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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.
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Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 6.5.13

Who is speaking and story frame

पुमान्नैवैति यद्गत्वा बिलस्वर्गं गतो यथा ।

प्रत्यग्धामाविद इह किमसत्कर्मभिर्भवेत् ॥ १३ ॥

pumān naivaiti yad gatvā

bila-svargaṁ gato yathā

pratyag-dhāmāvida iha

kim asat-karmabhir bhavet

Translation

[Nārada Muni had described that there is a bila, or hole, from which, having entered, one does not return. The Haryaśvas understood the meaning of this allegory.] Hardly once has a person who has entered the lower planetary system called Pātāla been seen to return. Similarly, if one enters the Vaikuṇṭha-dhāma [pratyag-dhāma], he does not return to this material world. If there is such a place, from which, having gone, one does not return to the miserable material condition of life, what is the use of jumping like monkeys in the temporary material world and not seeing or understanding that place? What will be the profit?

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Attain Kṛṣṇa’s Abode Through Devotion

  1. 1

    One who reaches Vaikuṇṭha-dhāma does not return to this miserable material world. Life with the Supreme King is eternally blissful and full of knowledge.

  2. 2

    One who properly understands the transcendental nature of Kṛṣṇa’s appearance and activities attains His eternal abode after leaving the body. Great souls devoted to Him attain the highest perfection and do not take birth here again.

  3. 3

    Our real concern should be freedom from repeated birth and death and life with the Supreme King in the spiritual world. Devotion to Kṛṣṇa leads to this perfection, whereas impermanent fruitive activities cannot provide it.

Key points from the purport
  • As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (15.6), yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama: there is a region from which, having gone, one does not return to the material world.
  • If one can properly understand Kṛṣṇa, who has already been described as the Supreme King, he does not return here after giving up his material body.
  • Pumān naivaiti yad gatvā: he does not return to this material world, but returns home, back to Godhead, to live an eternally blissful life of knowledge.

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· 3

The purport of SB 6.5.13 quotesBG 15.6

As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (15.6), yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama: there is a region from which, having gone, one does not return to the material world.

The purport of SB 6.5.13 quotesBG 4.9

Elsewhere in Bhagavad-gītā (4.9), Kṛṣṇa says: “One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.”

The purport of SB 6.5.13 quotesBG 8.15

Kṛṣṇa has very definitely asserted in Bhagavad-gītā (8.15): “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

Further reading

Chapter 5: Nārada Muni Cursed by Prajāpati Dakṣa

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Ordered by their father to create more and more population, the Haryaśvas went west to the place where the river Sindhu (now the Indus) meets the Arabian Sea. In those days this was the site of a holy lake named Nārāyaṇa-saras, where there were many saintly persons.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 6.5
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. pumāna human being
  2. nanot
  3. evaindeed
  4. eticomes back
  5. yatto which
  6. gatvāhaving gone
  7. bila-svargamto the region of the lower planetary system known as Pātāla
  8. gataḥgone
3

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

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 6.5

    In this verse: “understanding”, “knowledge”, “understands”

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 6.5

    In this verse: “material”

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 6.5

    In this verse: “devotion”

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

How would remembering Kṛṣṇa’s eternal abode change what I consider worth pursuing today?

Practice

Set aside two minutes for devotion to Kṛṣṇa, praying to understand Him and serve Him rather than merely gain temporary rewards.

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The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayAttain Kṛṣṇa’s Abode Through DevotionThis 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 6.5.13? Get an answer from the verses themselves.