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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 5: Nārada Muni Cursed by Prajāpati Dakṣa

6.5.11 6.5.13

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 6.5.12

Āśraya· The supreme shelter

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 6.5.10inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

एक एवेश्वरस्तुर्यो भगवान् स्वाश्रय: पर: ।

तमद‍ृष्ट्वाभवं पुंस: किमसत्कर्मभिर्भवेत् ॥ १२ ॥

eka eveśvaras turyo

bhagavān svāśrayaḥ paraḥ

tam adṛṣṭvābhavaṁ puṁsaḥ

kim asat-karmabhir bhavet

Translation

[Nārada Muni had said that there is a kingdom where there is only one male. The Haryaśvas realized the purport of this statement.] The only enjoyer is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who observes everything, everywhere. He is full of six opulences and fully independent of everyone else. He is never subject to the three modes of material nature, for He is always transcendental to this material creation. If the members of human society do not understand Him, the Supreme, through their advancement in knowledge and activities, but simply work very hard like cats and dogs all day and night for temporary happiness, what will be the benefit of their activities?

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Understand Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Enjoyer

1
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the only proprietor and enjoyer of the spiritual world and the cosmic manifestation. He observes everything and is fully independent.
2
Kṛṣṇa is eternal and beyond the three modes of material nature. Unlike conditioned living beings, He is not obliged to undergo repeated birth, death or changes of body.
3
The duty of a human being is to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Hard work merely for temporary happiness does not fulfill this purpose.

Key points from the purport

The complete spiritual world, and specifically the cosmic manifestation, has only one proprietor or enjoyer — the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is beyond this material manifestation.
Nārada Muni advises that human beings not waste their time simply jumping like cats and monkeys, without real benefit.
The duty of the human being is to understand 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· 1

The purport of SB 6.5.12 quotesBG 8.19

As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (8.19), bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate: the living entities in the material world must be repeatedly born and destroyed.

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 5: Nārada Muni Cursed by Prajāpati Dakṣa

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

However, when Śrīla Nārada Muni saw these boys engaged in such commendable austerities simply for material creation, he thought it better to release them from this tendency. Nārada Muni described to the boys their ultimate goal of life and advised them not to become ordinary karmīs to beget children.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in chapter 6.5

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

ekaḥone
evaindeed
īśvaraḥsupreme controller
turyaḥthe fourth transcendental category
bhagavānthe Supreme Personality of Godhead
sva-āśrayaḥindependent, being His own shelter
paraḥbeyond this material creation
tamHim

Key ideas in this verse

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

Āśraya · The summum bonum
Who is the shelter of everything? · Subject 10 of 10
Jñāna · Spiritual insight
Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 6.5
In this verse: “knowledge”, “understand”
Moha · Material attachment
The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 6.5
In this verse: “material”
Rāja-dharma · Devotional leadership
Serving and protecting through responsibility. · Theme in SB 6.5
In this verse: “kingdom”

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

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Does my use of time reflect that understanding Kṛṣṇa is a central duty of human life?

Practice

Spend two minutes reviewing the qualities of Kṛṣṇa described here: eternal, independent and beyond material nature.

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayUnderstand Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme EnjoyerThis 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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