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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 30: The Activities of the Pracetās
4.30.174.30.19

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.30.18

Mukti· Liberation
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:The Lordsince 4.30.9inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → Vidura

अथ मय्यनपायिन्या भक्त्या पक्‍वगुणाशया: ।

उपयास्यथ मद्धाम निर्विद्य निरयादत: ॥ १८ ॥

atha mayy anapāyinyā

bhaktyā pakva-guṇāśayāḥ

upayāsyatha mad-dhāma

nirvidya nirayād ataḥ

Translation

Thereafter you will develop unadulterated devotional service unto Me and be freed from all material contamination. At that time, being completely unattached to material enjoyment in the so-called heavenly planets as well as in hellish planets, you will return home, back to Godhead.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Pure Devotion Leads Beyond Material Attachment

  1. 1

    By the Lord’s grace, the Pracetās would remain engaged in loving service despite receiving material facilities for millions of years. Through that service, they would become free from material attachment.

  2. 2

    Steady, unadulterated devotional service carries one beyond the modes of material nature. A devotee becomes unattached to both heavenly enjoyment and hellish suffering.

  3. 3

    Every material planet, even Brahmaloka, is subject to repeated birth and death. One who becomes firmly fixed in pure devotional service is fit to return to the Lord’s abode and never take birth again.

Key points from the purport
  • Being thus fully engaged, the Pracetās would be completely freed from all material attachment.
  • When one is strongly fixed in devotional service and free from all material attachment, uncontaminated by the material modes of nature, he becomes fit to return home, back to Godhead.
  • Thus at the end of their material enjoyment they would be promoted to the spiritual world and return to Godhead.

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· 2

The purport of SB 4.30.18 quotesBG 14.26

According to Bhagavad-gītā (14.26), a devotee’s position is described in this way: “One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.”

The purport of SB 4.30.18 quotesBG 8.16

The Lord therefore says in Bhagavad-gītā (8.16): “From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place.

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

Search → Devotional resolution. Prayer and instruction redirect household and societal life.

Chapters 30–31 of Canto 4: Pracetās and Nārada's concluding guidance. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 30: The Activities of the Pracetās

The Lord appears to the Pracetās, who pray only for His satisfaction; Brahmā later pacifies them.

Back to this verse in chapter 4.30
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. athatherefore
  2. mayiunto Me
  3. anapāyinyāwithout any deviation
  4. bhaktyāby devotional service
  5. pakva-guṇafree from material contamination
  6. āśayāḥyour mind
  7. upayāsyathayou will attain
  8. mat-dhāmaMy abode
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

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 4.30

    In this verse: “devotional service”, “devotee”

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 4.30

    In this verse: “material”, “attachment”

  • Śuddhi · Inner transformation

    The reorientation of the heart toward service. · Theme in SB 4.30

    In this verse: “contamination”

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 seeking better material enjoyment, or freedom from attachment through devotional service?

Practice

Set aside a few minutes for devotional service today, aiming to serve the Lord rather than gain material enjoyment.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

6

Connected stories

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

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 4.30's connections

Live this todayPure Devotion Leads Beyond Material AttachmentThis 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 4.30.18? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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