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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 18: Diti Vows to Kill King Indra
6.18.256.18.27-28

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 6.18.26

Ūti· What drives us to act
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 6.18.23inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

आशासानस्य तस्येदं ध्रुवमुन्नद्धचेतस: ।

मदशोषक इन्द्रस्य भूयाद्येन सुतो हि मे ॥ २६ ॥

āśāsānasya tasyedaṁ

dhruvam unnaddha-cetasaḥ

mada-śoṣaka indrasya

bhūyād yena suto hi me

Translation

Diti thought: Indra considers his body eternal, and thus he has become unrestrained. I therefore wish to have a son who can remove Indra’s madness. Let me adopt some means to help me in this.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Bodily Identification Clouds Judgment

  1. 1

    Diti thought that Indra considered his body eternal and had therefore become unrestrained.

  2. 2

    She wanted a son who could remove Indra’s madness and began seeking a means to obtain one.

  3. 3

    The purport says that the śāstras compare those absorbed in the bodily conception of life to cows and asses. Diti wanted to punish Indra, whom she saw as having become like a lower animal.

Key points from the purport
  • One who is in the bodily conception of life is compared in the śāstras to animals like cows and asses.
  • Diti wanted to punish Indra, who had become like a lower animal.

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

Resentment and resolve → Constraint and consequence. Family conflict frames a test of intention.

Chapters 18–19 of Canto 6: Diti's vow and discipline. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 18: Diti Vows to Kill King Indra

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Indra’s wife was named Paulomī (Śacīdevī). She gave birth to three sons — Jayanta, Ṛṣabha and Mīḍhuṣa.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 6.18
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. āśāsānasyathinking
  2. tasyaof him
  3. idamthis (body)
  4. dhruvameternal
  5. unnaddha-cetasaḥwhose mind is unrestrained
  6. mada-śoṣakaḥwho can remove the madness
  7. indrasyaof Indra
  8. bhūyātmay there be
3

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

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

Do I sometimes act as though my body will last forever?

Practice

Take one minute today to reflect on the statement that the body is not eternal.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayBodily Identification Clouds JudgmentThis 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.

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