1 · Learn4 of 6 · 5 min

Study a Verse

Read one verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with its Sanskrit, word meanings, translation and study points.

Or browse by canto and chapter
Canto

Canto 6 · Prescribed Duties for Mankind · 19 chapters

12345678910111213141516171819

Choose a chapter to see all its verses.

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 5: Nārada Muni Cursed by Prajāpati Dakṣa
6.5.196.5.21

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 6.5.20

Mukti· Liberation
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 6.5.10inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

शास्त्रस्य पितुरादेशं यो न वेद निवर्तकम् ।

कथं तदनुरूपाय गुणविस्रम्भ्युपक्रमेत् ॥ २० ॥

śāstrasya pitur ādeśaṁ

yo na veda nivartakam

kathaṁ tad-anurūpāya

guṇa-visrambhy upakramet

Translation

[Nārada Muni had asked how one could ignorantly defy one’s own father. The Haryaśvas understood the meaning of this question.] One must accept the original instructions of the śāstra. According to Vedic civilization, one is offered a sacred thread as a sign of second birth. One takes his second birth by dint of having received instructions in the śāstra from a bona fide spiritual master. Therefore, śāstra, scripture, is the real father. All the śāstras instruct that one should end his material way of life. If one does not know the purpose of the father’s orders, the śāstras, he is ignorant. The words of a material father who endeavors to engage his son in material activities are not the real instructions of the father.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Scripture Guides Us Back to Godhead

  1. 1

    Śāstra is called the real father because its instructions lead one away from materialistic life and toward spiritual life.

  2. 2

    One must approach a bona fide spiritual master to understand Vedic knowledge. Spiritual education teaches how to become free from repeated birth and death.

  3. 3

    Bhagavad-gītā is the essence of Vedic knowledge, and Kṛṣṇa personally teaches surrender unto Him. Its instructions should guide our lives, rather than our own whims.

Key points from the purport
  • In the Bible, which is also śāstra, one will find the same advice: one should cease materialistic life and return to the kingdom of God.
  • In any śāstra one may examine, especially the Vedic śāstra, the same advice is given: one should give up his materialistic life and return to his original, spiritual life.
  • Brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā: this material world or materialistic life is simply illusion, and therefore one should stop his illusory activities and come to the platform of Brahman.

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 6.5.20 quotesBG 16.7

Bhagavad-gītā (16.7) says, pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca janā na vidur āsurāḥ: demons, who are less than human beings but are not called animals, do not know the meaning of pravṛtti and nivṛtti, work to be done and work not to be done.

The purport of SB 6.5.20 quotesSB 5.5.18

One should not strive to become a mother or father if one cannot save one’s dependent son from the impending danger of death.

The purport of SB 6.5.20 quotesBG 16.23

The importance of the śāstras is mentioned in Bhagavad-gītā (16.23): “One who disregards the injunctions of the śāstras and acts whimsically, as he likes, never achieves the perfection of life, not to speak of happiness.

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. śāstrasyaof the scriptures
  2. pituḥof the father
  3. ādeśamthe instruction
  4. yaḥone who
  5. nanot
  6. vedaunderstands
  7. nivartakamwhich brings about the cessation of the material way of life
  8. kathamhow
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

  • Moha · Material attachment

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

    In this verse: “material”, “materialistic”

  • Vātsalya · Parental affection

    Affection and protective concern for the Lord as a child. · Theme in SB 6.5

    In this verse: “father”

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

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

    In this verse: “knowledge”, “understand”

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

Where could I let the instructions of śāstra guide me instead of my material desires?

Practice

Reread Kṛṣṇa’s instruction to surrender unto Him in this purport, and spend one minute considering how to follow it today.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

6

Connected stories

Keep going: stories told elsewhere in the Bhāgavatam that this verse or its purport brings in.

The purport quotesSB 5.5.18

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 6.5's connections

Live this todayScripture Guides Us Back to GodheadThis 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 6.5.20? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
  1. Learn
  2. Live
  3. Lead
Next in Learn · 5 of 11 · 2 minAsk the BhāgavatamBring your own question. Get an answer drawn only from the Bhāgavatam's translations, with every verse shown.Back · LearnCantos & stories