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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.
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Canto 4 · Chapter 28: Purañjana Becomes a Woman in the Next Life
4.28.454.28.47

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.28.46

Nirodha· Winding up
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:King Purañjanasince 4.28.21inside 5 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → ViduraNārada Muni → King PrācīnabarhiThe allegory of King Purañjana → Prācīnabarhi, as listener

यदा नोपलभेताङ्‌घ्रावूष्माणं पत्युरर्चती ।

आसीत्संविग्नहृदया यूथभ्रष्टा मृगी यथा ॥ ४६ ॥

yadā nopalabhetāṅghrāv

ūṣmāṇaṁ patyur arcatī

āsīt saṁvigna-hṛdayā

yūtha-bhraṣṭā mṛgī yathā

Translation

While she was serving her husband by massaging his legs, she could feel that his feet were no longer warm and could thus understand that he had already passed from the body. She felt great anxiety upon being left alone. Bereft of her husband’s company, she felt exactly as the deer feels upon being separated from its mate.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Separation Brings Deep Anxiety

  1. 1

    While massaging her husband’s legs, the queen noticed that his feet were no longer warm. She understood that he had passed from the body.

  2. 2

    The purport explains bodily death as the departure of the soul, accompanied by the stopping of blood and air circulation.

  3. 3

    Left without her husband’s company, she felt great anxiety. Her distress is compared to that of a deer separated from its mate.

Key points from the purport
  • As soon as the circulation of blood and air within the body stops, it is to be understood that the soul within the body has left.
  • The stoppage of the blood’s circulation is perceived when the hands and feet lose heat.
  • One tests whether a body is alive or not by feeling the heart’s palpitations and the coldness of the feet and hands.

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

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 28: Purañjana Becomes a Woman in the Next Life

Purañjana’s city falls; he becomes a woman, and a brāhmaṇa recalls the soul’s forgotten spiritual friendship.

Back to this verse in chapter 4.28
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. yadāwhen
  2. nanot
  3. upalabhetacould feel
  4. aṅghrauin the feet
  5. ūṣmāṇamheat
  6. patyuḥof her husband
  7. arcatīwhile serving
  8. āsītshe became
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

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 4.28

    In this verse: “understand”

  • Viraha · Longing in separation

    Love and remembrance experienced in apparent absence. · Theme in SB 4.28

    In this verse: “separated”

  • Karuṇā · Compassion

    Concern for others expressed through bhakti. · Theme in SB 4.28

    In this verse: “distress”

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 does the queen’s distress help me understand about the pain of separation?

Practice

Pause today to reflect on the queen’s loss and acknowledge the depth of her grief.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todaySeparation Brings Deep AnxietyThis 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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