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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 5.24.17

Who is speaking and story frame

ततोऽधस्ताद्वितले हरो भगवान् हाटकेश्वर: स्वपार्षदभूतगणावृत: प्रजापतिसर्गोपबृंहणाय भवो भवान्या सह मिथुनीभूत आस्ते यत: प्रवृत्ता सरित्प्रवरा हाटकी नाम भवयोर्वीर्येण यत्र चित्रभानुर्मातरिश्वना समिध्यमान ओजसा पिबति तन्निष्ठ्यूतं हाटकाख्यं सुवर्णं भूषणेनासुरेन्द्रावरोधेषु पुरुषा: सह पुरुषीभिर्धारयन्ति ॥ १७ ॥

tato ’dhastād vitale haro bhagavān hāṭakeśvaraḥ sva-pārṣada-bhūta-gaṇāvṛtaḥ prajāpati-sargopabṛṁhaṇāya bhavo bhavānyā saha mithunī-bhūta āste yataḥ pravṛttā sarit-pravarā hāṭakī nāma bhavayor vīryeṇa yatra citrabhānur mātariśvanā samidhyamāna ojasā pibati tan niṣṭhyūtaṁ hāṭakākhyaṁ suvarṇaṁ bhūṣaṇenāsurendrāvarodheṣu puruṣāḥ saha puruṣībhir dhārayanti.

Translation

The next planet below Atala is Vitala, wherein Lord Śiva, who is known as the master of gold mines, lives with his personal associates, the ghosts and similar living entities. Lord Śiva, as the progenitor, engages in sex with Bhavānī, the progenitress, to produce living entities, and from the mixture of their vital fluid the river named Hāṭakī is generated. When fire, being made to blaze by the wind, drinks of this river and then sizzles and spits it out, it produces gold called Hāṭaka. The demons who live on that planet with their wives decorate themselves with various ornaments made from that gold, and thus they live there very happily.

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Purification Through Genuine Vaiṣṇava Initiation

  1. 1

    In Vitala, Lord Śiva lives with Bhavānī and his associates. The verse describes the production of Hāṭaka gold, which the residents use for ornaments.

  2. 2

    Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī compares proper initiation into Vaiṣṇava activities to the transformation of bell metal into gold. Through this initiation, a lowborn person can become a brāhmaṇa.

  3. 3

    The purport emphasizes giving up meat-eating, intoxication, illicit sex, and gambling, and chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. Through bona fide initiation and these practices, one can become a pure brāhmaṇa.

Key points from the purport
  • It appears that when Bhava and Bhavānī, Lord Śiva and his wife, unite sexually, the emulsification of their secretions creates a chemical which when heated by fire can produce gold.
  • It is said that the alchemists of the medieval age tried to prepare gold from base metal, and Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī also states that when bell metal is treated with mercury, it can produce gold.
  • The alchemists of the medieval age tried to manufacture gold, but they were unsuccessful, perhaps because they did not follow the right instructions.

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 24: The Subterranean Heavenly Planets

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Demons and Rakṣasas live in these lower planetary systems with their wives and children, always engaged in sense gratification and not fearing their next births. The sunshine does not reach these planets, but they are illuminated by jewels fixed upon the hoods of snakes.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 5.24
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. tataḥthe planet Atala
  2. adhastātbeneath
  3. vitaleon the planet
  4. haraḥLord Śiva
  5. bhagavānthe most powerful personality
  6. hāṭakeśvaraḥthe master of gold
  7. sva-pārṣadaby his own associates
  8. bhūta-gaṇawho are ghostly living beings
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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

  • Kīrtana · Hearing and chanting

    Remembering the Lord through sacred sound. · Theme in SB 5.24

    In this verse: “chanting”

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 does this teaching encourage me to value purification rather than birth?

Practice

Set aside a short time today to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.

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Connected stories

Keep going: stories told elsewhere in the Bhāgavatam that this verse or its purport brings in.

Live this todayPurification Through Genuine Vaiṣṇava InitiationThis 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 5.24.17? Get an answer from the verses themselves.