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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 19: A Description of the Island of Jambūdvīpa
5.19.85.19.10

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 5.19.9

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 5.19.9inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

भारतेऽपि वर्षे भगवान्नरनारायणाख्य आकल्पान्तमुपचितधर्मज्ञानवैराग्यैश्वर्योपशमोपरमात्मोपलम्भनमनुग्रहायात्मवतामनुकम्पया तपोऽव्यक्तगतिश्चरति ॥ ९ ॥

bhārate ’pi varṣe bhagavān nara-nārāyaṇākhya ākalpāntam upacita-dharma-jñāna-vairāgyaiśvaryopaśamoparamātmopalambhanam anugrahāyātmavatām anukampayā tapo ’vyakta-gatiś carati.

Translation

[Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued:] The glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are inconceivable. He has appeared in the form of Nara-Nārāyaṇa in the land of Bhārata-varṣa, at the place known as Badarikāśrama, to favor His devotees by teaching them religion, knowledge, renunciation, spiritual power, sense control and freedom from false ego. He is advanced in the opulence of spiritual assets, and He engages in executing austerity until the end of this millennium. This is the process of self-realization.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Cleanse the Heart Through Kṛṣṇa’s Names

  1. 1

    The Supreme Personality of Godhead appears as Nara-Nārāyaṇa at Badarikāśrama and practices austerity to teach self-realization. His example teaches sense control, renunciation and freedom from false ego.

  2. 2

    Self-realization cannot be achieved simply through speculation and material activities. One must take self-realization and the practice of austerity seriously.

  3. 3

    Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu offers the easiest method of self-realization in this age: chanting the glorious kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtana. This simple method cleanses the dirt from the core of the heart.

Key points from the purport
  • People in India may visit the temple of Nara-Nārāyaṇa at Badarikāśrama just to learn how the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His incarnation as Nara-Nārāyaṇa engages in austerities to teach the people of the world how to achieve self-realization.
  • One must be very serious about self-realization and the practice of austerity.
  • In this age there are different forms of so-called advanced scientific knowledge, such as anthropology, Marxism, Freudianism, nationalism and industrialism, but if we work very hard under their guidance instead of adopting the process practiced by Nara-Nārāyaṇa, we shall waste our valuable human form of life.

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 19: A Description of the Island of Jambūdvīpa

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Sārvaṇi Manu and the inhabitants of Bhārata-varṣa engage in devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the origin of creation, maintenance and annihilation and who is always worshiped by self-realized souls.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 5.19
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. bhāratein Bhārata
  2. apialso
  3. varṣethe tract of land
  4. bhagavānthe Supreme Personality of Godhead
  5. nara-nārāyaṇa-ākhyaḥknown as Nara-Nārāyaṇa
  6. ā-kalpa-antamup to the end of the millennium
  7. upacitaincreasing
  8. dharmareligion
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Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Īśānukathā · The science of God

    Who is the Lord, and how do His devotees live? · Subject 7 of 10

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 5.19

    In this verse: “devotees”

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 5.19

    In this verse: “knowledge”

  • Dharma · Duty and righteous conduct

    Right action as duty, responsibility and devotion. · Theme in SB 5.19

    In this verse: “religion”

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

Am I making time for cleansing my heart, or only for material activities?

Practice

Spend two attentive minutes chanting: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.

Live this todayCleanse the Heart Through Kṛṣṇa’s NamesThis 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.

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