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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
4.31.134.31.15

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.31.14

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

यथा तरोर्मूलनिषेचनेन

तृप्यन्ति तत्स्कन्धभुजोपशाखा: ।

प्राणोपहाराच्च यथेन्द्रियाणां

तथैव सर्वार्हणमच्युतेज्या ॥ १४ ॥

yathā taror mūla-niṣecanena

tṛpyanti tat-skandha-bhujopaśākhāḥ

prāṇopahārāc ca yathendriyāṇāṁ

tathaiva sarvārhaṇam acyutejyā

Translation

As pouring water on the root of a tree energizes the trunk, branches, twigs and everything else, and as supplying food to the stomach enlivens the senses and limbs of the body, simply worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead through devotional service automatically satisfies the demigods, who are parts of that Supreme Personality.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Serve Kṛṣṇa, the Root of Everything

  1. 1

    Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the root of everything. Serving Him automatically serves the demigods, just as watering a tree’s root nourishes its branches.

  2. 2

    Supplying food to the stomach satisfies the senses without separately feeding each one. Similarly, separate service to the demigods is unnecessary when one serves Kṛṣṇa.

  3. 3

    Although karma and jñāna need bhakti to succeed, bhakti does not require their help. Pure devotional service should remain free from their covering, with Kṛṣṇa at the center.

Key points from the purport
  • Kṛṣṇa is the root of everything; therefore rendering service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa (kṛṣṇa-sevā), means automatically serving all the demigods.
  • The point is that by supplying food to the stomach, the indriyas, the senses, are automatically satisfied.
  • As confirmed in Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 22.62), kṛṣṇe bhakti kaile sarva-karma kṛta haya: if one is engaged in the devotional service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, everything is automatically accomplished.

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· 5

The purport of SB 4.31.14 quotesBG 15.1

In Bhagavad-gītā (15.1) it is said, ūrdhva-mūlam adhaḥ-śākham: this cosmic manifestation has expanded downward, and the root is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

The purport of SB 4.31.14 quotesBG 10.8

As the Lord confirms in Bhagavad-gītā (10.8), ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ: “I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds.”

The purport of SB 4.31.14 quotesCC Madhya 22.62

As confirmed in Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 22.62), kṛṣṇe bhakti kaile sarva-karma kṛta haya: if one is engaged in the devotional service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, everything is automatically accomplished.

Quoted in the purport ofSB 7.14.34

tathaiva sarvārhaṇam acyutejyā. By worshiping or satisfying Acyuta, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, one can satisfy everyone, just as one can water the branches, leaves and flowers of a tree simply by watering its root or as one satisfies all the senses of the body by giving food to the stomach.

Quoted in the purport ofSB 8.3.30

“As pouring water on the root of a tree energizes the trunk, branches, twigs and everything else, and as supplying food to the stomach enlivens the senses and limbs of the body, so simply worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead through devotional service automatically satisfies the demigods, who are parts of that Supreme Personality.”

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. yathāas
  2. taroḥof a tree
  3. mūlathe root
  4. niṣecanenaby watering
  5. tṛpyantiare satisfied
  6. tatits
  7. skandhatrunk
  8. bhujabranches
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

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

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

    In this verse: “devotional service”, “worshiping”, “bhakti”

  • Vairāgya · Freedom from attachment

    Release from possessiveness and false identities. · Theme in SB 4.31

    In this verse: “free from”

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

What would it mean for me to place Kṛṣṇa at the center of my efforts today?

Practice

Spend a minute contemplating the tree-root example, then offer a short prayer of devotion directly to Kṛṣṇa.

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 25 lectures. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Quoted in 25 lectures

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

Live this todayServe Kṛṣṇa, the Root of EverythingOne of the 108 chosen lessons: a practice and a question from this verse

Study points are short summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport on Vedabase.

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