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Canto 6 · Prescribed Duties for Mankind · 19 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 6 · Chapter 1: The History of the Life of Ajāmila
6.1.106.1.12

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 6.1.11

Mukti· Liberation
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the son of Vedavyāsasince 6.1.11inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

श्रीबादरायणिरुवाच

कर्मणा कर्मनिर्हारो न ह्यात्यन्तिक इष्यते ।

अविद्वदधिकारित्वात्प्रायश्चित्तं विमर्शनम् ॥ ११ ॥

śrī-bādarāyaṇir uvāca

karmaṇā karma-nirhāro

na hy ātyantika iṣyate

avidvad-adhikāritvāt

prāyaścittaṁ vimarśanam

Translation

Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the son of Vedavyāsa, answered: My dear King, since acts meant to neutralize impious actions are also fruitive, they will not release one from the tendency to act fruitively. Persons who subject themselves to the rules and regulations of atonement are not at all intelligent. Indeed, they are in the mode of darkness. Unless one is freed from the mode of ignorance, trying to counteract one action through another is useless because this will not uproot one’s desires. Thus even though one may superficially seem pious, he will undoubtedly be prone to act impiously. Therefore real atonement is enlightenment in perfect knowledge, Vedānta, by which one understands the Supreme Absolute Truth.

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Real Atonement Means Understanding Kṛṣṇa

  1. 1

    Trying to counteract one fruitive action with another does not uproot sinful desires. Without freedom from ignorance, a person may appear pious yet remain prone to sinful acts.

  2. 2

    Real atonement is enlightenment in perfect knowledge. The purpose of Vedic study is to understand Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

  3. 3

    Speculative knowledge alone is incomplete if it does not lead to understanding the Supreme Lord. Real knowledge leads one to understand Kṛṣṇa and surrender unto Him.

Key points from the purport
  • The guru, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, has examined Parīkṣit Mahārāja, and it appears that the King has passed one phase of the examination by rejecting the process of atonement because it involves fruitive activities.
  • As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (7.19), one attains real knowledge when he understands Kṛṣṇa and surrenders unto Him (bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate).
  • To become learned and free from material contamination, therefore, one should try to understand Kṛṣṇa, for thus one is immediately liberated from all pious and impious activities and their reactions.

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 6.1.11 quotesBG 7.15

Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (7.15): “Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me.”

The purport of SB 6.1.11 quotesBG 15.15

Vimarśana, however, is also explained in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15), where Kṛṣṇa says, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ: the purpose of Vedic study is to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

The purport of SB 6.1.11 quotesBG 7.19

As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (7.19), one attains real knowledge when he understands Kṛṣṇa and surrenders unto Him (bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate).

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

Guilt and mortal terror → Mercy and renewed devotion. The holy name opens a path beyond an apparently hopeless death.

Chapters 1–3 of Canto 6: Ajāmila and the Viṣṇudūtas. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 1: The History of the Life of Ajāmila

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Consequently one is prone to commit sinful activities even after atonement, which is therefore very inadequate for purification. On the path of speculative knowledge one becomes free from sinful life by understanding things as they are.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 6.1
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. śrī-bādarāyaṇiḥ uvācaŚukadeva Gosvāmī, the son of Vyāsadeva, replied
  2. karmaṇāby fruitive activities
  3. karma-nirhāraḥcounteraction of fruitive activities
  4. nanot
  5. hiindeed
  6. ātyantikaḥfinal
  7. iṣyatebecomes possible
  8. avidvat-adhikāritvātfrom being without knowledge
  9. prāyaścittamreal atonement
  10. vimarśanamfull knowledge of Vedānta
3

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

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 6.1

    In this verse: “knowledge”, “absolute truth”, “understands”

  • Rāja-dharma · Devotional leadership

    Serving and protecting through responsibility. · Theme in SB 6.1

    In this verse: “king”

  • Śuddhi · Inner transformation

    The reorientation of the heart toward service. · Theme in SB 6.1

    In this verse: “sinful”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Am I seeking only to undo wrong actions, or also to understand and change the desires behind them?

Practice

Reread the purport’s explanation of the purpose of Vedic study, and write one sentence about how it directs you toward Kṛṣṇa.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

6

Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks

His recorded lectures on this verse, and the talks where he quotes it.

4 lectures given on it · quoted in 7 more lectures. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Show 2 more lectures on it
Quoted in 7 other lectures

In each of these he quotes this verse while speaking on another verse or subject. "Find the quote" opens the transcript at that spot.

Live this todayReal Atonement Means Understanding KṛṣṇaThis 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 6.1.11? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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