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Canto 5 · The Creative Impetus · 26 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.
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Canto 5 · Chapter 1: The Activities of Mahārāja Priyavrata
5.1.155.1.17

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 5.1.16

Mukti· Liberation
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Lord Brahmāsince 5.1.11inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

मुक्तोऽपि तावद्ब‍िभृयात्स्वदेह-

मारब्धमश्नन्नभिमानशून्य: ।

यथानुभूतं प्रतियातनिद्र:

किं त्वन्यदेहाय गुणान्न वृङ्क्ते ॥ १६ ॥

mukto ’pi tāvad bibhṛyāt sva-deham

ārabdham aśnann abhimāna-śūnyaḥ

yathānubhūtaṁ pratiyāta-nidraḥ

kiṁ tv anya-dehāya guṇān na vṛṅkte

Translation

Even if one is liberated, he nevertheless accepts the body he has received according to his past karma. Without misconceptions, however, he regards his enjoyment and suffering due to that karma the way an awakened person regards a dream he had while sleeping. He thus remains steadfast and never works to achieve another material body under the influence of the three modes of material nature.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Serve Without Creating Further Material Bondage

  1. 1

    A liberated person knows that he is a spirit soul, not the body. He accepts the results of past activities as an awakened person regards a dream.

  2. 2

    Work done for one’s own enjoyment produces binding reactions. Work done for the satisfaction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead does not.

  3. 3

    Unalloyed devotional service carries one beyond the modes of material nature. Such a devotee remains liberated and, after leaving the body, returns home, back to Godhead.

Key points from the purport
  • The difference between a liberated and conditioned soul is that the conditioned soul is under the concept of bodily life whereas a liberated person knows that he is not the body but a spirit, different from the body.
  • Similarly, a liberated person — one who has completely understood that he is not the body but a spirit soul — disregards past activities performed in ignorance and performs his present activities in such a way that they produce no reactions.
  • A liberated person, therefore, does not think about whatever he has ignorantly done in the past; instead, he acts in such a way that he will not produce another body by fruitive activities.

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· 3

The purport of SB 5.1.16 quotesBG 3.9

This is described in Bhagavad-gītā (3.9). Yajñārthāt karmaṇo ’nyatra loko ’yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ: if one performs activities for the satisfaction of the Supreme Personality, the yajña-puruṣa, his work does not produce reactions, whereas karmīs, who act for themselves, are bound by the reactions of their work.

The purport of SB 5.1.16 quotesBG 14.26

“One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.”

The purport of SB 5.1.16 quotesBG 4.9

Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti so ’rjuna. After giving up the body, one who has acted in that way does not accept another material body, but instead goes back home, back to Godhead.

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

Responsibility → Renunciation. Leadership is set beside the renounced ideal.

Chapters 1–6 of Canto 5: Priyavrata and Ṛṣabhadeva. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 1: The Activities of Mahārāja Priyavrata

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

A civilized man, therefore, works according to the institution of varṇa and āśrama. Even in materialistic life, however, no one is free to act.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 5.1
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. muktaḥa liberated person
  2. apieven
  3. tāvatso long
  4. bibhṛyātmust maintain
  5. sva-dehamhis own body
  6. ārabdhamobtained as a result of past activity
  7. aśnanaccepting
  8. abhimāna-śūnyaḥwithout erroneous conceptions
3

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 5.1

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

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 5.1

    In this verse: “material”

  • Karuṇā · Compassion

    Concern for others expressed through bhakti. · Theme in SB 5.1

    In this verse: “suffering”

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

How would remembering that I am a spirit soul change my purpose in working today?

Practice

Before one task today, remind yourself that you are not the body and direct your effort toward the Lord’s satisfaction.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayServe Without Creating Further Material BondageThis 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 5.1.16? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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