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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
4.28.574.28.59

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.28.58

Mukti· Liberation
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:The brāhmaṇasince 4.28.53inside 5 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → ViduraNārada Muni → King PrācīnabarhiThe allegory of King Purañjana → Prācīnabarhi, as listener

विपणस्तु क्रियाशक्तिर्भूतप्रकृतिरव्यया ।

शक्त्यधीश: पुमांस्त्वत्र प्रविष्टो नावबुध्यते ॥ ५८ ॥

vipaṇas tu kriyā-śaktir

bhūta-prakṛtir avyayā

śakty-adhīśaḥ pumāṁs tv atra

praviṣṭo nāvabudhyate

Translation

The five stores are the five working sensory organs. They transact their business through the combined forces of the five elements, which are eternal. Behind all this activity is the soul. The soul is a person and an enjoyer in reality. However, because he is now hidden within the city of the body, he is devoid of knowledge.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Soul Hidden Within the Body

  1. 1

    The five stores represent the five working sensory organs. The body is formed from earth, water, fire, air and ether.

  2. 2

    The living entity works from within the body but appears hidden because of bewilderment by material energy. Ignorance makes the bodily conception of life prominent.

  3. 3

    Material nature and the living entity are both beginningless. Their contact produces various manifestations through the interaction of the three modes of material nature.

Key points from the purport
  • The living entity enters the material creation with the aid of the five elements — earth, water, fire, air and ether — and thus his body is formed.
  • The living entity enters the material creation, but because he is bewildered by the material energy, he appears to be hidden.
  • Prakṛti, material nature, and puruṣa, the living entity, are eternal.

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 4.28.58 quotesBG 13.20

This is all explained in Bhagavad-gītā (13.20): “Material nature and the living entities should be understood to be beginningless.

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 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. vipaṇaḥstores
  2. tuthen
  3. kriyā-śaktiḥthe energy for activities, or the working senses
  4. bhūtathe five gross elements
  5. prakṛtiḥthe material elements
  6. avyayāeternal
  7. śaktithe energy
  8. adhīśaḥcontroller
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 4.28

    In this verse: “knowledge”

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 4.28

    In this verse: “material”

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

When do I think of myself only in terms of my body?

Practice

Pause once today and reflect: “The body is formed from material elements; I am the living entity working within it.”

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayThe Soul Hidden Within the BodyThis 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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