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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.
Read the full guide: how to hear the Bhāgavatam ›
Canto 6 · Chapter 14: King Citraketu’s Lamentation
6.14.46.14.6

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 6.14.5

Mukti· Liberation
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:King Parīkṣitsince 6.14.1inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

मुक्तानामपि सिद्धानां नारायणपरायण: ।

सुदुर्लभ: प्रशान्तात्मा कोटिष्वपि महामुने ॥ ५ ॥

muktānām api siddhānāṁ

nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇaḥ

su-durlabhaḥ praśāntātmā

koṭiṣv api mahā-mune

Translation

O great sage, among many millions who are liberated and perfect in knowledge of liberation, one may be a devotee of Lord Nārāyaṇa, or Kṛṣṇa. Such devotees, who are fully peaceful, are extremely rare.

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Pure Devotion Surpasses Liberation

  1. 1

    Simply desiring liberation does not make one liberated. Even among millions of liberated persons, a fully peaceful devotee of Nārāyaṇa, or Kṛṣṇa, is extremely rare.

  2. 2

    The pure devotee knows that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that His form is spiritual, not material. Such a devotee seeks devotional service, not merging into the Brahman effulgence.

  3. 3

    Kṛṣṇa cleanses the desire for material enjoyment from the heart of a devotee who relishes hearing His messages. Without this cleansing, one cannot become a pure devotee.

Key points from the purport
  • If such a person becomes nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇa, a devotee of Lord Nārāyaṇa, he is better than a jīvan-mukta, one who is liberated or perfect.
  • When rascals (mūḍhas) see that Kṛṣṇa acts exactly like a human being, they deride the transcendental form of the Lord because they do not know the paraṁ bhāvam, His transcendental form and activities.
  • Not only among hundreds and thousands, but among millions of perfectly liberated souls, a pure devotee is hardly ever found.

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· 5

The purport of SB 6.14.5 quotesSB 10.2.32

As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32): “O Lord, the intelligence of those who think themselves liberated but who have no devotion is impure.

The purport of SB 6.14.5 quotesBG 9.11

Evidence of this same point is also given in Bhagavad-gītā (9.11), wherein the Lord says: “Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form.

The purport of SB 6.14.5 quotesBG 9.12

Such persons are further described in Bhagavad-gītā (9.12) as follows: “Those who are thus bewildered are attracted by demoniac and atheistic views.

The purport of SB 6.14.5 quotesSB 1.2.17

As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.17): “Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramātmā [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who relishes His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.”

Quoted in the purport ofSB 7.15.2

Such devotees, who are fully peaceful, are extremely rare.”

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

Parental grief → Detachment and surrender. A flashback discloses the devotional history behind Vṛtrāsura.

Chapters 14–17 of Canto 6: Citraketu's grief, realization and curse. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 14: King Citraketu’s Lamentation

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

And among many millions of such liberated persons, one may become a devotee of Lord Nārāyaṇa. Therefore such devotees are extremely rare.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 6.14
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. muktānāmof those who are liberated during this life (who are unattached to the bodily comforts of society, friendship and love)
  2. apieven
  3. siddhānāmwho are perfect (because they understand the insignificance of bodily comforts)
  4. nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇaḥa person who has concluded that Nārāyaṇa is the Supreme
  5. su-durlabhaḥvery rarely found
  6. praśāntafully pacified
  7. ātmāwhose mind
  8. <a>koṭiṣu*</a>out of millions and trillions
  9. apieven
  10. mahā-muneO great sage
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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

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 6.14

    In this verse: “devotee”, “devotional service”

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 6.14

    In this verse: “knowledge”

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 6.14

    In this verse: “material”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Do I seek devotional service itself, or mainly some personal benefit from it?

Practice

Spend five minutes attentively reading or hearing Kṛṣṇa’s messages, with the desire to serve Him rather than gain material enjoyment.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

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Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks

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

Quoted in 6 lectures. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Quoted in 6 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.

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Connected stories

Keep going: stories told elsewhere in the Bhāgavatam that this verse or its purport brings in.

The purport quotesSB 10.2.32SB 1.2.17

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 6.14's connections

Live this todayPure Devotion Surpasses LiberationThis 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 6.14.5? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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