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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 ›
Canto 5 · Chapter 14: The Material World as the Great Forest of Enjoyment
5.14.175.14.19

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 5.14.18

Ūti· What drives us to act
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:King Parīkṣitsince 5.13.26inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

क्‍वचिद् गृहाश्रमकर्मचोदनातिभरगिरिमारुरुक्षमाणो लोकव्यसनकर्षितमना: कण्टकशर्कराक्षेत्रं प्रविशन्निव सीदति ॥ १८ ॥

kvacid gṛhāśrama-karma-codanāti-bhara-girim ārurukṣamāṇo loka-vyasana-karṣita-manāḥ kaṇṭaka-śarkarā-kṣetraṁ praviśann iva sīdati.

Translation

In household life one is ordered to execute many yajñas and fruitive activities, especially the vivāha-yajña [the marriage ceremony for sons and daughters] and the sacred thread ceremony. These are all the duties of a gṛhastha, and they are very extensive and troublesome to execute. They are compared to a big hill over which one must cross when one is attached to material activities. A person desiring to cross over these ritualistic ceremonies certainly feels pains like the piercing of thorns and pebbles endured by one attempting to climb a hill. Thus the conditioned soul suffers unlimitedly.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Social Duties Can Deepen Material Entanglement

  1. 1

    Household ceremonies and social obligations can become extensive, costly and troublesome. The verse compares fulfilling them to climbing a hill covered with thorns and sharp pebbles.

  2. 2

    Material attachment keeps a person captivated by these duties even without sufficient resources. Maintaining social standing then demands hard work for money and brings further suffering.

  3. 3

    The purport recommends preparation through austerity in brahmacarya rather than becoming trapped in household attachment. Its cited instruction points toward taking shelter of the Lord, not relying on a supposedly comfortable family position.

Key points from the purport
  • Therefore householders are very much distressed when they are confronted by these social duties.
  • It is better to prepare oneself in the brahmacarya-āśrama for austerities and remain a pure brahmacārī throughout one’s life so that one will not feel the piercing thorns of material life in the gṛhastha-āśrama.
  • Thus one is implicated in material life, and he suffers the thorn pricks.

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· 1

The purport of SB 5.14.18 quotesSB 7.5.5

Prahlāda Mahārāja therefore recommends:. The so-called comfortable family position is compared to a dark well in a field.

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

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 14: The Material World as the Great Forest of Enjoyment

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

The path of fruitive activities leads to difficult mountains, and sometimes the conditioned soul wants to cross these mountains, but he is never successful, and consequently he becomes more and more aggrieved and disappointed. Becoming materially and financially embarrassed, the conditioned soul unnecessarily chastises his family.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 5.14
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. kvacitsometimes
  2. gṛha-āśramain householder life
  3. karma-codanaof the rules of fruitive activity
  4. ati-bhara-girimthe big hill
  5. ārurukṣamāṇaḥdesiring to ascend
  6. lokamaterial
  7. vyasanato pursuits
  8. karṣita-manāḥwhose mind is attracted
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

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 5.14

    In this verse: “attached”, “household”, “material”

  • Dharma · Duty and righteous conduct

    Right action as duty, responsibility and devotion. · Theme in SB 5.14

    In this verse: “duties”

  • Karuṇā · Compassion

    Concern for others expressed through bhakti. · Theme in SB 5.14

    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

Which social obligation draws me into spending or working beyond my means for prestige?

Practice

Review one upcoming social expense and identify any part motivated mainly by prestige; pause that part and take a quiet moment to seek the Lord's shelter.

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.

The purport quotesSB 7.5.5

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 5.14's connections

Live this todaySocial Duties Can Deepen Material EntanglementThis 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 5.14.18? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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