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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 7: The Sacrifice Performed by Dakṣa
4.7.264.7.28

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.7.27

Ūti· What drives us to act
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:The priestssince 4.7.27inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → Vidura

ऋत्विज ऊचु:

तत्त्वं न ते वयमनञ्जन रुद्रशापात्

कर्मण्यवग्रहधियो भगवन्विदाम: ।

धर्मोपलक्षणमिदं त्रिवृदध्वराख्यं

ज्ञातं यदर्थमधिदैवमदो व्यवस्था: ॥ २७ ॥

ṛtvija ūcuḥ

tattvaṁ na te vayam anañjana rudra-śāpāt

karmaṇy avagraha-dhiyo bhagavan vidāmaḥ

dharmopalakṣaṇam idaṁ trivṛd adhvarākhyaṁ

jñātaṁ yad-artham adhidaivam ado vyavasthāḥ

Translation

The priests addressed the Lord, saying: O Lord, transcendental to material contamination, by the curse offered by Lord Śiva’s men we have become attached to fruitive activities, and thus we are now fallen and therefore do not know anything about You. On the contrary, we are now involved in the injunctions of the three departments of the Vedic knowledge under the plea of executing rituals in the name of yajña. We know that You have made arrangements for distributing the respective shares of the demigods.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Vedas Lead to Understanding Kṛṣṇa

  1. 1

    The priests admitted that attachment to fruitive activities had left them unable to understand the Lord. They were absorbed in ritual arrangements.

  2. 2

    Those attached to the ritualistic ceremonies and flowery words of the Vedas can miss their ultimate goal: understanding Lord Kṛṣṇa, or Viṣṇu.

  3. 3

    Those who transcend attractions connected with the material qualities can understand Kṛṣṇa. The Lord Himself is never contaminated by those qualities.

Key points from the purport
  • Those who are serious students of the Vedas are very much attached to the ritualistic ceremonies mentioned in the Vedas, and therefore these veda-vādīs cannot understand that the ultimate goal of the Vedas is to understand Lord Kṛṣṇa, or Viṣṇu.
  • Those who have transcended the qualitative Vedic attractions, however, can understand Kṛṣṇa, who is never contaminated by the material qualities.
  • Therefore Lord Viṣṇu is addressed here as anañjana, “free from material contamination.”

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· 2

The purport of SB 4.7.27 quotesBG 2.45

The Vedas are known as traiguṇya-viṣayā vedāḥ.

The purport of SB 4.7.27 quotesBG 2.42

In Bhagavad-gītā (2.42) the crude Vedic scholars have been deprecated by Kṛṣṇa as follows: “Men of small knowledge are very much attached to the flowery words of the Vedas, and they say that there is nothing more than this.”

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

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 7: The Sacrifice Performed by Dakṣa

Lord Śiva is pacified, Dakṣa acknowledges his offense, and Lord Viṣṇu accepts the sacrifice.

Back to this verse in chapter 4.7
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. ṛtvijaḥthe priests
  2. ūcuḥbegan to say
  3. tattvamtruth
  4. nanot
  5. teof Your Lordship
  6. vayamall of us
  7. anañjanawithout material contamination
  8. rudraLord Śiva
3

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

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 4.7

    In this verse: “attached”, “material”, “attachment”

  • Śuddhi · Inner transformation

    The reorientation of the heart toward service. · Theme in SB 4.7

    In this verse: “contamination”, “contaminated”

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 4.7

    In this verse: “knowledge”, “understand”

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

Am I seeking material results from religious practice, or seeking to understand Kṛṣṇa?

Practice

Before one religious practice today, pause and make understanding Kṛṣṇa your aim rather than gaining a material result.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayThe Vedas Lead to Understanding KṛṣṇaThis 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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