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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 26: A Description of the Hellish Planets
5.26.225.26.24

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 5.26.23

Ūti· What drives us to act
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 5.26.5inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

ये त्विह वै वृषलीपतयो नष्टशौचाचारनियमास्त्यक्तलज्जा: पशुचर्यां चरन्ति ते चापि प्रेत्य पूयविण्मूत्रश्लेष्ममलापूर्णार्णवे निपतन्ति तदेवातिबीभत्सितमश्नन्ति ॥ २३ ॥

ye tv iha vai vṛṣalī-patayo naṣṭa-śaucācāra-niyamās tyakta-lajjāḥ paśu-caryāṁ caranti te cāpi pretya pūya-viṇ-mūtra-śleṣma-malā-pūrṇārṇave nipatanti tad evātibībhatsitam aśnanti.

Translation

The shameless husbands of lowborn śūdra women live exactly like animals, and therefore they have no good behavior, cleanliness or regulated life. After death, such persons are thrown into the hell called Pūyoda, where they are put into an ocean filled with pus, stool, urine, mucus, saliva and similar things. Śūdras who could not improve themselves fall into that ocean and are forced to eat those disgusting things.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Everyone Should Advance Toward Devotional Service

  1. 1

    The purport warns that fruitive activities and speculative thinking can waste the opportunity of human birth. Remaining in the cycle of birth and death brings the risk of suffering in Pūyoda.

  2. 2

    Everyone should improve, and no one should be prevented from becoming a brāhmaṇa or a Vaiṣṇava because of their present position. One who reaches the Vaiṣṇava platform automatically becomes a brāhmaṇa.

  3. 3

    Kṛṣṇa calls everyone to surrender to Him, and those who take shelter in Him can reach the supreme destination. Human life is meant for going back home, back to Godhead, through devotional service.

Key points from the purport
  • Thus there is always the chance that he may be put into the Pūyoda Naraka, the hell named Pūyoda, where one is forced to eat stool, urine, pus, mucus, saliva and other abominable things.
  • Thus even a born śūdra is expected to become a brāhmaṇa; that is the meaning of human life.
  • One must give up the occupational duties of a śūdra, kṣatriya or vaiśya and adopt the occupational duties of a Vaiṣṇava, which include the activities of a brāhmaṇa.

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· 3

The purport of SB 5.26.23 quotesBG 4.13

Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (4.13), cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ: “According to the three modes of material nature and the work ascribed to them, four divisions of human society were created by Me.”

The purport of SB 5.26.23 quotesBG 18.66

As Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (18.66), sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja: “Abandon all other duties and simply surrender unto Me.”

The purport of SB 5.26.23 quotesBG 9.32

Kṛṣṇa explains this in Bhagavad-gītā (9.32): “O son of Pṛthā, those who take shelter in Me, though they be of lower birth — women, vaiśyas [merchants], as well as śūdras [workers] — can approach the supreme destination.”

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

Moral dread → Wakefulness. Consequences of action are rendered emotionally vivid.

Chapter 26 of Canto 5: The hellish planets. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 26: A Description of the Hellish Planets

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

A person born into an aristocratic or highly placed family but who does not act accordingly is put into the hellish trench of blood, pus and urine called the Vaitaraṇī River. One who lives like an animal is put into the hell called Pūyoda.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 5.26
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. yepersons who
  2. tubut
  3. ihain this life
  4. vaiindeed
  5. vṛṣalī-patayaḥthe husbands of the śūdra women
  6. naṣṭalost
  7. śauca-ācāra-niyamāḥwhose cleanliness, good behavior and regulated life
  8. tyakta-lajjāḥwithout shame
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

  • Abhaya · Fearlessness

    Steadiness through faith amid danger and death. · Theme in SB 5.26

    In this verse: “death”

  • Śaraṇāgati · Wholehearted surrender

    Relinquishing ownership while entrusting oneself to the Lord. · Theme in SB 5.26

    In this verse: “surrender”, “shelter”

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 5.26

    In this verse: “devotional service”

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

Do I encourage spiritual growth in everyone, regardless of their present position?

Practice

Offer one sincere word of encouragement to someone seeking to grow in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Live this todayEveryone Should Advance Toward Devotional ServiceThis 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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