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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 19: King Pṛthu’s One Hundred Horse Sacrifices
4.19.74.19.9

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.19.8

Poṣaṇa· The Lord's protection
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Maitreya Ṛṣisince 4.19.1inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → Vidura

ऊहु: सर्वरसान्नद्य: क्षीरदध्यन्नगोरसान् ।

तरवो भूरिवर्ष्माण: प्रासूयन्त मधुच्युत: ॥ ८ ॥

ūhuḥ sarva-rasān nadyaḥ

kṣīra-dadhy-anna-go-rasān

taravo bhūri-varṣmāṇaḥ

prāsūyanta madhu-cyutaḥ

Translation

The flowing rivers supplied all kinds of tastes — sweet, pungent, sour, etc. — and very big trees supplied fruit and honey in abundance. The cows, having eaten sufficient green grass, supplied profuse quantities of milk, curd, clarified butter and similar other necessities.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Nature’s Provision Calls Us to Serve

  1. 1

    Unpolluted rivers help make the land fertile, and different seeds produce different tastes from the same earth. Kṛṣṇa declares that He is the original seed of all existences.

  2. 2

    The Supreme Personality of Godhead has made complete arrangements for life’s necessities. As His parts and parcels, our prime business is to satisfy Him.

  3. 3

    Forests have a purpose in supplying honey, fruits and flowers, and their abundance depends on yajña. The best sacrifice in this age is to spread the saṅkīrtana movement.

Key points from the purport
  • If rivers are not polluted and are allowed to flow in their own way, or sometimes allowed to flood the land, the land will become very fertile and able to produce all kinds of vegetables, trees and plants.
  • Actually all rasas are tastes within the earth, and as soon as seeds are sown in the ground, various trees sprout up to satisfy our different tastes.
  • The purpose of these trees was to produce honey and varieties of fruit.

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 4.19.8 quotesBG 7.10

As Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (7.10), bījaṁ māṁ sarva-bhūtānām: “I am the original seed of all existences.”

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

Anger and disorder → Duty and devotion. Kingship shifts from domination to stewardship and renunciation.

Chapters 13–23 of Canto 4: Vena and Pṛthu: power, the Earth and stewardship. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 19: King Pṛthu’s One Hundred Horse Sacrifices

Indra repeatedly takes the sacrificial horse, and Brahmā restrains Pṛthu’s anger.

Back to this verse in chapter 4.19
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. ūhuḥbore
  2. sarva-rasānall kinds of tastes
  3. nadyaḥthe rivers
  4. kṣīramilk
  5. dadhicurd
  6. annadifferent kinds of food
  7. go-rasānother milk products
  8. taravaḥtrees
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Poṣaṇa · Protection by the Lord

    How does the Lord care for His devotees? · Subject 4 of 10

  • Prema · Transcendental love

    The intimacy and sweetness of devotion to Kṛṣṇa. · Theme in SB 4.19

    In this verse: “sweet”

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 the food I receive remind me of my duty to satisfy the Lord?

Practice

Before eating today, pause to remember the Lord’s provision and your purpose of serving Him.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayNature’s Provision Calls Us to ServeThis 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 4.19.8? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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