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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 25: The Descriptions of the Characteristics of King Purañjana
4.25.44.25.6

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.25.5

Mukti· Liberation
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:The Kingsince 4.25.5inside 4 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → ViduraNārada Muni → King Prācīnabarhi

राजोवाच

न जानामि महाभाग परं कर्मापविद्धधी: ।

ब्रूहि मे विमलं ज्ञानं येन मुच्येय कर्मभि: ॥ ५ ॥

rājovāca

na jānāmi mahā-bhāga

paraṁ karmāpaviddha-dhīḥ

brūhi me vimalaṁ jñānaṁ

yena mucyeya karmabhiḥ

Translation

The King replied: O great soul, Nārada, my intelligence is entangled in fruitive activities; therefore I do not know the ultimate goal of life. Kindly instruct me in pure knowledge so that I can get out of the entanglement of fruitive activities.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Humbly Inquire About Life’s Ultimate Goal

  1. 1

    The King admitted that fruitive activities had entangled his intelligence. He asked Nārada for pure knowledge that could free him.

  2. 2

    Both pious and impious activities can bind a person to repeated material bodies. Wealth, education and beauty do not remove the miseries of life.

  3. 3

    Inquiry into life’s real value begins when one recognizes this entanglement. The actual business of human life is to approach a bona fide spiritual master and ask how to become free.

Key points from the purport
  • By pious activities one can take birth in a rich family and get a good education and a beautiful body, but this does not mean that the distresses of life are ultimately eliminated.
  • Such activities simply cause entanglement and transmigration from one body to another.
  • King Prācīnabarhiṣat found the best spiritual master, Nārada Muni, and he therefore asked him about that knowledge by which one can get out of the entanglement of karma-bandha-phāṅsa, fruitive activities.

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 4.25.5 quotesSB 1.2.10

As stated in the Second Chapter of the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.10), a human being’s only business is inquiring from a bona fide spiritual master about extrication from the entanglement of karma-bandha-phāṅsa.

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 25: The Descriptions of the Characteristics of King Purañjana

Nārada’s allegory introduces Purañjana, his search for enjoyment, and his attraction to a woman.

Back to this verse in chapter 4.25
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. rājā uvācathe King replied
  2. nanot
  3. jānāmiI know
  4. mahā-bhāgaO great soul
  5. paramtranscendental
  6. karmaby fruitive activities
  7. apaviddhabeing pierced
  8. dhīḥmy intelligence
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Mukti · Liberation

    What is real freedom for the soul? · Subject 9 of 10

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 4.25

    In this verse: “knowledge”, “inquiry”

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 4.25

    In this verse: “wealth”, “material”

  • Karuṇā · Compassion

    Concern for others expressed through bhakti. · Theme in SB 4.25

    In this verse: “kindly”

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 uncertainty about life’s ultimate goal can I honestly admit?

Practice

Write down one sincere question about freedom from fruitive activities to ask a bona fide spiritual master.

5

The story around it

The stories this chapter belongs to.

6

Connected stories

Keep going: stories told elsewhere in the Bhāgavatam that this verse or its purport brings in.

The purport quotesSB 1.2.10

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 4.25's connections

Live this todayHumbly Inquire About Life’s Ultimate GoalThis 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 4.25.5? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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