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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 31: Nārada Instructs the Pracetās
4.30.50-514.31.2

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.31.1

Mukti· Liberation
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Maitreya Ṛṣisince 4.31.1inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → Vidura

मैत्रेय उवाच

तत उत्पन्नविज्ञाना आश्वधोक्षजभाषितम् ।

स्मरन्त आत्मजे भार्यां विसृज्य प्राव्रजन् गृहात् ॥ १ ॥

maitreya uvāca

tata utpanna-vijñānā

āśv adhokṣaja-bhāṣitam

smaranta ātmaje bhāryāṁ

visṛjya prāvrajan gṛhāt

Translation

The great saint Maitreya continued: After that, the Pracetās lived at home for thousands of years and developed perfect knowledge in spiritual consciousness. At last they remembered the blessings of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and left home, putting their wife in charge of a perfect son.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Make Spiritual Maturity Life’s Aim

  1. 1

    The Pracetās remembered the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s promise that they would return home, back to Godhead. After completing family life, they left home, placing their wife in their son’s care.

  2. 2

    The purport describes education in spiritual values through penances and austerities from the beginning of life. Without realizing Kṛṣṇa, one cannot make life perfect.

  3. 3

    Everything depends on developing mature spiritual knowledge. Excessive attachment to comfortable family life can spoil the development of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Key points from the purport
  • After finishing their family life, which lasted thousands of years according to the calculation of the demigods, the Pracetās decided to leave home, putting their wife in the charge of a son named Dakṣa.
  • When the children are grown up, the man should leave home and search for Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
  • One should therefore not be too much attached to family life, for it will spoil one’s development of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

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

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 31: Nārada Instructs the Pracetās

The Pracetās leave home and receive Nārada’s instructions on satisfying the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Back to this verse in chapter 4.31
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. maitreyaḥ uvācaMaitreya said
  2. tataḥthereafter
  3. utpannadeveloped
  4. vijñānāḥpossessing perfect knowledge
  5. āśuvery soon
  6. adhokṣajaby the Supreme Personality of Godhead
  7. bhāṣitamwhat was enunciated
  8. smarantaḥremembering
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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

  • Kṛpā · Divine mercy

    Grace received beyond material calculations. · Theme in SB 4.31

    In this verse: “blessings”

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 4.31

    In this verse: “knowledge”

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 4.31

    In this verse: “attachment”

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

Is attachment to comfort taking time away from my development of Kṛṣṇa consciousness?

Practice

Set aside one optional comfort today and use that time to study spiritual teachings.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

6

Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks

His recorded lectures on this verse, and the talks where he quotes it.

Quoted in 1 lecture. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Quoted in 1 lecture

In each of these he quotes this verse while speaking on another verse or subject. "Find the quote" opens the transcript at that spot.

7

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 4.31's connections

Live this todayMake Spiritual Maturity Life’s AimThis 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 4.31.1? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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