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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 5.13.10

Who is speaking and story frame

कर्हि स्म चित्क्षुद्ररसान् विचिन्वं-

स्तन्मक्षिकाभिर्व्यथितो विमान: ।

तत्रातिकृच्छ्रात्प्रतिलब्धमानो

बलाद्विलुम्पन्त्यथ तं ततोऽन्ये ॥ १० ॥

karhi sma cit kṣudra-rasān vicinvaṁs

tan-makṣikābhir vyathito vimānaḥ

tatrāti-kṛcchrāt pratilabdhamāno

balād vilumpanty atha taṁ tato ’nye

Translation

Sometimes, in order to have a little insignificant sex enjoyment, one searches after debauched women. In this attempt, one is insulted and chastised by the women’s kinsmen. This is like going to take honey from a beehive and being attacked by the bees. Sometimes, after spending lots of money, one may acquire another woman for some extra sense enjoyment. Unfortunately, the object of sense enjoyment, the woman, is taken away or kidnapped by another debauchee.

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Restraint Protects Against Needless Suffering

  1. 1

    Seeking illicit sexual enjoyment is compared to taking honey and being attacked by bees. The small pleasure brings great difficulty and humiliation.

  2. 2

    A person dissatisfied with one wife struggles to obtain further enjoyment, yet may lose what was gained. Such pursuits keep one in the forest of material life.

  3. 3

    Devotees in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement are forbidden to have illicit sex. The purport advises satisfaction within lawful marriage rather than creating disturbances in society.

Key points from the purport
  • Day after day, with great difficulty, they try to secure such women, and sometimes, while trying to taste this kind of honey, one is attacked by a woman’s kinsmen and chastised very heavily.
  • This woman hunting is going on in the forest of the material world, sometimes legally and sometimes illegally.
  • One should remain satisfied with one woman, being duly married.

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 13: Further Talks Between King Rahūgaṇa and Jaḍa Bharata

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Sometimes he is attracted by women other than his wife, and thus be thinks he enjoys extramarital love with another woman. He is attacked by various diseases, by lamentation and by summer and winter.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 5.13
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. karhi sma citsometimes
  2. kṣudravery insignificant
  3. rasānsexual enjoyment
  4. vicinvansearching for
  5. tatof those women
  6. makṣikābhiḥby honeybees, or the husbands or family members
  7. vyathitaḥvery much aggrieved
  8. vimānaḥinsulted
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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

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 5.13

    In this verse: “material”

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 5.13

    In this verse: “devotees”

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

How can contentment and restraint protect me from unnecessary trouble?

Practice

Avoid one temptation today that encourages sexual enjoyment outside marriage.

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The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayRestraint Protects Against Needless SufferingThis 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 5.13.10? Get an answer from the verses themselves.