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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

1Chant the verse. Say the Sanskrit slowly and carefully.
2Read the word meanings. Go through each Sanskrit word and its meaning.
3Find the meaning yourself. Before the translation, piece the meaning together from the words.
4Read the translation. Ask: what is the Lord teaching here, and how does it apply to my life?
5Read the purport slowly. Read it two or three times. Don't rush.
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 16: King Citraketu Meets the Supreme Lord

6.16.41 6.16.43

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 6.16.42

Ūti· What drives us to act

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:Citraketusince 6.16.34inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

क: क्षेमो निजपरयो:

कियान्वार्थ: स्वपरद्रुहा धर्मेण ।

स्वद्रोहात्तव कोप:

परसम्पीडया च तथाधर्म: ॥ ४२ ॥

kaḥ kṣemo nija-parayoḥ

kiyān vārthaḥ sva-para-druhā dharmeṇa

sva-drohāt tava kopaḥ

para-sampīḍayā ca tathādharmaḥ

Translation

How can a religious system that produces envy of one’s self and of others be beneficial for oneself and for them? What is auspicious about following such a system? What is actually to be gained? By causing pain to one’s own self due to self-envy and by causing pain to others, one arouses Your anger and practices irreligion.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Religion Should Awaken Devotion, Not Harm

1
Bhāgavata-dharma is service as an eternal servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Religious practices that cause pain to oneself and others are inauspicious and displease the Lord.
2
Permission for animal sacrifice is a restriction on meat-eating, not the Supreme Lord’s order. True sacrifice means satisfying Him; in this age, intelligent persons do so by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra.
3
Kṛṣṇa’s final instruction is to give up other duties and surrender to Him. Religious duties that do not awaken attraction for the Supreme Lord’s message are merely wasted time and labor.

Key points from the purport

Any religious system but the process of bhāgavata-dharma — service as an eternal servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead — is a system of envy of one’s own self and of others.
In any case, a system of religion in which animal sacrifices are recommended is inauspicious for those who perform the sacrifices and for the animals.
Sometimes animal sacrifices are performed very gorgeously with grand arrangements for worshiping the goddess Kālī, but such festivals, although performed in the name of yajña, are not actually yajña, for yajña means to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

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 6.16.42 quotesBG 16.17

Envious persons who perform ostentatious animal sacrifices are condemned in Bhagavad-gītā (16.17) as follows: “Self-complacent and always impudent, deluded by wealth and false prestige, they sometimes perform sacrifices in name only without following any rules or regulations.”

The purport of SB 6.16.42 quotesBG 16.18

Those who are envious and mischievous, who are the lowest among men, are cast by Me into the ocean of material existence, into various demoniac species of life.”

The purport of SB 6.16.42 quotesSB 1.2.8

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.8) says: “Duties (dharma) executed by men, regardless of occupation, are only so much useless labor if they do not provoke attraction for the message of the Supreme Lord.”

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

Chapter 16: King Citraketu Meets the Supreme Lord

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

After being initiated by Nārada Muni, King Citraketu chanted the mahā-vidyā, and after one week he attained the presence of Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa, who was surrounded by the four Kumāras. The Lord was nicely dressed in bluish garments, with a helmet and ornaments of gold.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in chapter 6.16

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

kaḥwhat
kṣemaḥbenefit
nijato oneself
parayoḥand to others
kiyānhow much
vāor
arthaḥpurpose
sva-para-druhāwhich is envious of the performer and of others

Key ideas in this verse

The subject this verse serves and the themes it speaks of.

Ūti · The creative impetus
Why do we act, and what keeps us bound? · Subject 5 of 10
Dharma · Duty and righteous conduct
Right action as duty, responsibility and devotion. · Theme in SB 6.16
In this verse: “religious”, “duties”
Vairāgya · Freedom from attachment
Release from possessiveness and false identities. · Theme in SB 6.16
In this verse: “give up”
Kīrtana · Hearing and chanting
Remembering the Lord through sacred sound. · Theme in SB 6.16
In this verse: “chanting”

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Are my religious practices awakening attraction to Kṛṣṇa and helping me avoid causing pain to others?

Practice

Chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra for two minutes today with the intention of satisfying the Supreme Lord.

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Connected stories

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

The purport quotesSB 1.2.8

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 6.16's connections

Live this todayReligion Should Awaken Devotion, Not HarmThis 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 6.16.42? Get an answer from the verses themselves.

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