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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
4.8.764.8.78

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.8.77

Mukti· Liberation
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Maitreya Ṛṣisince 4.8.70inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → Vidura

सर्वतो मन आकृष्य हृदि भूतेन्द्रियाशयम् ।

ध्यायन्भगवतो रूपं नाद्राक्षीत्किञ्चनापरम् ॥ ७७ ॥

sarvato mana ākṛṣya

hṛdi bhūtendriyāśayam

dhyāyan bhagavato rūpaṁ

nādrākṣīt kiñcanāparam

Translation

He completely controlled his senses and their objects, and in this way he fixed his mind, without diversion to anything else, upon the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Meditate on the Lord’s Personal Form

  1. 1

    Dhruva Mahārāja completely controlled his senses and their objects. He fixed his mind on the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

  2. 2

    The principle of meditation is to concentrate on the Lord’s form without diversion to any other objective.

  3. 3

    Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that trying to concentrate on an impersonal objective is unnecessarily troublesome and a waste of time.

Key points from the purport
  • The yogic principles of meditation are clearly explained here.
  • One has to fix one’s mind upon the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead without diversion to any other objective.
  • To try to do so is simply a waste of time, for it is unnecessarily troublesome, as explained in Bhagavad-gītā.

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
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. sarvataḥin all respects
  2. manaḥmind
  3. ākṛṣyaconcentrating
  4. hṛdiin the heart
  5. bhūta-indriya-āśayamresting place of the senses and the objects of the senses
  6. dhyāyanmeditating
  7. bhagavataḥof the Supreme Personality of Godhead
  8. rūpamform
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Is the Lord’s personal form the focus of my meditation?

Practice

Spend one quiet minute remembering the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, gently returning your attention when it wanders.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayMeditate on the Lord’s Personal 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.

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