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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 8: Dhruva Mahārāja Leaves Home for the Forest
4.8.464.8.48

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.8.47

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Nārada Munisince 4.8.46inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → Vidura

श्रीवत्साङ्कं घनश्यामं पुरुषं वनमालिनम् ।

शङ्खचक्रगदापद्मैरभिव्यक्तचतुर्भुजम् ॥ ४७ ॥

śrīvatsāṅkaṁ ghana-śyāmaṁ

puruṣaṁ vana-mālinam

śaṅkha-cakra-gadā-padmair

abhivyakta-caturbhujam

Translation

The Lord is further described as having the mark of Śrīvatsa, or the sitting place of the goddess of fortune, and His bodily hue is deep bluish. The Lord is a person, He wears a garland of flowers, and He is eternally manifest with four hands, which hold [beginning from the lower left hand] a conchshell, wheel, club and lotus flower.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Kṛṣṇa Manifests the Four-Handed Nārāyaṇa Form

  1. 1

    The Lord has a deep bluish bodily hue, wears a flower garland, and bears the Śrīvatsa mark. His four hands hold a conchshell, wheel, club and lotus flower.

  2. 2

    The purport emphasizes that the Lord is the Supreme Person, originally male, though He may appear in a female form when necessary. The goddesses of fortune are His servitors.

  3. 3

    Lord Kṛṣṇa in His Nārāyaṇa feature is always four-handed. The Bhāgavata school teaches that Nārāyaṇa is a manifestation of Kṛṣṇa, not that Kṛṣṇa is an incarnation of Nārāyaṇa.

Key points from the purport
  • Therefore the impersonalist who imagines the Lord’s form as that of a woman is mistaken.
  • The feminine feature of the Lord is displayed by goddesses of fortune — Lakṣmī, Rādhārāṇī, Sītā, etc. All these goddesses of fortune are servitors of the Lord; they are not the Supreme, as falsely imagined by the impersonalist.
  • Lord Kṛṣṇa in His Nārāyaṇa feature is always four handed.

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

Rejection → Transformed aspiration. A child's wounded pride is purified by divine encounter.

Chapters 8–12 of Canto 4: Dhruva seeks and encounters the Lord. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 8: Dhruva Mahārāja Leaves Home for the Forest

Dhruva leaves home, receives Nārada’s instructions, and worships the Supreme Personality of Godhead with austerity.

Back to this verse in chapter 4.8
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. śrīvatsa-aṅkamthe mark of Śrīvatsa on the chest of the Lord
  2. ghana-śyāmamdeeply bluish
  3. puruṣamthe Supreme Person
  4. vana-mālinamwith a garland of flowers
  5. śaṅkhaconchshell
  6. cakrawheel
  7. gadāclub
  8. padmaiḥlotus flower
  9. abhivyaktamanifested
  10. catuḥ-bhujamfour-handed
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Īśānukathā · The science of God

    Who is the Lord, and how do His devotees live? · Subject 7 of 10

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does this description help me remember the Supreme Lord as a person?

Practice

Read the description slowly and recall the four objects held in the Lord’s hands.

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 4.8's connections

Live this todayKṛṣṇa Manifests the Four-Handed Nārāyaṇa FormThis 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 4.8.47? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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