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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
4.12.334.12.35

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.12.34

Nirodha· Winding up
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Maitreya Ṛṣisince 4.12.28inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → Vidura

तत्र तत्र प्रशंसद्‌भि: पथि वैमानिकै: सुरै: ।

अवकीर्यमाणो दद‍ृशे कुसुमै: क्रमशो ग्रहान् ॥ ३४ ॥

tatra tatra praśaṁsadbhiḥ

pathi vaimānikaiḥ suraiḥ

avakīryamāṇo dadṛśe

kusumaiḥ kramaśo grahān

Translation

While Dhruva Mahārāja was passing through space, he gradually saw all the planets of the solar system, and on the path he saw all the demigods in their airplanes showering flowers upon him like rain.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Spiritual Progress Benefits Both Child and Mother

  1. 1

    By knowing the Supreme Personality of Godhead, everything becomes known to the devotee. On his journey toward Vaikuṇṭha, Dhruva Mahārāja saw the planetary systems along the way.

  2. 2

    Dhruva Mahārāja traveled in a spiritual body, not an ordinary material body. Sunīti also received a spiritual form while going to Vaikuṇṭhaloka.

  3. 3

    Sunīti trained her son to seek the Supreme Lord rather than merely remain comfortable at home. The purport urges mothers to train their children in spiritual discipline and devotion, which can benefit both child and mother.

Key points from the purport
  • Like Śrī Sunīti, every mother should train her child to become a devotee like Dhruva Mahārāja.
  • Every mother, like Sunīti, must take care of her son and train him to become a brahmacārī from the age of five years and to undergo austerities and penances for spiritual realization.
  • The benefit will be that if her son becomes a strong devotee like Dhruva, certainly not only will he be transferred back home, back to Godhead, but she will also be transferred with him to the spiritual world, even though she may be unable to undergo austerities and penances in executing devotional service.

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. tatra tatrahere and there
  2. praśaṁsadbhiḥby persons engaged in the praise of Dhruva Mahārāja
  3. pathion the path
  4. vaimānikaiḥcarried by different types of airplanes
  5. suraiḥby the demigods
  6. avakīryamāṇaḥbeing covered
  7. dadṛśecould see
  8. kusumaiḥby flowers
  9. kramaśaḥone after another
  10. grahānall the planets of the solar system
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: “devotion”, “devotee”

  • Vātsalya · Parental affection

    Affection and protective concern for the Lord as a child. · Theme in SB 4.12

    In this verse: “mothers”, “children”

  • 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 can I encourage spiritual growth rather than make material comfort my only concern?

Practice

Choose one small opportunity today to encourage someone’s devotional service.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todaySpiritual Progress Benefits Both Child and MotherThis 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.

Ask the BhāgavatamHave a question about SB 4.12.34? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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