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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 ›

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 6.5.36

Who is speaking and story frame

श्रीदक्ष उवाच

अहो असाधो साधूनां साधुलिङ्गेन नस्त्वया ।

असाध्वकार्यर्भकाणां भिक्षोर्मार्ग: प्रदर्शित: ॥ ३६ ॥

śrī-dakṣa uvāca

aho asādho sādhūnāṁ

sādhu-liṅgena nas tvayā

asādhv akāry arbhakāṇāṁ

bhikṣor mārgaḥ pradarśitaḥ

Translation

Prajāpati Dakṣa said: Alas, Nārada Muni, you wear the dress of a saintly person, but you are not actually a saint. Indeed, although I am now in gṛhastha life, I am a saintly person. By showing my sons the path of renunciation, you have done me an abominable injustice.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Recognize Saintly Service Beyond Personal Expectations

  1. 1

    People in different spiritual orders can be sādhus when they properly fulfill their duties. Although Dakṣa had performed great austerities, his fault-finding led him to wrongly call Nārada nonsaintly.

  2. 2

    Nārada and his followers must show people the path of renouncing the material world and returning home, back to Godhead. Dakṣa could not appreciate this service because it frustrated his plans for his sons.

  3. 3

    Kṛṣṇa consciousness allows household life, but householders also follow renunciation by giving up meat-eating, illicit sex, gambling and intoxication. Devotional duty may be misunderstood by family members.

Key points from the purport
  • Prajāpati Dakṣa condemned Nārada Muni because Nārada, a brahmacārī who could beg from door to door, had made sannyāsīs of Dakṣa’s sons, who were being trained to be gṛhasthas.
  • Dakṣa regarded his sons as innocent boys who had been misled when Nārada showed them the renounced order of life.
  • Because of all these considerations, Prajāpati Dakṣa charged that Nārada Muni was asādhu and should not have adopted the dress of a sādhu.

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 6.5.36 quotesCC Madhya 12.51

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, sannyāsīra alpa chidra sarva-loke gāya. In society one will find many sannyāsīs, vānaprasthas, gṛhasthas and brahmacārīs, but if all of them properly live in accordance with their duties, they are understood to be sādhus.

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:

Prajāpati Dakṣa, who was very sad at the loss of his sons, begot one thousand more sons in the womb of his wife, Pāñcajanī, and ordered them to increase progeny. These sons, who were named the Savalāśvas, also engaged in worshiping Lord Viṣṇu to beget children, but Nārada Muni convinced them to become mendicants and not beget children.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 6.5
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. śrī-dakṣaḥ uvācaPrajāpati Dakṣa said
  2. aho asādhoO greatly dishonest nondevotee
  3. sādhūnāmof the society of devotees and great sages
  4. sādhu-liṅgenawearing the dress of a saintly person
  5. naḥunto us
  6. tvayāby you
  7. asādhua dishonesty
  8. akārihas been done
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Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Ūti · The creative impetus

    Why do we act, and what keeps us bound? · Subject 5 of 10

  • Dharma · Duty and righteous conduct

    Right action as duty, responsibility and devotion. · Theme in SB 6.5

    In this verse: “duty”, “duties”

  • Moha · Material attachment

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

    In this verse: “household”, “material”

  • Vairāgya · Freedom from attachment

    Release from possessiveness and false identities. · Theme in SB 6.5

    In this verse: “renouncing”

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

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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Do I judge spiritual guidance by its value, or by whether it supports my personal plans?

Practice

Recall one spiritual instruction you find inconvenient, and consider its purpose before criticizing it.

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The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayRecognize Saintly Service Beyond Personal ExpectationsThis 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 6.5.36? Get an answer from the verses themselves.