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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
4.12.254.12.27

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.12.26

Nirodha· Winding up
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

अनास्थितं ते पितृभिरन्यैरप्यङ्ग कर्हिचित् ।

आतिष्ठ जगतां वन्द्यं तद्विष्णो: परमं पदम् ॥ २६ ॥

anāsthitaṁ te pitṛbhir

anyair apy aṅga karhicit

ātiṣṭha jagatāṁ vandyaṁ

tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padam

Translation

Dear King Dhruva, neither your forefathers nor anyone else before you ever achieved such a transcendental planet. The planet known as Viṣṇuloka, where Lord Viṣṇu personally resides, is the highest of all. It is worshipable by the inhabitants of all other planets within the universe. Please come with us and live there eternally.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Lord’s Abode Is the Lasting Destination

  1. 1

    Dhruva Mahārāja was invited to live eternally in Viṣṇuloka, where Lord Viṣṇu personally resides. This worshipable planet surpassed what his forefathers had attained.

  2. 2

    Even Brahmaloka is not a permanent residence. Those who reach the Lord’s supreme abode do not return to material life with its birth, death, old age and disease.

  3. 3

    Viṣṇuloka is especially meant for devotees. The process of bhakti-yoga, practiced by Dhruva Mahārāja, enables one to reach beyond this universe to the Lord’s abode.

Key points from the purport
  • The associates of Lord Viṣṇu reminded him that not only his forefathers but everyone else before him was unable to attain Viṣṇuloka, the planet where Lord Viṣṇu resides.
  • Material scientists are attempting to go to the moon and other planets, but they cannot imagine going to the topmost planet, Brahmaloka, for it is beyond their imagination.
  • By mechanical processes we are unable to reach the topmost planet of this universe, but the process called bhakti-yoga, as executed by Mahārāja Dhruva, can give one the facility not only to reach other planets within this universe, but also to reach beyond this universe to the Viṣṇuloka planets.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

Connected verses· 2

The purport of SB 4.12.26 quotesBG 8.16

Bhagavad-gītā (8.16) says, ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino ’rjuna: except for those who go to Viṣṇuloka, everyone is subjected to the four principles of material life, namely birth, death, old age and disease.

The purport of SB 4.12.26 quotesBG 15.6

The Lord says, yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama: “The planet from which, once going, no one returns is My supreme abode.”

Each link is a verse the purport itself quotes, or a purport elsewhere that quotes this verse, shown with the purport's own words.

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. anāsthitamnever achieved
  2. teyour
  3. pitṛbhiḥby forefathers
  4. anyaiḥby others
  5. apieven
  6. aṅgaO Dhruva
  7. karhicitat any time
  8. ātiṣṭhaplease come and live there
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Nirodha · Returning home, back to Godhead

    What happens when everything here comes to an end? · Subject 8 of 10

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

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

    In this verse: “worshipable”, “devotees”, “bhakti-yoga”

  • Rāja-dharma · Devotional leadership

    Serving and protecting through responsibility. · Theme in SB 4.12

    In this verse: “king”

  • Moha · Material attachment

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

    In this verse: “material”

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 does knowing that material destinations are temporary shape what I seek through devotional service?

Practice

Take one minute today to reflect on the difference between temporary achievement and eternal service to the Lord.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayThe Lord’s Abode Is the Lasting DestinationThis 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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