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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 ›

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.9.10

Who is speaking and story frame

या निर्वृतिस्तनुभृतां तव पादपद्म

ध्यानाद्भवज्जनकथाश्रवणेन वा स्यात् ।

सा ब्रह्मणि स्वमहिमन्यपि नाथ मा भूत्

किं त्वन्तकासिलुलितात्पततां विमानात् ॥ १० ॥

yā nirvṛtis tanu-bhṛtāṁ tava pāda-padma-

dhyānād bhavaj-jana-kathā-śravaṇena vā syāt

sā brahmaṇi sva-mahimany api nātha mā bhūt

kiṁ tv antakāsi-lulitāt patatāṁ vimānāt

Translation

My Lord, the transcendental bliss derived from meditating upon Your lotus feet or hearing about Your glories from pure devotees is so unlimited that it is far beyond the stage of brahmānanda, wherein one thinks himself merged in the impersonal Brahman as one with the Supreme. Since brahmānanda is also defeated by the transcendental bliss derived from devotional service, then what to speak of the temporary blissfulness of elevating oneself to the heavenly planets, which is ended by the separating sword of time? Although one may be elevated to the heavenly planets, he falls down in due course of time.

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Devotional Bliss Surpasses Temporary Happiness

  1. 1

    The transcendental bliss of devotional service comes primarily through hearing and chanting. It surpasses even brahmānanda, the happiness of merging into the impersonal Brahman.

  2. 2

    Devotees not only meditate upon the Lord but also engage in His direct service. Relief from birth and death does not mean that one must merge into the Supreme Brahman.

  3. 3

    Those elevated to heavenly planets must return when the results of their pious activities are exhausted. Dhruva Mahārāja understood that devotional service is far more valuable than heavenly enjoyment or impersonal merging.

Key points from the purport
  • The transcendental bliss derived from devotional service, primarily from śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam, hearing and chanting, cannot be compared to the happiness derived by karmīs by elevating themselves to the heavenly planets or by jñānīs or yogīs, who enjoy oneness with the supreme impersonal Brahman.
  • As the modern astronauts who go to the moon or other heavenly planets by force of jet propulsion have to come down again after exhausting their fuel, so also do those who are elevated to the heavenly planets by force of yajñas and pious activities.
  • Those who are elevated to the heavenly planets are like airplanes, which drop when they run out of fuel.

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 4.9.10 quotesBG 9.25

It is said, yānti deva-vratā devān: persons who worship the demigods are elevated to the heavenly planets.

The purport of SB 4.9.10 quotesBG 9.21

But elsewhere in Bhagavad-gītā (9.21) we find, kṣīṇe puṇye martya-lokaṁ viśanti: those who are elevated to the higher planetary systems must come down again as soon as the results of their pious activities are exhausted.

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

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

This verse is a turning point of the arc: Dhruva prizes devotional bliss.

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 9: Dhruva Mahārāja Returns Home

The Lord grants Dhruva’s desire; Dhruva regrets his former hostility and returns to his family.

Back to this verse in chapter 4.9
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. yāthat which
  2. nirvṛtiḥbliss
  3. tanu-bhṛtāmof the embodied
  4. tavaYour
  5. pāda-padmalotus feet
  6. dhyānātfrom meditating upon
  7. bhavat-janafrom Your intimate devotees
  8. kathātopics
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Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Mukti · Liberation

    What is real freedom for the soul? · Subject 9 of 10

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 4.9

    In this verse: “devotional service”, “devotees”

  • Kīrtana · Hearing and chanting

    Remembering the Lord through sacred sound. · Theme in SB 4.9

    In this verse: “hearing”, “chanting”

  • Abhaya · Fearlessness

    Steadiness through faith amid danger and death. · Theme in SB 4.9

    In this verse: “death”

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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What place do hearing and chanting have in my search for happiness?

Practice

Spend five minutes today hearing or chanting the Lord’s glories with attentive care.

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 1 lecture. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Quoted in 1 lecture

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 todayDevotional Bliss Surpasses Temporary HappinessOne 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.

Ask the BhāgavatamHave a question about SB 4.9.10? Get an answer from the verses themselves.