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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 ›
Canto 5 · Chapter 12: Conversation Between Mahārāja Rahūgaṇa and Jaḍa Bharata
5.12.5-65.12.8

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 5.12.7

Ūti· What drives us to act
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:The self-realized brāhmaṇa Jaḍa Bharatasince 5.12.5-6inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitJaḍa Bharata → King Rahūgaṇa

शोच्यानिमांस्त्वमधिकष्टदीनान्

विष्ट्या निगृह्णन्निरनुग्रहोऽसि ।

जनस्य गोप्तास्मि विकत्थमानो

न शोभसे वृद्धसभासु धृष्ट: ॥ ७ ॥

śocyān imāṁs tvam adhikaṣṭa-dīnān

viṣṭyā nigṛhṇan niranugraho ’si

janasya goptāsmi vikatthamāno

na śobhase vṛddha-sabhāsu dhṛṣṭaḥ

Translation

It is a fact, however, that these innocent people carrying your palanquin without payment are certainly suffering due to this injustice. Their condition is very lamentable because you have forcibly engaged them in carrying your palanquin. This proves that you are cruel and unkind, yet due to false prestige you were thinking that you were protecting the citizens. This is ludicrous. You were such a fool that you could not have been adored as a great man in an assembly of persons advanced in knowledge.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Protect Others Instead of Exploiting Them

  1. 1

    Rahūgaṇa forces innocent people to carry his palanquin without payment, yet proudly calls himself their protector. His conduct causes suffering rather than offering protection.

  2. 2

    A king should follow the guidance of learned sages, brāhmaṇas and scholars according to the dharma-śāstra. He should not use the citizens’ labor for his own sense gratification.

  3. 3

    Lord Viṣṇu, or Kṛṣṇa, is the real protector, proprietor and maintainer of everyone. Kings, fathers and guardians are His representatives and should help those in their care understand and approach Him.

Key points from the purport
  • King Rahūgaṇa was proud of being king, and he felt he had the right to control the citizens as he liked, but actually he was engaging men in carrying his palanquin without payment, and therefore he was causing them trouble without reason.
  • Nonetheless, the King was thinking that he was the protector of the citizens.
  • However, when a king thinks that because he is the head of the state he can utilize the citizens for his sense gratification, he is in error.

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

Misjudgment → Humility and insight. Spiritual insight hides behind social appearances.

Chapters 10–14 of Canto 5: Jaḍa Bharata instructs Rahūgaṇa. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 12: Conversation Between Mahārāja Rahūgaṇa and Jaḍa Bharata

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Out of his false prestige, the King was misbehaving toward the palanquin carrier, as a master toward a servant, and he was actually very unkind to other living entities. Consequently King Rahūgaṇa was unfit to give protection to the citizens, and because he was ignorant, he was unfit to be counted among advanced philosophers.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 5.12
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. śocyānlamentable
  2. imānall these
  3. tvamyou
  4. adhi-kaṣṭa-dīnānpoor persons suffering more pains because of their poverty-stricken position
  5. viṣṭyāby force
  6. nigṛhṇanseizing
  7. niranugrahaḥ asiyou have no mercy in your heart
  8. janasyaof the people in general
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Ūti · The creative impetus

    Why do we act, and what keeps us bound? · Subject 5 of 10

  • Rāja-dharma · Devotional leadership

    Serving and protecting through responsibility. · Theme in SB 5.12

    In this verse: “citizens”, “king”, “citizens’”

  • Rakṣā · Divine protection

    Protection of devotees through the Lord’s intervention. · Theme in SB 5.12

    In this verse: “protecting”, “protector”, “guardians”

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 5.12

    In this verse: “knowledge”, “understand”

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

Am I using any responsibility I hold for my own benefit rather than the welfare of others?

Practice

Review one request you make of someone today and ensure that it does not unfairly burden them for your convenience.

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 5.12's connections

Live this todayProtect Others Instead of Exploiting ThemThis 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 5.12.7? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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