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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.
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Canto 5 · Chapter 8: A Description of the Character of Bharata Mahārāja
5.8.215.8.23

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 5.8.22

Ūti· What drives us to act
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:The great King Mahārāja Bharatasince 5.8.9inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

आसादितहविषि बर्हिषि दूषिते मयोपालब्धो भीतभीत: सपद्युपरतरास ऋषिकुमारवदवहितकरणकलाप आस्ते ॥ २२ ॥

āsādita-haviṣi barhiṣi dūṣite mayopālabdho bhīta-bhītaḥ sapady uparata-rāsa ṛṣi-kumāravad avahita-karaṇa-kalāpa āste.

Translation

When I placed all the sacrificial ingredients on the kuśa grass, the deer, when playing, would touch the grass with its teeth and thus pollute it. When I chastised the deer by pushing it away, it would immediately become fearful and sit down motionless, exactly like the son of a saintly person. Thus it would stop its play.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Distraction Can Undermine Spiritual Progress

  1. 1

    Bharata Mahārāja remembered how the deer disturbed the sacrificial ingredients and became still when chastised.

  2. 2

    He was constantly thinking of the deer's activities.

  3. 3

    He forgot that this diversion of attention was destroying his progress in spiritual achievement.

Key points from the purport
  • Bharata Mahārāja was constantly thinking of the activities of the deer, forgetting that such meditation and diversion of attention was killing his progress in spiritual achievement.

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

Compassion and attachment → Regret and vigilance. Affection becomes binding when it displaces devotion.

Chapters 7–9 of Canto 5: Bharata, the deer and the birth of Jaḍa Bharata. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 8: A Description of the Character of Bharata Mahārāja

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Once when the deer was absent, Mahārāja Bharata was so disturbed that he began to search for it. While searching and lamenting the deer’s absence, Mahārāja Bharata fell down and died.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 5.8
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. āsāditaplaced
  2. haviṣiall the ingredients to be offered in the sacrifice
  3. barhiṣion the kuśa grass
  4. dūṣitewhen polluted
  5. mayā upālabdhaḥbeing scolded by me
  6. bhīta-bhītaḥin great fear
  7. sapadiimmediately
  8. uparata-rāsaḥstopped its playing
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 5.8

    In this verse: “fearful”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What recurring thoughts are taking attention away from my spiritual practice?

Practice

Set aside one recurring distraction for the duration of your spiritual practice today.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayDistraction Can Undermine Spiritual ProgressThis 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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