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Read one verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with its Sanskrit, word meanings, translation and study points.

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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 15: The Saints Nārada and Aṅgirā Instruct King Citraketu
6.15.46.15.6

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 6.15.5

Mukti· Liberation
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 6.15.1inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

वयं च त्वं च ये चेमे तुल्यकालाश्चराचरा: ।

जन्ममृत्योर्यथा पश्चात् प्राङ्‌नैवमधुनापि भो: ॥ ५ ॥

vayaṁ ca tvaṁ ca ye ceme

tulya-kālāś carācarāḥ

janma-mṛtyor yathā paścāt

prāṅ naivam adhunāpi bhoḥ

Translation

O King, both you and we — your advisers, wives and ministers — as well as everything moving and not moving throughout the entire cosmos at this time, are in a temporary situation. Before our birth this situation did not exist, and after our death it will exist no longer. Therefore our situation now is temporary, although it is not false.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Temporary Does Not Mean False

  1. 1

    Vaiṣṇava philosophy teaches that our present material situation is not false but temporary.

  2. 2

    It resembles a dream, which exists only between falling asleep and awakening. The entire material creation is similarly impermanent.

  3. 3

    Real knowledge means recognizing this dreamlike situation without treating it as an enduring reality and becoming absorbed in lamentation.

Key points from the purport
  • The Māyāvādī philosophers say, brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā: Brahman, the living being, is factual, but his present bodily situation is false.
  • According to the Vaiṣṇava philosophy, however, the present situation is not false but temporary.
  • We do not lament for the situation in a dream before the dream takes place or after it is over, and so during the dream, or during a dreamlike situation, one should not accept it as factual and lament about it.

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

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 15: The Saints Nārada and Aṅgirā Instruct King Citraketu

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

The entire cosmic manifestation is temporary; although not unreal, it is not factual. By the direction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, everything created in the material world is transient.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 6.15
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. vayamwe (the great sages and the ministers and adherents of the King)
  2. caand
  3. tvamyou
  4. caalso
  5. yewho
  6. caalso
  7. imethese
  8. tulya-kālāḥassembled at the same time
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 6.15

    In this verse: “knowledge”, “philosophy”

  • Abhaya · Fearlessness

    Steadiness through faith amid danger and death. · Theme in SB 6.15

    In this verse: “death”

  • Rāja-dharma · Devotional leadership

    Serving and protecting through responsibility. · Theme in SB 6.15

    In this verse: “king”

Chapter themes come from the story phase this chapter belongs to.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What present circumstance am I treating as though it will last forever?

Practice

Write down one current worry and add: “This situation is temporary, not permanent.”

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayTemporary Does Not Mean FalseThis 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 6.15.5? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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