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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.
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Canto 4 · Chapter 12: Dhruva Mahārāja Goes Back to Godhead
4.12.54.12.7

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.12.6

Mukti· Liberation
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:The master of the treasury, Kuverasince 4.12.2inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → Vidura

भजस्व भजनीयाङ्‌घ्रि मभवाय भवच्छिदम् ।

युक्तं विरहितं शक्त्या गुणमय्यात्ममायया ॥ ६ ॥

bhajasva bhajanīyāṅghrim

abhavāya bhava-cchidam

yuktaṁ virahitaṁ śaktyā

guṇa-mayyātma-māyayā

Translation

Engage yourself fully, therefore, in the devotional service of the Lord, for only He can deliver us from this entanglement of materialistic existence. Although the Lord is attached to His material potency, He is aloof from her activities. Everything in this material world is happening by the inconceivable potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Devotional Service Frees Us from Entanglement

  1. 1

    Devotional service includes the servant, the service and the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is served. Service means activities intended to please Him.

  2. 2

    Only the Supreme Lord can deliver us from material entanglement, and He guides His devotee from within. Serving Him also serves the demigods, so separate service is unnecessary.

  3. 3

    The desire to lord it over the material world entangles the living entity in material energy. The Lord remains aloof from its activities, and those engaged in His devotional service are freed from its action and reaction.

Key points from the purport
  • No one but the Supreme Lord can help the living entity be delivered from the entanglement of this material world.
  • Those who are not devotees become involved in such activities, whereas devotees, who are dovetailed with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, are freed from such action and reaction of the material energy.
  • The Lord is therefore described herewith as bhava-cchidam, one who can give deliverance from the entanglement of material existence.

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· 1

The purport of SB 4.12.6 quotesBG 12.7

As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (12.7), teṣām ahaṁ samuddhartā mṛtyu-saṁsāra-sāgarāt.

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. bhajasvaengage in devotional service
  2. bhajanīyaworthy to be worshiped
  3. aṅghrimunto Him whose lotus feet
  4. abhavāyafor deliverance from material existence
  5. bhava-chidamwho cuts the knot of material entanglement
  6. yuktamattached
  7. virahitamaloof
  8. śaktyāto His potency
  9. guṇa-mayyāconsisting of the modes of material nature
  10. ātma-māyayāby His inconceivable potency
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

  • Moha · Material attachment

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

    In this verse: “attached”, “materialistic”, “material”

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

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

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

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 approaching my activities with a desire to control, or with a desire to please the Lord?

Practice

Before one act of devotional service today, consciously make pleasing the Lord your purpose.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayDevotional Service Frees Us from EntanglementThis 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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