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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
4.31.114.31.13

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.31.12

Āśraya· The supreme shelter
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Nārada Munisince 4.31.9inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → Vidura

किं वा योगेन साङ्ख्येन न्यासस्वाध्याययोरपि ।

किं वा श्रेयोभिरन्यैश्च न यत्रात्मप्रदो हरि: ॥ १२ ॥

kiṁ vā yogena sāṅkhyena

nyāsa-svādhyāyayor api

kiṁ vā śreyobhir anyaiś ca

na yatrātma-prado hariḥ

Translation

Transcendental practices that do not ultimately help one realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead are useless, be they mystic yoga practices, the analytical study of matter, severe austerity, the acceptance of sannyāsa, or the study of Vedic literature. All these may be very important aspects of spiritual advancement, but unless one understands the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, all these processes are useless.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Every Spiritual Process Requires Devotional Service

  1. 1

    Mystic yoga, analytical study, austerity, renunciation, and Vedic study are useless unless they help one realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari.

  2. 2

    Discriminating between matter and spirit and practicing mystic yoga are beneficial insofar as they complement devotional service. Without a touch of devotion, these practices cannot give their desired results.

  3. 3

    The Absolute Truth is realized as impersonal Brahman, Paramātmā, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead. All these realizations require a touch of devotional service, though practitioners may have different motives.

Key points from the purport
  • Impersonalists do not take to devotional service, but take to other practices, such as the analytical study of the material elements, the discrimination between matter and spirit, and the mystic yoga system.
  • Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore told Sanātana Gosvāmī that without a touch of devotional service jñāna, yoga and Sāṅkhya philosophy cannot give one the desired results.
  • The impersonalists wish to merge into the Supreme Brahman; however, merging into the Supreme Brahman also requires a touch of devotional service.

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· 3

The purport of SB 4.31.12 quotesCC Madhya 24.109

In Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 24.109) it is said: Impersonalists do not take to devotional service, but take to other practices, such as the analytical study of the material elements, the discrimination between matter and spirit, and the mystic yoga system.

Quoted in the purport ofSB 11.11.48

In fact, what is the use of any so-called auspicious process without Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is the source of our very existence?”

Quoted in the purport ofSB 11.14.12

Indeed, no so-called materially auspicious process can induce the Lord to reveal Himself.”

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 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
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. kimwhat is the use
  2. vāor
  3. yogenaby mystic yoga practice
  4. sāṅkhyenaby the study of Sāṅkhya philosophy
  5. nyāsaby accepting sannyāsa
  6. svādhyāyayoḥand by study of Vedic literature
  7. apieven
  8. kimwhat is the use
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Āśraya · The summum bonum

    Who is the shelter of everything? · Subject 10 of 10

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

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

    In this verse: “understands”, “absolute truth”

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 4.31

    In this verse: “devotional service”

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 my spiritual practice directed toward devotional service, or toward a different result?

Practice

Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa for a few minutes today with the intention of serving the Lord rather than seeking impersonal merging.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayEvery Spiritual Process Requires Devotional ServiceThis 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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