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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 4: The Haṁsa-guhya Prayers Offered to the Lord by Prajāpati Dakṣa
6.4.96.4.11

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 6.4.10

Manvantara· The Manus and right duty
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 6.4.4inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

यूयं च पित्रान्वादिष्टा देवदेवेन चानघा: ।

प्रजासर्गाय हि कथं वृक्षान्निर्दग्धुमर्हथ ॥ १० ॥

yūyaṁ ca pitrānvādiṣṭā

deva-devena cānaghāḥ

prajā-sargāya hi kathaṁ

vṛkṣān nirdagdhum arhatha

Translation

O pure-hearted ones, your father, Prācīnabarhi, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead have ordered you to generate population. Therefore how can you burn to ashes these trees and herbs, which are needed for the maintenance of your subjects and descendants?

Read this verse on Vedabase.io

This verse has no purport; its meaning is explained by the verses around it.

1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Preserve What Your Dependents Need

  1. 1

    Prācīnabarhi and the Supreme Personality of Godhead have ordered the Pracetās to generate population.

  2. 2

    Trees and herbs are needed to maintain their subjects and descendants.

  3. 3

    Soma asks how burning these sources of nourishment can fit with their responsibility. Generating population also requires concern for its maintenance.

How it feels

Anger and conflict → Spiritual commitment. Competing understandings of duty create relational tension.

Chapters 4–6 of Canto 6: Dakṣa, Nārada and the consequences of preaching. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 4: The Haṁsa-guhya Prayers Offered to the Lord by Prajāpati Dakṣa

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Thus the Pracetās created wind and fire to burn the trees to ashes. Soma, however, the king of the moon and the king of all vegetation, forbade the Pracetās to destroy the trees, since the trees are the source of fruit and flowers for all living beings.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 6.4
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. yūyamyou
  2. caalso
  3. pitrāby your father
  4. anvādiṣṭāḥordered
  5. deva-devenaby the Personality of Godhead, the master of the masters
  6. caalso
  7. anaghāḥO sinless ones
  8. prajā-sargāyafor generating the population
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Manvantara · The change of Manus

    What gives human life its right direction? · Subject 6 of 10

  • Vātsalya · Parental affection

    Affection and protective concern for the Lord as a child. · Theme in SB 6.4

    In this verse: “father”

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

Are any of your actions undermining what those who depend on you need?

Practice

Take one concrete step today to avoid wasting plant food needed for nourishment.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayPreserve What Your Dependents NeedThis 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 6.4.10? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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