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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
4.30.204.30.22

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.30.21

Poṣaṇa· The Lord's protection
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Maitreya Ṛṣisince 4.30.21inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → Vidura

मैत्रेय उवाच

एवं ब्रुवाणं पुरुषार्थभाजनं

जनार्दनं प्राञ्जलय: प्रचेतस: ।

तद्दर्शनध्वस्ततमोरजोमला

गिरागृणन् गद्गदया सुहृत्तमम् ॥ २१ ॥

maitreya uvāca

evaṁ bruvāṇaṁ puruṣārtha-bhājanaṁ

janārdanaṁ prāñjalayaḥ pracetasaḥ

tad-darśana-dhvasta-tamo-rajo-malā

girāgṛṇan gadgadayā suhṛttamam

Translation

The great sage Maitreya said: After the Personality of Godhead spoke thus, the Pracetās began to offer Him prayers. The Lord is the bestower of all success in life and is the supreme benefactor. He is also the supreme friend who takes away all miserable conditions experienced by a devotee. In a faltering voice, due to ecstasy, the Pracetās began to offer prayers. They were purified by the presence of the Lord, who was before them face to face.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Lord’s Presence Purifies the Heart

  1. 1

    The Lord is the bestower of the ultimate goal of life and the devotee’s greatest friend. Whatever success we seek depends on His mercy.

  2. 2

    The Lord’s presence removed the Pracetās’ material contamination, just as sunrise removes darkness. Purified and filled with ecstasy, they offered prayers with faltering voices.

  3. 3

    The Lord and His holy name are identical. By chanting and hearing, a devotee becomes purified, and Kṛṣṇa cleanses the desire for material enjoyment from the heart.

Key points from the purport
  • Similarly, when an unalloyed devotee chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, he is also purified of all material contamination because the name of the Lord and the Lord are identical.
  • The Pracetās were already purified due to the Lord’s presence before them, and they could therefore offer the proper prayers with folded hands.
  • When the Pracetās saw the Supreme Lord personally present, their unhappiness vanished.

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 4.30.21 quotesSB 1.2.17

As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.17): “Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramātmā [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.”

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. maitreyaḥ uvācaMaitreya said
  2. evamthus
  3. bruvāṇamspeaking
  4. puruṣa-arthaof the ultimate goal of life
  5. bhājanamthe bestower
  6. jana-ardanamwho takes away all the disadvantages of the devotee
  7. prāñjalayaḥwith folded hands
  8. pracetasaḥthe Pracetā brothers
3

Key ideas in this verse

The subject this verse serves and the themes it speaks of.

  • Poṣaṇa · Protection by the Lord

    How does the Lord care for His devotees? · Subject 4 of 10

  • Śuddhi · Inner transformation

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

    In this verse: “purified”, “cleanses”, “contamination”

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

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

    In this verse: “devotee”, “devotee’s”

  • Kīrtana · Hearing and chanting

    Remembering the Lord through sacred sound. · Theme in SB 4.30

    In this verse: “chanting”, “hearing”, “holy name”

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 does knowing that the Lord and His name are identical affect the way I chant?

Practice

Chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra for a few minutes, carefully hearing the names you speak.

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.

The purport quotesSB 1.2.17

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

Live this todayThe Lord’s Presence Purifies the HeartThis 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 4.30.21? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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