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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.
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Canto 4 · Chapter 10: Dhruva Mahārāja’s Fight with the Yakṣas
4.10.204.10.22

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.10.21

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Maitreya Ṛṣisince 4.10.18-19inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → Vidura

अपश्यमान: स तदाततायिनं

महामृधे कञ्चन मानवोत्तम: ।

पुरीं दिद‍ृक्षन्नपि नाविशद्‌द्विषां

न मायिनां वेद चिकीर्षितं जन: ॥ २१ ॥

apaśyamānaḥ sa tadātatāyinaṁ

mahā-mṛdhe kañcana mānavottamaḥ

purīṁ didṛkṣann api nāviśad dviṣāṁ

na māyināṁ veda cikīrṣitaṁ janaḥ

Translation

Dhruva Mahārāja, the best of human beings, observed that in that great battlefield not one of the opposing soldiers was left standing with proper weapons. He then desired to see the city of Alakāpurī, but he thought to himself, “No one knows the plans of the mystic Yakṣas.”

Read this verse on Vedabase.io

This verse has no purport; its meaning is explained by the verses around it.

1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Victory Does Not Remove Uncertainty

  1. 1

    Dhruva Mahārāja saw that no opposing soldier remained standing with proper weapons in the great battlefield.

  2. 2

    He desired to see the city of Alakāpurī.

  3. 3

    Yet he considered that no one knew the plans of the mystic Yakṣas. His visible success did not reveal what they might intend.

How it feels

Rejection → Transformed aspiration. A child's wounded pride is purified by divine encounter.

Chapters 8–12 of Canto 4: Dhruva seeks and encounters the Lord. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 10: Dhruva Mahārāja’s Fight with the Yakṣas

After Uttama is killed by a Yakṣa, Dhruva fights the Yakṣas and faces their illusions.

Back to this verse in chapter 4.10
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. apaśyamānaḥwhile not observing
  2. saḥDhruva
  3. tadāat that time
  4. ātatāyinamarmed opposing soldiers
  5. mahā-mṛdhein that great battlefield
  6. kañcanaany
  7. mānava-uttamaḥthe best of the human beings
  8. purīmthe city
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

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

When might an apparent success tempt you to overlook what you still do not know?

Practice

Before taking one next step today, pause and identify one important uncertainty.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayVictory Does Not Remove UncertaintyThis 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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