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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 12: Dhruva Mahārāja Goes Back to Godhead
4.12.174.12.19

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.12.18

Mukti· Liberation
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Maitreya Ṛṣisince 4.12.8inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → Vidura

भक्तिं हरौ भगवति प्रवहन्नजस्र-

मानन्दबाष्पकलया मुहुरर्द्यमान: ।

विक्लिद्यमानहृदय: पुलकाचिताङ्गो

नात्मानमस्मरदसाविति मुक्तलिङ्ग: ॥ १८ ॥

bhaktiṁ harau bhagavati pravahann ajasram

ānanda-bāṣpa-kalayā muhur ardyamānaḥ

viklidyamāna-hṛdayaḥ pulakācitāṅgo

nātmānam asmarad asāv iti mukta-liṅgaḥ

Translation

Because of his transcendental bliss, incessant tears flowed from his eyes, his heart melted, and there was shivering and standing of the hairs all over his body. Thus transformed, in a trance of devotional service, Dhruva Mahārāja completely forgot his bodily existence, and thus he immediately became liberated from material bondage.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Devotional Service Opens the Path of Liberation

  1. 1

    By constant devotional service, Dhruva Mahārāja became fully absorbed in transcendental bliss and forgot his bodily existence. The path of liberation opens from the beginning of devotional service.

  2. 2

    Full absorption in devotional service frees one from both the gross body and the subtle covering of mind, intelligence and ego. Like dried coconut pulp separated from its shell, the devotee becomes free from these material coverings.

  3. 3

    The bodily transformations described here appear in advanced pure devotees and should not be imitated. Freedom from the subtle body makes one fully prepared to enter the spiritual world.

Key points from the purport
  • When a man dies, he quits the gross body, but the subtle body of mind, intelligence and ego carries him to a new body.
  • But there is another stage, when one becomes liberated even from the subtle body; at that time the living entity is competent and fully prepared to be transferred to the transcendental or spiritual world.
  • Therefore one has to become free from the subtle body also.

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

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 12: Dhruva Mahārāja Goes Back to Godhead

Dhruva stops fighting, continues devotional service, leaves his kingdom, and goes back to Godhead.

Back to this verse in chapter 4.12
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. bhaktimdevotional service
  2. harauunto Hari
  3. bhagavatithe Supreme Personality of Godhead
  4. pravahanconstantly engaging in
  5. ajasramalways
  6. ānandablissful
  7. bāṣpa-kalayāby a stream of tears
  8. muhuḥagain and again
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Mukti · Liberation

    What is real freedom for the soul? · Subject 9 of 10

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 4.12

    In this verse: “devotional service”, “devotee”

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 4.12

    In this verse: “material”

  • Vairāgya · Freedom from attachment

    Release from possessiveness and false identities. · Theme in SB 4.12

    In this verse: “free from”

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 I give more steady attention to devotional service rather than seek outward signs of advancement?

Practice

Set aside five uninterrupted minutes today for hearing or chanting the Lord’s glories.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayDevotional Service Opens the Path of LiberationThis 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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