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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 3: Yamarāja Instructs His Messengers
6.3.46.3.6

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 6.3.5

Sthāna· The universe in order
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:The Yamadūtassince 6.3.4inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

यदि स्युर्बहवो लोके शास्तारो दण्डधारिण: ।

कस्य स्यातां न वा कस्य मृत्युश्चामृतमेव वा ॥ ५ ॥

yadi syur bahavo loke

śāstāro daṇḍa-dhāriṇaḥ

kasya syātāṁ na vā kasya

mṛtyuś cāmṛtam eva vā

Translation

If in this universe there are many rulers and justices who disagree about punishment and reward, their contradictory actions will neutralize each other, and no one will be punished or rewarded. Otherwise, if their contradictory acts fail to neutralize each other, everyone will have to be both punished and rewarded.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Supreme Justice Is Free From Contradiction

  1. 1

    The Yamadūtas worried that conflicting rulers could cause people to be wrongly punished, wrongly rewarded, or neither punished nor rewarded.

  2. 2

    Material courts may give different judgments, but the court of the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot have contradictory judgments.

  3. 3

    Yamarāja is perfect in administering justice because the Supreme Personality of Godhead empowers him. Everyone is controlled by that supreme controller.

Key points from the purport
  • Because the Yamadūtas had been unsuccessful in carrying out the order of Yamarāja, they doubted whether Yamarāja actually had the power to punish the sinful.
  • If there were many authorities who gave different judgments, which could be contradictory, a person might be wrongly punished or wrongly rewarded, or he might be neither punished nor rewarded.
  • Thus the same man may be either punished or rewarded according to different judgments.

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

Guilt and mortal terror → Mercy and renewed devotion. The holy name opens a path beyond an apparently hopeless death.

Chapters 1–3 of Canto 6: Ajāmila and the Viṣṇudūtas. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 3: Yamarāja Instructs His Messengers

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

The Lord, the master of the illusory energy, possesses transcendental qualities for the good fortune of everyone, and His devotees are also qualified in that way. The devotees, concerned only with rescuing the fallen souls from this material world, apparently take birth in different places in the material world just to save the conditioned souls.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 6.3
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. yadiif
  2. syuḥthere are
  3. bahavaḥmany
  4. lokein this world
  5. śāstāraḥrulers or controllers
  6. daṇḍa-dhāriṇaḥwho punish the sinful men
  7. kasyaof whom
  8. syātāmthere may be
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Sthāna · Planetary systems

    How is the universe arranged, and what is our right place in it? · Subject 3 of 10

  • Rāja-dharma · Devotional leadership

    Serving and protecting through responsibility. · Theme in SB 6.3

    In this verse: “rulers”

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 6.3

    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

Do I mistake my incomplete understanding of divine justice for a contradiction in it?

Practice

Write one sentence distinguishing Yamarāja’s empowered authority from the authority of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

6

Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks

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

1 lecture given on it. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Live this todaySupreme Justice Is Free From ContradictionThis 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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