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Read one verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with its Sanskrit, word meanings, translation and study points.

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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.
Read the full guide: how to hear the Bhāgavatam ›

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 5.1.38

Who is speaking and story frame

परदेवताप्रसादाधिगतात्मप्रत्यवमर्शेनानुप्रवृत्तेभ्य: पुत्रेभ्य इमां यथादायं विभज्य भुक्तभोगां च महिषीं मृतकमिव सह महाविभूतिमपहाय स्वयं निहितनिर्वेदो हृदि गृहीतहरिविहारानुभावो भगवतो नारदस्य पदवीं पुनरेवानुससार ॥ ३८ ॥

para-devatā-prasādādhigatātma-pratyavamarśenānupravṛttebhyaḥ putrebhya imāṁ yathā-dāyaṁ vibhajya bhukta-bhogāṁ ca mahiṣīṁ mṛtakam iva saha mahā-vibhūtim apahāya svayaṁ nihita-nirvedo hṛdi gṛhīta-hari-vihārānubhāvo bhagavato nāradasya padavīṁ punar evānusasāra.

Translation

By the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Mahārāja Priyavrata reawakened to his senses. He divided all his earthly possessions among his obedient sons. He gave up everything, including his wife, with whom he had enjoyed so much sense gratification, and his great and opulent kingdom, and he completely renounced all attachment. His heart, having been cleansed, became a place of pastimes for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus he was able to return to the path of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, spiritual life, and resume the position he had attained by the grace of the great saint Nārada.

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Place Kṛṣṇa Within the Heart

  1. 1

    Our hearts are meant for the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When the heart is cleansed, the blazing fire of material existence is extinguished.

  2. 2

    Simply declaring the material world false does not free one from attachment. Fixing the Lord’s lotus feet within the heart gives the strength to leave material entanglement.

  3. 3

    By the Lord’s grace, Priyavrata relinquished his attachments and peacefully resumed Nārada’s instructions. The goal is not wealth, beauty or followers, but causeless devotional service birth after birth.

Key points from the purport
  • One whose heart is not clean cannot think of the transcendental pastimes of the Supreme Lord, but if one can once again place the Supreme Personality of Godhead in his heart, he very easily becomes qualified to renounce material attachment.
  • Mahārāja Priyavrata was able to give up his opulent kingdom, and he also gave up the association of his beautiful wife as if she were a dead body.
  • Mahārāja Priyavrata was so strong, by the grace of the Lord, that even though his beautiful wife was alive, he could give up her association exactly like one who is forced to give up the association of a dead wife.

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

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:

Everything is under the control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the supreme controller, and everyone must work accordingly. Just as a bull is controlled by a rope tied to its nose, so all conditioned souls are forced to work under the spells of the modes of nature.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 5.1
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. para-devatāof the Supreme Personality of Godhead
  2. prasādaby the mercy
  3. adhigataobtained
  4. ātma-pratyavamarśenaby self-realization
  5. anupravṛttebhyaḥwho exactly follow his path
  6. putrebhyaḥunto his sons
  7. imāmthis earth
  8. yathā-dāyamexactly according to the inheritance
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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

  • Moha · Material attachment

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

    In this verse: “attachment”, “sense gratification”, “wealth”

  • Vairāgya · Freedom from attachment

    Release from possessiveness and false identities. · Theme in SB 5.1

    In this verse: “renounced”, “gave up”

  • Kṛpā · Divine mercy

    Grace received beyond material calculations. · Theme in SB 5.1

    In this verse: “grace”, “causeless”

Chapter themes come from the story phase this chapter belongs to.

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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What attachment distracts my heart from thinking of Kṛṣṇa and serving Him?

Practice

Spend one quiet minute thinking of Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet and praying for devotional service rather than material gain.

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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.

Live this todayPlace Kṛṣṇa Within the HeartThis 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 5.1.38? Get an answer from the verses themselves.