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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.
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Canto 5 · Chapter 18: The Prayers Offered to the Lord by the Residents of Jambūdvīpa
5.18.95.18.11

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 5.18.10

Mukti· Liberation
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 5.18.7inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

मागारदारात्मजवित्तबन्धुषु

सङ्गो यदि स्याद्भ‍गवत्प्रियेषु न: ।

य: प्राणवृत्त्या परितुष्ट आत्मवान्

सिद्ध्यत्यदूरान्न तथेन्द्रियप्रिय: ॥ १० ॥

māgāra-dārātmaja-vitta-bandhuṣu

saṅgo yadi syād bhagavat-priyeṣu naḥ

yaḥ prāṇa-vṛttyā parituṣṭa ātmavān

siddhyaty adūrān na tathendriya-priyaḥ

Translation

My dear Lord, we pray that we may never feel attraction for the prison of family life, consisting of home, wife, children, friends, bank balance, relatives and so on. If we do have some attachment, let it be for devotees, whose only dear friend is Kṛṣṇa. A person who is actually self-realized and who has controlled his mind is perfectly satisfied with the bare necessities of life. He does not try to gratify his senses. Such a person quickly advances in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, whereas others, who are too attached to material things, find advancement very difficult.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Choose Devotee Association and Simple Living

  1. 1

    Prahlāda Mahārāja prays to avoid attachment to materialistic association. If he must be attached to someone, he wishes to be attached to a devotee.

  2. 2

    The body must be maintained for executing devotional service, not for unnecessarily increasing sense enjoyment. A devotee is satisfied with the necessities of life.

  3. 3

    Eating simply, accepting kṛṣṇa-prasāda, helps keep the demands of the tongue from increasing. Growing demands for material enjoyment can stop our real business of advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Key points from the purport
  • The first business of a Vaiṣṇava is to give up the association of persons who are not devotees of Kṛṣṇa and who are too attached to material things — wife, children, bank balance and so on.
  • Otherwise, attachment for material things will gradually increase, and the senses, being very strong, will soon require more and more material enjoyment.
  • Then the real business of life — to advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness — will stop.

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 5.18.10 quotesBG 9.26

As Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (9.26): “If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.”

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

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 18: The Prayers Offered to the Lord by the Residents of Jambūdvīpa

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Lacking attachment for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he remains attached to family life in this material world. Thus the lesson of this chapter is that one should get out of family life and completely take shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 5.18
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. mānot
  2. agārahouse
  3. dārawife
  4. ātma-jachildren
  5. vittabank balance
  6. bandhuṣuamong friends and relatives
  7. saṅgaḥassociation or attachment
  8. yadiif
3

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 5.18

    In this verse: “attachment”, “material”, “materialistic”

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 5.18

    In this verse: “devotees”, “devotional service”, “devotee”

  • Sakhya · Sacred friendship

    The affection of companions and friends of the Lord. · Theme in SB 5.18

    In this verse: “friends”

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 unnecessary demand of my senses takes attention away from devotional service?

Practice

Offer Kṛṣṇa a little fruit or water with love and devotion, and accept it as kṛṣṇa-prasāda.

5

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 5.18's connections

Live this todayChoose Devotee Association and Simple LivingThis 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 5.18.10? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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