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

6.4.42 6.4.44

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 6.4.43

Mukti· Liberation

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:The Supreme Personality of Godheadsince 6.4.43inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

श्रीभगवानुवाच

प्राचेतस महाभाग संसिद्धस्तपसा भवान् ।

यच्छ्रद्धया मत्परया मयि भावं परं गत: ॥ ४३ ॥

śrī-bhagavān uvāca

prācetasa mahā-bhāga

saṁsiddhas tapasā bhavān

yac chraddhayā mat-parayā

mayi bhāvaṁ paraṁ gataḥ

Translation

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: O most fortunate Prācetasa, because of your great faith in Me, you have attained the supreme devotional ecstasy. Indeed, because of your austerities, combined with exalted devotion, your life is now successful. You have achieved complete perfection.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Devotional Service Leads to Highest Perfection

1
The Lord said that Prācetasa’s great faith in Him had brought him to supreme devotional ecstasy.
2
His austerities, combined with exalted devotion, had made his life successful. The Lord declared that he had achieved complete perfection.
3
The highest perfection is to attain the Supreme Personality of Godhead and never return to this temporary world of miseries. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement teaches the path to this perfection through devotional service.

Key points from the purport

As the Lord Himself confirms in Bhagavad-gītā (8.15), one reaches the highest perfection when he attains the fortune of realizing the Supreme Personality of Godhead:
Therefore the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement teaches one to follow the path toward the topmost perfection simply by performing devotional service.

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· 1

The purport of SB 6.4.43 quotesBG 8.15

As the Lord Himself confirms in Bhagavad-gītā (8.15), one reaches the highest perfection when he attains the fortune of realizing the Supreme Personality of Godhead: “After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogīs in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection.”

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

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

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

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

When that Supreme Godhead becomes the aim of one’s life, one is said to have attained spiritual knowledge. “The Supreme Brahman is the cause of all causes because He originally existed before the creation.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in chapter 6.4

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

śrī-bhagavān uvācathe Supreme Personality of Godhead said
prācetasaO My dear Prācetasa
mahā-bhāgaO you who are so fortunate
saṁsiddhaḥperfected
tapasāby your austerities
bhavānyour good self
yatbecause
śraddhayāby great faith

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
Bhakti · Devotion and loving service
How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 6.4
In this verse: “devotional”, “devotional service”
Prema · Transcendental love
The intimacy and sweetness of devotion to Kṛṣṇa. · Theme in SB 6.4
In this verse: “ecstasy”

Chapter themes come from the story phase this chapter belongs to.

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How can I make devotional service, rather than austerity alone, the purpose of my effort?

Practice

Set aside five minutes today specifically for devotional service to Kṛṣṇa, remembering it as the path to life’s highest perfection.

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayDevotional Service Leads to Highest PerfectionThis 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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