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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 23: Mahārāja Pṛthu’s Going Back Home
4.23.214.23.23

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.23.22

Nirodha· Winding up
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Maitreya Ṛṣisince 4.22.48inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → Vidura

विधाय कृत्यं ह्रदिनीजलाप्लुता

दत्त्वोदकं भर्तुरुदारकर्मण: ।

नत्वा दिविस्थांस्त्रिदशांस्त्रि: परीत्य

विवेश वह्निं ध्यायती भर्तृपादौ ॥ २२ ॥

vidhāya kṛtyaṁ hradinī-jalāplutā

dattvodakaṁ bhartur udāra-karmaṇaḥ

natvā divi-sthāṁs tridaśāṁs triḥ parītya

viveśa vahniṁ dhyāyatī bhartṛ-pādau

Translation

After this, the Queen executed the necessary funerary functions and offered oblations of water. After bathing in the river, she offered obeisances to various demigods situated in the sky in the different planetary systems. She then circumambulated the fire and, while thinking of the lotus feet of her husband, entered its flames.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Arci’s Final Rites and Historical Context

  1. 1

    Arci completed the necessary funeral duties, offered water and bathed in the river. She then offered obeisances to the demigods.

  2. 2

    The translation describes her circumambulating the fire and entering it while thinking of her husband’s lotus feet. The purport calls this historical practice saha-gamana, or “dying with the husband.”

  3. 3

    The purport explains that the practice degraded when relatives forced unwilling or unfit wives to enter the fire. It states that the practice therefore had to be stopped.

Key points from the purport
  • The entrance of a chaste wife into the flames of the pyre of her dead husband is known as saha-gamana, which means “dying with the husband.”
  • Even after the British period in India this practice was rigidly observed, but soon it degraded to the point that even when the wife was not strong enough to enter the fire of her dead husband, the relatives would force her to enter.
  • Thus this practice had to be stopped, but even today there are still some solitary cases where a wife will voluntarily enter the fire and die with her husband.

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

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 23: Mahārāja Pṛthu’s Going Back Home

Pṛthu practices forest austerities and fixed devotion to Kṛṣṇa, then departs; Arci’s faithful service is praised.

Back to this verse in chapter 4.23
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. vidhāyaexecuting
  2. kṛtyamthe regulative function
  3. hradinīin the water of the river
  4. jala-āplutātaking bath completely
  5. dattvā udakamoffering oblations of water
  6. bhartuḥof her husband
  7. udāra-karmaṇaḥwho was so liberal
  8. natvāoffering obeisances
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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

  • Dharma · Duty and righteous conduct

    Right action as duty, responsibility and devotion. · Theme in SB 4.23

    In this verse: “duties”

  • Abhaya · Fearlessness

    Steadiness through faith amid danger and death. · Theme in SB 4.23

    In this verse: “dying”

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

Why is the purport’s account of coercion and the stopping of this practice important to remember?

Practice

Write one sentence noting why the purport says this historical practice had to be stopped.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayArci’s Final Rites and Historical ContextThis 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 4.23.22? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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