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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 5.16.25

Who is speaking and story frame

यानुपजुषाणानां न कदाचिदपि प्रजानां वलीपलितक्लमस्वेददौर्गन्ध्यजरामयमृत्युशीतोष्णवैवर्ण्योपसर्गादयस्तापविशेषा भवन्ति यावज्जीवं सुखं निरतिशयमेव ॥ २५ ॥

yān upajuṣāṇānāṁ na kadācid api prajānāṁ valī-palita-klama-sveda-daurgandhya-jarāmaya-mṛtyu-śītoṣṇa-vaivarṇyopasargādayas tāpa-viśeṣā bhavanti yāvaj jīvaṁ sukhaṁ niratiśayam eva.

Translation

The residents of the material world who enjoy the products of these flowing rivers have no wrinkles on their bodies and no grey hair. They never feel fatigue, and perspiration does not give their bodies a bad odor. They are not afflicted by old age, disease or untimely death, they do not suffer from chilly cold or scorching heat, nor do their bodies lose their luster. They all live very happily, without anxieties, until death.

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Protect Nature’s Sources of Human Necessities

  1. 1

    The residents described here enjoy the rivers’ products without old age, disease or anxiety until death. Śrīla Prabhupāda calls this a hint of human society’s perfection even within the material world.

  2. 2

    Agriculture provides ample food grains, cow protection provides milk, yogurt and ghee, and protected forests provide honey. These supplies help correct the miserable conditions of material life.

  3. 3

    Killing cows, cutting down trees and replacing agriculture with factory production do not bring real happiness. The purport recommends Vedic civilization for happiness now and preparation for the best in the next life.

Key points from the purport
  • The miserable conditions of this material world can be corrected by a sufficient supply of milk, yogurt, honey, ghee, molasses, food grains, ornaments, bedding, sitting places and so on.
  • Unfortunately, in modern civilization, men are busy killing the cows that are the source of yogurt, milk and ghee, they are cutting down all the trees that supply honey, and they are opening factories to manufacture nuts, bolts, automobiles and wine instead of engaging in agriculture.
  • In a Vedic civilization, there is a full supply of all the necessities mentioned above.

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

Smallness → Awe and reverence. A vast cosmos changes the reader's perspective.

Chapters 15–25 of Canto 5: The cosmic regions and divine worship. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 16: A Description of Jambūdvīpa

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

On the side of Supārśva Mountain is a kadamba tree with streams of honey flowing from its hollows, and on Kumuda Mountain there is a banyan tree named Śatavalśa, from whose roots flow rivers containing milk, yogurt and many other desirable things. Surrounding Sumeru Mountain like filaments of the whorl of a lotus are twenty mountain ranges such as Kuraṅga, Kurara, Kusumbha, Vaikaṅka and Trikūṭa.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 5.16
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. yānwhich (all the products produced because of the flowing rivers mentioned above)
  2. upajuṣāṇānāmof persons who are fully utilizing
  3. nanot
  4. kadācitat any time
  5. apicertainly
  6. prajānāmof the citizens
  7. valīwrinkles
  8. palitagrey hair
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Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Sthāna · Planetary systems

    How is the universe arranged, and what is our right place in it? · Subject 3 of 10

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 5.16

    In this verse: “luster”, “material”

  • Abhaya · Fearlessness

    Steadiness through faith amid danger and death. · Theme in SB 5.16

    In this verse: “death”

  • Rakṣā · Divine protection

    Protection of devotees through the Lord’s intervention. · Theme in SB 5.16

    In this verse: “protection”

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 do your daily choices support the sources of life’s necessities?

Practice

Choose one concrete way today to avoid wasting food grains or milk products.

Live this todayProtect Nature’s Sources of Human NecessitiesThis 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 5.16.25? Get an answer from the verses themselves.