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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
4.10.74.10.9

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.10.8

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Maitreya Ṛṣisince 4.10.6inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → Vidura

स तानापततो वीर उग्रधन्वा महारथ: । एकैकं युगपत्सर्वानहन् बाणैस्त्रिभिस्त्रिभि: ॥ ८ ॥

sa tān āpatato vīra

ugra-dhanvā mahā-rathaḥ

ekaikaṁ yugapat sarvān

ahan bāṇais tribhis tribhiḥ

Translation

Dhruva Mahārāja, who was a great charioteer and certainly a great bowman also, immediately began to kill them by simultaneously discharging arrows three at a time.

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.

Dhruva Mahārāja’s Skill in Battle

  1. 1

    Dhruva Mahārāja was a great charioteer.

  2. 2

    He was also a great bowman.

  3. 3

    He immediately began killing the attackers by discharging arrows three at a time.

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. saḥDhruva Mahārāja
  2. tānall of them
  3. āpatataḥfalling upon him
  4. vīraḥhero
  5. ugra-dhanvāpowerful bowman
  6. mahā-rathaḥwho could fight with many chariots
  7. eka-ekamone after another
  8. yugapatsimultaneously
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

Which details show both Dhruva Mahārāja’s skill and the deadly nature of this battle?

Practice

Identify the two skills named in the translation and the specific way Dhruva Mahārāja discharged his arrows.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayDhruva Mahārāja’s Skill in BattleThis 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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