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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 5.9.11

Who is speaking and story frame

यदा तु परत आहारं कर्मवेतनत ईहमान: स्वभ्रातृभिरपि केदारकर्मणि निरूपितस्तदपि करोति किन्तु न समं विषमं न्यूनमधिकमिति वेद कणपिण्याकफलीकरणकुल्माषस्थालीपुरीषादीन्यप्यमृतवदभ्यवहरति ॥ ११ ॥

yadā tu parata āhāraṁ karma-vetanata īhamānaḥ sva-bhrātṛbhir api kedāra-karmaṇi nirūpitas tad api karoti kintu na samaṁ viṣamaṁ nyūnam adhikam iti veda kaṇa-piṇyāka-phalī-karaṇa-kulmāṣa-sthālīpurīṣādīny apy amṛtavad abhyavaharati.

Translation

Jaḍa Bharata used to work only for food. His stepbrothers took advantage of this and engaged him in agricultural field work in exchange for some food, but actually he did not know how to work very well in the field. He did not know where to spread dirt or where to make the ground level or uneven. His brothers used to give him broken rice, oil cakes, the chaff of rice, worm-eaten grains and burned grains that had stuck to the pot, but he gladly accepted all this as if it were nectar. He did not hold any grudges and ate all this very gladly.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Spiritual Steadiness Is Not Mere Imitation

  1. 1

    Jaḍa Bharata’s brothers engaged him in field work for poor-quality food. He accepted it gladly, as if it were nectar, and held no grudges.

  2. 2

    Complete in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, Bharata Mahārāja was determined to finish his business in the material world. He remained unaffected by material happiness and distress.

  3. 3

    Steadiness beyond material duality makes one fit for eternal life. The purport cautions that this consciousness must not be imitated; one must actually reach the spiritual platform.

Key points from the purport
  • When one is callous to all duality, the happiness and distress of this material world, one is fit for amṛtatva, eternal life.
  • One has to understand that in the material world of duality, to think that this is good or that this is bad is simply a mental concoction.
  • However, one should not imitate this consciousness; one should actually be situated on the spiritual platform of neutrality.

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· 2

The purport of SB 5.9.11 quotesBG 2.15

The platform of paramahaṁsa is described in Bhagavad-gītā (2.15): sama-duḥkha-sukhaṁ dhīraṁ so ’mṛtatvāya kalpate.

The purport of SB 5.9.11 quotesCC Antya 4.176

As stated in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: ‘dvaite’ bhadrābhadra-jñāna, saba-‘manodharma’

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

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 9: The Supreme Character of Jaḍa Bharata

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

He was ordered by his stepbrothers and mother to guard a paddy field one night, and at that time the leader of a dacoit party took him away and tried to kill him by offering him as a sacrifice before Bhadra Kālī. When the dacoits brought Bharata Mahārāja before the goddess Kālī and raised a chopper to kill him, the goddess Kālī became immediately alarmed due to the mistreatment of a devotee.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 5.9
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. yadāwhen
  2. tubut
  3. parataḥfrom others
  4. āhāramfood
  5. karma-vetanataḥin exchange for wages from working
  6. īhamānaḥlooking for
  7. sva-bhrātṛbhiḥ apieven by his own stepbrothers
  8. kedāra-karmaṇiin working in the field and adjusting the agricultural work
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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 5.9

    In this verse: “material”

  • Karuṇā · Compassion

    Concern for others expressed through bhakti. · Theme in SB 5.9

    In this verse: “distress”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Can I cultivate contentment without pretending to have Jaḍa Bharata’s spiritual realization?

Practice

Accept one simple meal today without complaining about its taste, and reflect on the warning against imitation.

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The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todaySpiritual Steadiness Is Not Mere ImitationThis 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 5.9.11? Get an answer from the verses themselves.