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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
4.12.424.12.44

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.12.43

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Nārada Munisince 4.12.42inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → Vidura

य: क्षत्रबन्धुर्भुवि तस्याधिरूढ-

मन्वारुरुक्षेदपि वर्षपूगै: ।

प्रसाद्य वैकुण्ठमवाप तत्पदम् ॥ ४३ ॥ षट्पञ्चवर्षो यदहोभिरल्पै:

yaḥ kṣatra-bandhur bhuvi tasyādhirūḍham

anv ārurukṣed api varṣa-pūgaiḥ

ṣaṭ-pañca-varṣo yad ahobhir alpaiḥ

prasādya vaikuṇṭham avāpa tat-padam

Translation

Dhruva Mahārāja attained an exalted position at the age of only five or six years, after undergoing austerity for six months. Alas, a great kṣatriya cannot achieve such a position even after undergoing austerities for many, many years.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Be Serious About Devotion in This Life

  1. 1

    Dhruva Mahārāja was only five or six years old and underwent austerity for six months. He was not yet a fully trained kṣatriya.

  2. 2

    Birth in a brāhmaṇa or kṣatriya family does not itself supply the required qualifications. Training and purification are necessary.

  3. 3

    Dhruva Mahārāja’s life teaches that one can return to Godhead in this very life. One must become serious and sincere in devotional service as he was.

Key points from the purport
  • Dhruva Mahārāja is described herein as kṣatra-bandhuḥ, which indicates that he was not fully trained as a kṣatriya because he was only five years old; he was not a mature kṣatriya.
  • The lesson from the life of Dhruva Mahārāja is that if one likes, one can attain Vaikuṇṭhaloka in one life, without waiting for many other lives.
  • One simply has to become as serious and sincere as Dhruva Mahārāja; then it is quite possible to attain Vaikuṇṭhaloka and go back home, back to Godhead, in one life.

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. yaḥone who
  2. kṣatra-bandhuḥthe son of a kṣatriya
  3. bhuvion the earth
  4. tasyaof Dhruva
  5. adhirūḍhamthe exalted position
  6. anuafter
  7. ārurukṣetcan aspire to attain
  8. apieven
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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

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

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

    In this verse: “devotional service”

  • Śuddhi · Inner transformation

    The reorientation of the heart toward service. · Theme in SB 4.12

    In this verse: “purification”

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

What spiritual effort am I postponing that I could sincerely begin today?

Practice

Set aside five minutes today for devotional service you have been putting off.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

6

Connected stories

Keep going: stories told elsewhere in the Bhāgavatam that this verse or its purport brings in.

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 4.12's connections

Live this todayBe Serious About Devotion in This LifeThis 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 4.12.43? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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