

  1. 1

    Kriyā, Kratu’s wife, was the sixth daughter of Kardama Muni. She gave birth to sixty thousand great sages.

  2. 2

    These sages were greatly advanced in spiritual knowledge, and their bodies were illuminated by that knowledge.

  3. 3

    They were known as the Vālakhilyas because they all retired from family life as vānaprasthas.

Key points from the purport
  • Kriyā was the sixth daughter of Kardama Muni, and she produced sixty thousand sages, who were known as the Vālakhilyas because they all retired from family life as vānaprasthas.

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

Humiliation and anger → Reconciliation. Relational offense leads to grief and destruction before restoration.

Chapters 1–7 of Canto 4: Dakṣa, Satī and Śiva. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 1: Genealogical Table of the Daughters of Manu

Maitreya describes the descendants of Manu’s daughters and the blessings received by Atri Muni.

Back to this verse in chapter 4.1
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. kratoḥof the great sage Kratu
  2. apialso
  3. kriyāKriyā
  4. bhāryāwife
  5. vālakhilyānjust like Vālakhilya
  6. asūyatabegot
  7. ṛṣīnsages
  8. ṣaṣṭisixty
3

Key ideas in this verse

The subject this verse serves and the themes it speaks of.

  • Visarga · Subcreation

    How do living beings and their worlds appear? · Subject 2 of 10

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 4.1

    In this verse: “knowledge”

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

What place am I making in my day for spiritual knowledge?

Practice

Set aside five quiet minutes today to study this account of the sages’ spiritual knowledge.

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 4.1's connections

Live this todayThe Vālakhilyas’ Spiritual Knowledge and RetirementThis 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 4.1.39? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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