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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 2: Dakṣa Curses Lord Śiva
4.2.294.2.31

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.2.30

Ūti· What drives us to act
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Bhṛgu Munisince 4.2.30inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → Vidura

ब्रह्म च ब्राह्मणांश्चैव यद्यूयं परिनिन्दथ ।

सेतुं विधारणं पुंसामत: पाषण्डमाश्रिता: ॥ ३० ॥

brahma ca brāhmaṇāṁś caiva

yad yūyaṁ parinindatha

setuṁ vidhāraṇaṁ puṁsām

ataḥ pāṣaṇḍam āśritāḥ

Translation

Bhṛgu Muni continued: Since you blaspheme the Vedas and the brāhmaṇas, who are followers of the Vedic principles, it is understood that you have already taken shelter of the doctrine of atheism.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Respect Vedic Guidance and Its Teachers

  1. 1

    Bhṛgu said that those blaspheming the Vedas had already adopted atheism; his curse was not its beginning. Here nāstika refers to rejecting the Vedas and manufacturing a system of religion.

  2. 2

    The Vedas guide spiritual cultivation, economic development and regulated sense gratification. Their direction leads toward liberation from material contamination and realization of spiritual identity.

  3. 3

    The Vedas are compared to a mother who gives instruction, and knowledgeable brāhmaṇas to a father. Condemning both undermines the spiritual guidance of human civilization.

Key points from the purport
  • Bhṛgu Muni, in cursing Nandīśvara, said that not only would they be degraded as atheists because of this curse, but they had already fallen to the standard of atheism because they had blasphemed the Vedas, which are the source of human civilization.
  • Thus if one blasphemes the Vedas and brāhmaṇas, naturally one goes down to the status of atheism.
  • In order to establish his doctrine of nonviolence, Lord Buddha flatly refused to believe in the Vedas, and thus, later on, Śaṅkarācārya stopped this system of religion in India and forced it to go outside India.

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

Humiliation and anger → Reconciliation. Relational offense leads to grief and destruction before restoration.

Chapters 1–7 of Canto 4: Dakṣa, Satī and Śiva. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 2: Dakṣa Curses Lord Śiva

Dakṣa insults and curses Lord Śiva at a great sacrificial assembly.

Back to this verse in chapter 4.2
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. brahmathe Vedas
  2. caand
  3. brāhmaṇānthe brāhmaṇas
  4. caand
  5. evacertainly
  6. yatbecause
  7. yūyamyou
  8. parinindathablaspheme
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Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Ūti · The creative impetus

    Why do we act, and what keeps us bound? · Subject 5 of 10

  • Dharma · Duty and righteous conduct

    Right action as duty, responsibility and devotion. · Theme in SB 4.2

    In this verse: “principles”, “religion”

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 4.2

    In this verse: “sense gratification”, “material”

  • Vātsalya · Parental affection

    Affection and protective concern for the Lord as a child. · Theme in SB 4.2

    In this verse: “mother”, “father”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How can I approach spiritual instruction respectfully rather than dismiss it hastily?

Practice

Reread one instruction in this purport and write down its purpose before judging it.

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 4.2's connections

Live this todayRespect Vedic Guidance and Its TeachersThis 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 4.2.30? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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