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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
6.15.76.15.9

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 6.15.8

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

देहदेहिविभागोऽयमविवेककृत: पुरा ।

जातिव्यक्तिविभागोऽयं यथा वस्तुनि कल्पित: ॥ ८ ॥

deha-dehi-vibhāgo ’yam

aviveka-kṛtaḥ purā

jāti-vyakti-vibhāgo ’yaṁ

yathā vastuni kalpitaḥ

Translation

Divisions of generalization and specification, such as nationality and individuality, are the imaginations of persons who are not advanced in knowledge.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Material Labels Obscure Our Original Identity

  1. 1

    Material and spiritual energies are ever-existing because both emanate from the eternal Supreme Lord.

  2. 2

    The individual soul has desired to act in forgetfulness of his original identity since time immemorial.

  3. 3

    By accepting different material bodies, the soul receives designations of nationality, community, society and species. These divisions do not express his original identity.

Key points from the purport
  • Actually there are two energies — material and spiritual.
  • Both of them are ever-existing because they are emanations from the eternal truth, the Supreme Lord.
  • Because the individual soul, the individual living entity, has desired to act in forgetfulness of his original identity since time immemorial, he is accepting different positions in material bodies and being designated according to many divisions of nationality, community, society, species and so on.

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:

One should not lament for temporary relationships. The entire cosmic manifestation is temporary; although not unreal, it is not factual.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 6.15
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. dehaof this body
  2. dehiand the proprietor of the body
  3. vibhāgaḥthe division
  4. ayamthis
  5. avivekafrom ignorance
  6. kṛtaḥmade
  7. purāfrom time immemorial
  8. jātiof the class or caste
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”

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 6.15

    In this verse: “material”

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

Which material designation most strongly shapes how I see myself or others?

Practice

Notice one label you apply to someone today and remember that it describes a material position, not the soul’s original identity.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayMaterial Labels Obscure Our Original IdentityThis 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 6.15.8? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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