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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 28: Purañjana Becomes a Woman in the Next Life
4.28.54.28.7

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.28.6

Nirodha· Winding up
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Nārada Munisince 4.28.1inside 5 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → ViduraNārada Muni → King PrācīnabarhiThe allegory of King Purañjana → Prācīnabarhi, as listener

कन्योपगूढो नष्टश्री: कृपणो विषयात्मक: ।

नष्टप्रज्ञो हृतैश्वर्यो गन्धर्वयवनैर्बलात् ॥ ६ ॥

kanyopagūḍho naṣṭa-śrīḥ

kṛpaṇo viṣayātmakaḥ

naṣṭa-prajño hṛtaiśvaryo

gandharva-yavanair balāt

Translation

When King Purañjana was embraced by Kālakanyā, he gradually lost all his beauty. Having been too much addicted to sex, he became very poor in intelligence and lost all his opulence. Being bereft of all possessions, he was conquered forcibly by the Gandharvas and the Yavanas.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Sense Enjoyment Cannot Resist Time

  1. 1

    Embraced by Kālakanyā, Purañjana gradually loses his beauty. His addiction to sex is accompanied by loss of intelligence and opulence.

  2. 2

    The purport describes how continued sense gratification during old age brings the loss of beauty, intelligence and good possessions.

  3. 3

    Purañjana cannot resist the daughter of Time. Bereft of his possessions, he is forcibly conquered by the Gandharvas and the Yavanas.

Key points from the purport
  • When a person is attacked by the invalidity of old age and is still addicted to sense gratification, he gradually loses all his personal beauty, intelligence and good possessions.
  • He thus cannot resist the forceful attack of the daughter of Time.

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. kanyāby the daughter of Time
  2. upagūḍhaḥbeing embraced
  3. naṣṭa-śrīḥbereft of all beauty
  4. kṛpaṇaḥmiser
  5. viṣaya-ātmakaḥaddicted to sense gratification
  6. naṣṭa-prajñaḥbereft of intelligence
  7. hṛta-aiśvaryaḥbereft of opulence
  8. gandharvaby the Gandharvas
  9. yavanaiḥand by the Yavanas
  10. balātby force
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

  • Rāja-dharma · Devotional leadership

    Serving and protecting through responsibility. · Theme in SB 4.28

    In this verse: “king”

  • Moha · Material attachment

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

    In this verse: “sense gratification”

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

Am I depending on beauty, intelligence or possessions as though time could not take them away?

Practice

Forgo one unnecessary sense pleasure today and reflect briefly on the limits of bodily enjoyment.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todaySense Enjoyment Cannot Resist TimeThis 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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