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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 5: Frustration of the Sacrifice of Dakṣa
4.5.204.5.22

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.5.21

Ūti· What drives us to act
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Conjecturing on the origin of the storm, theysince 4.5.8inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → Vidura

पूष्णो ह्यपातयद्दन्तान् कालिङ्गस्य यथा बल: ।

शप्यमाने गरिमणि योऽहसद्दर्शयन्दत: ॥ २१ ॥

pūṣṇo hy apātayad dantān

kāliṅgasya yathā balaḥ

śapyamāne garimaṇi

yo ’hasad darśayan dataḥ

Translation

Just as Baladeva knocked out the teeth of Dantavakra, the King of Kaliṅga, during the gambling match at the marriage ceremony of Aniruddha, Vīrabhadra knocked out the teeth of both Dakṣa, who had shown them while cursing Lord Śiva, and Pūṣā, who by smiling sympathetically had also shown his teeth.

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Conflict Can End in Peace

  1. 1

    Vīrabhadra knocked out the teeth of Dakṣa, who had shown them while cursing Lord Śiva, and Pūṣā, who had smiled sympathetically.

  2. 2

    The purport compares this conflict to fighting at marriage ceremonies, where powerful warriors challenged one another and later reached a compromise.

  3. 3

    The fighting at the Dakṣa yajña was not entirely driven by enmity. The parties displayed their strength through Vedic mantra or mystic power, but everything would later come to a peaceful end.

Key points from the purport
  • Here a reference is made to the marriage of Aniruddha, a grandson of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s.
  • Now all of them — Dakṣa and the demigods Bhaga and Pūṣā and Bhṛgu Muni — were punished by the soldiers of Lord Śiva, but later everything would come to a peaceful end.
  • Because everyone was so powerful and wanted to show his strength by Vedic mantra or mystic power, all these fighting skills were very elaborately exhibited by the different parties at the Dakṣa yajña.

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

Humiliation and anger → Reconciliation. Relational offense leads to grief and destruction before restoration.

Chapters 1–7 of Canto 4: Dakṣa, Satī and Śiva. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 5: Frustration of the Sacrifice of Dakṣa

Lord Śiva’s soldiers destroy Dakṣa’s sacrificial arena, and Vīrabhadra beheads Dakṣa.

Back to this verse in chapter 4.5
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. pūṣṇaḥof Pūṣā
  2. hisince
  3. apātayatextracted
  4. dantānthe teeth
  5. kāliṅgasyaof the King of Kaliṅga
  6. yathāas
  7. balaḥBaladeva
  8. śapyamānewhile being cursed
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Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Ūti · The creative impetus

    Why do we act, and what keeps us bound? · Subject 5 of 10

  • Rāja-dharma · Devotional leadership

    Serving and protecting through responsibility. · Theme in SB 4.5

    In this verse: “king”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does knowing that peace would follow change my understanding of this conflict?

Practice

Reread the purport and note its assurance that the conflict would come to a peaceful end.

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 4.5's connections

Live this todayConflict Can End in PeaceThis 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 4.5.21? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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