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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 ›

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.28.60

Who is speaking and story frame

न त्वं विदर्भदुहिता नायं वीर: सुहृत्तव ।

न पतिस्त्वं पुरञ्जन्या रुद्धो नवमुखे यया ॥ ६० ॥

na tvaṁ vidarbha-duhitā

nāyaṁ vīraḥ suhṛt tava

na patis tvaṁ purañjanyā

ruddho nava-mukhe yayā

Translation

Actually, you are not the daughter of Vidarbha, nor is this man, Malayadhvaja, your well-wishing husband. Nor were you the actual husband of Purañjanī. You were simply captivated in this body of nine gates.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Kṛṣṇa Is Our Eternal Well-Wisher

  1. 1

    Every living entity is a separate individual and part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Family, community and national relationships arise through contact with material bodies.

  2. 2

    Like straws brought together and separated by a river's current, living entities meet and part under the waves of material nature. Bodily relationships do not establish their eternal identity.

  3. 3

    Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the eternal friend and actual well-wisher of all living entities. His instructions help us become free from bodily engagement and return home, back to Godhead.

Key points from the purport
  • In the material world many living entities come into contact with one another and, increasing their attachment to a particular type of body, become related as father, husband, mother, wife, etc. Actually every living entity is a separate individual being, and it is because of his contact with matter that he comes together with other bodies and becomes falsely related.
  • Actually every living entity is part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but the living entities are overly engrossed in the material body.
  • Similarly, the innumerable living entities within this material world are being carried by the waves of material nature.

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 4.28.60 quotesBG 5.29

The only actual well-wisher is Kṛṣṇa Himself, as Kṛṣṇa confirms in Bhagavad-gītā (5.29): suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānām.

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
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. nanot
  2. tvamyou
  3. vidarbha-duhitādaughter of Vidarbha
  4. nanot
  5. ayamthis
  6. vīraḥhero
  7. su-hṛtwell-wishing husband
  8. tavayour
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

  • Moha · Material attachment

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

    In this verse: “material”

  • Vairāgya · Freedom from attachment

    Release from possessiveness and false identities. · Theme in SB 4.28

    In this verse: “free from”

  • Sakhya · Sacred friendship

    The affection of companions and friends of the Lord. · Theme in SB 4.28

    In this verse: “friend”

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

How might remembering Kṛṣṇa as my eternal well-wisher change what I seek shelter in?

Practice

Read one instruction from Bhagavad-gītā today, remembering that Kṛṣṇa gives His instructions as your eternal friend.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayKṛṣṇa Is Our Eternal Well-WisherThis 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 4.28.60? Get an answer from the verses themselves.