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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 9: The Supreme Character of Jaḍa Bharata
5.9.125.9.14

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 5.9.13

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 5.9.1-2inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

तस्य ह दैवमुक्तस्य पशो: पदवीं तदनुचरा: परिधावन्तो निशि निशीथसमये तमसाऽऽवृतायामनधिगतपशव आकस्मिकेन विधिना केदारान् वीरासनेन मृगवराहादिभ्य: संरक्षमाणमङ्गिर:प्रवरसुतमपश्यन् ॥ १३ ॥

tasya ha daiva-muktasya paśoḥ padavīṁ tad-anucarāḥ paridhāvanto niśi niśītha-samaye tamasāvṛtāyām anadhigata-paśava ākasmikena vidhinā kedārān vīrāsanena mṛga-varāhādibhyaḥ saṁrakṣamāṇam aṅgiraḥ-pravara-sutam apaśyan.

Translation

The leader of the dacoits captured a man-animal for sacrifice, but he escaped, and the leader ordered his followers to find him. They ran in different directions but could not find him. Wandering here and there in the middle of the night, covered by dense darkness, they came to a paddy field where they saw the exalted son of the Āṅgirā family [Jaḍa Bharata], who was sitting in an elevated place guarding the field against the attacks of deer and wild pigs.

Read this verse on Vedabase.io

This verse has no purport; its meaning is explained by the verses around it.

1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

An Exalted Soul Guarding a Field

  1. 1

    The man captured for sacrifice escaped, and the dacoit leader sent his followers to find him.

  2. 2

    Unable to find him, the followers wandered in dense darkness at midnight and came to a paddy field.

  3. 3

    There they saw Jaḍa Bharata, the exalted son of the Āṅgirā family. He was sitting in an elevated place, protecting the field from deer and wild pigs.

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
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. tasyaof the leader of the dacoits
  2. hacertainly
  3. daiva-muktasyaby chance having escaped
  4. paśoḥof the human animal
  5. padavīmthe path
  6. tat-anucarāḥhis followers or assistants
  7. paridhāvantaḥsearching here and there to find
  8. niśiat night
3

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

  • Rakṣā · Divine protection

    Protection of devotees through the Lord’s intervention. · Theme in SB 5.9

    In this verse: “guarding”, “protecting”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does seeing an exalted person doing ordinary work invite me to consider?

Practice

Give careful attention to one ordinary responsibility today, remembering Jaḍa Bharata guarding the field.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayAn Exalted Soul Guarding a FieldThis 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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