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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
4.12.244.12.26

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.12.25

Sthāna· The universe in order
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

सुदुर्जयं विष्णुपदं जितं त्वया

यत्सूरयोऽप्राप्य विचक्षते परम् ।

आतिष्ठ तच्चन्द्रदिवाकरादयो

ग्रहर्क्षतारा: परियन्ति दक्षिणम् ॥ २५ ॥

sudurjayaṁ viṣṇu-padaṁ jitaṁ tvayā

yat sūrayo ’prāpya vicakṣate param

ātiṣṭha tac candra-divākarādayo

graharkṣa-tārāḥ pariyanti dakṣiṇam

Translation

To achieve Viṣṇuloka is very difficult, but by your austerity you have conquered. Even the great ṛṣis and demigods cannot achieve this position. Simply to see the supreme abode [the Viṣṇu planet], the sun and moon and all the other planets, stars, lunar mansions and solar systems are circumambulating it. Now please come; you are welcome to go there.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Love of God Leads Back to Godhead

  1. 1

    Viṣṇuloka is very difficult to attain, even for great ṛṣis and demigods. Yet Dhruva Mahārāja was welcomed there after his austerity.

  2. 2

    Through devotional service, a devotee not only understands the spiritual world but goes there to live an eternal life of bliss and knowledge.

  3. 3

    By adopting the principles of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and developing love of God, one can go back home, back to Godhead. Devotees regard other planets as passing stations, not their destination.

Key points from the purport
  • But a devotee, by executing devotional service, not only realizes what the spiritual world actually is, but factually goes there to live an eternal life of bliss and knowledge.
  • While the scientist and philosopher go to the moon but are disappointed in their attempts to stay there and live, the devotee makes an easy journey to other planets and ultimately goes back to Godhead.
  • Devotees have no interest in seeing other planets, but while going back to Godhead they see all of them as passing phases, just as one who is going to a distant place passes through many small stations.

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
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. sudurjayamvery difficult to achieve
  2. viṣṇu-padamplanet known as Vaikuṇṭhaloka or Viṣṇuloka
  3. jitamconquered
  4. tvayāby you
  5. yatwhich
  6. sūrayaḥgreat demigods
  7. aprāpyawithout achieving
  8. vicakṣatesimply see
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Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Sthāna · Planetary systems

    How is the universe arranged, and what is our right place in it? · Subject 3 of 10

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

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

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

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 4.12

    In this verse: “knowledge”, “understands”

  • Dharma · Duty and righteous conduct

    Right action as duty, responsibility and devotion. · Theme in SB 4.12

    In this verse: “principles”

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

Am I keeping love of God and return to Him above curiosity about other destinations?

Practice

Before your devotional practice today, pause and recall that its goal is to develop love of God.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayLove of God Leads Back to GodheadThis 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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