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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 24: Chanting the Song Sung by Lord Śiva
4.24.404.24.42

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.24.41

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Maitreya Ṛṣisince 4.24.32inside 4 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → ViduraLord Śiva → the Pracetās

प्रवृत्ताय निवृत्ताय पितृदेवाय कर्मणे ।

नमोऽधर्मविपाकाय मृत्यवे दु:खदाय च ॥ ४१ ॥

pravṛttāya nivṛttāya

pitṛ-devāya karmaṇe

namo ’dharma-vipākāya

mṛtyave duḥkha-dāya ca

Translation

My dear Lord, You are the viewer of the results of pious activities. You are inclination, disinclination and their resultant activities. You are the cause of the miserable conditions of life caused by irreligion, and therefore You are death. I offer You my respectful obeisances.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Choose Remembrance and Devotional Service

  1. 1

    The Supreme Personality of Godhead is seated in everyone’s heart. From Him come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness, as well as inclinations and disinclinations.

  2. 2

    The Lord enables devotees to remember Him. Because the asuras do not wish to engage in devotional service, the Lord within gives them the intelligence to forget Him.

  3. 3

    One’s position in life is attained according to one’s activities. Nondevotees remain in the miserable cycle of birth and death, showing the importance of turning toward devotional service.

Key points from the purport
  • The Supreme Personality of Godhead causes the asuras to forget Him and the devotees to remember Him.
  • Although the asuras oppose devotional service, it is to be understood that they are inclined that way due to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
  • Because one’s position in life is attained according to one’s activities, the asuras, or nondevotees, are put into such miserable conditions.

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· 3

The purport of SB 4.24.41 quotesBG 15.15

This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15): “I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.”

The purport of SB 4.24.41 quotesBG 16.7

According to Bhagavad-gītā (16.7), pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca janā na vidur āsurāḥ: the asuras do not know which way one should be inclined to act and which way one should not be inclined to act.

The purport of SB 4.24.41 quotesBG 9.25

Ordinary karmīs desire promotion to Pitṛloka, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (9.25).

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

Worldly absorption → Sobering awareness. The mind's identification with material life becomes visible.

Chapters 24–29 of Canto 4: Śiva's song and the allegory of Purañjana. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 24: Chanting the Song Sung by Lord Śiva

Lord Śiva mercifully teaches the Pracetās prayers glorifying the Supreme Lord.

Back to this verse in chapter 4.24
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. pravṛttāyainclination
  2. nivṛttāyadisinclination
  3. pitṛ-devāyaunto the master of Pitṛloka
  4. karmaṇeunto the resultant action of fruitive activities
  5. namaḥoffering respects
  6. adharmairreligious
  7. vipākāyaunto the result
  8. mṛtyaveunto death
  9. duḥkha-dāyathe cause of all kinds of miserable conditions
  10. caalso
3

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 4.24

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

  • Abhaya · Fearlessness

    Steadiness through faith amid danger and death. · Theme in SB 4.24

    In this verse: “death”

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 4.24

    In this verse: “knowledge”

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

Do my choices express a desire to remember the Lord or to forget Him?

Practice

Pause before one choice today and ask the Lord within your heart to help you remember Him and choose service.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayChoose Remembrance and Devotional ServiceThis 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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