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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
4.24.644.24.66

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.24.65

Nirodha· Winding up
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

स एष लोकानतिचण्डवेगो

विकर्षसि त्वं खलु कालयान: ।

भूतानि भूतैरनुमेयतत्त्वो

घनावलीर्वायुरिवाविषह्य: ॥ ६५ ॥

sa eṣa lokān aticaṇḍa-vego

vikarṣasi tvaṁ khalu kāla-yānaḥ

bhūtāni bhūtair anumeya-tattvo

ghanāvalīr vāyur ivāviṣahyaḥ

Translation

My dear Lord, Your absolute authority cannot be directly experienced, but one can guess by seeing the activities of the world that everything is being destroyed in due course of time. The force of time is very strong, and everything is being destroyed by something else — just as one animal is being eaten by another animal. Time scatters everything, exactly as the wind scatters clouds in the sky.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Time Reveals the Lord’s Supreme Authority

  1. 1

    Nothing within this material world can be permanent, despite people’s efforts to make it so. Destruction continues according to the laws of nature.

  2. 2

    Kṛṣṇa declares that He is all-devouring death. In this form, the Lord takes away everything people accumulate in the material world.

  3. 3

    Although we do not directly see the Lord’s hand, we can recognize His control through the process of destruction. Time scatters everything as wind scatters clouds.

Key points from the purport
  • Thus in one way or another everyone is busy denying the existence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and rejecting the supreme authority of the Lord.
  • In this way the process of destruction goes on by the supreme will of the Lord.
  • The destructive process is going on fiercely under the control of the Lord, but the atheists cannot see it.

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· 2

The purport of SB 4.24.65 quotesBG 10.34

As Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (10.34), mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham: “I am all-devouring death.”

The purport of SB 4.24.65 quotesSB 1.13.47

As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.13.47), this killing process is natural.

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
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. saḥthat
  2. eṣaḥthis
  3. lokānall the planetary systems
  4. ativery much
  5. caṇḍa-vegaḥthe great force
  6. vikarṣasidestroys
  7. tvamYour Lordship
  8. khaluhowever
3

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

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 4.24

    In this verse: “material”

  • Abhaya · Fearlessness

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

    In this verse: “death”

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

What am I treating as permanent even though time will eventually take it away?

Practice

Look at one possession today and reflect: “This cannot remain forever; the Supreme Lord’s authority is greater than my ability to preserve 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 4.24's connections

Live this todayTime Reveals the Lord’s Supreme AuthorityThis 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 4.24.65? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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