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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
  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 · Texts 6.5.6-8

Who is speaking and story frame

उवाच चाथ हर्यश्वा: कथं स्रक्ष्यथ वै प्रजा: ।

अद‍ृष्ट्वान्तं भुवो यूयं बालिशा बत पालका: ॥ ६ ॥

तथैकपुरुषं राष्ट्रं बिलं चाद‍ृष्टनिर्गमम् ।

बहुरूपां स्त्रियं चापि पुमांसं पुंश्चलीपतिम् ॥ ७ ॥

नदीमुभयतो वाहां पञ्चपञ्चाद्भ‍ुतं गृहम् ।

क्‍वचिद्धंसं चित्रकथं क्षौरपव्यं स्वयं भ्रमि ॥ ८ ॥

uvāca cātha haryaśvāḥ

kathaṁ srakṣyatha vai prajāḥ

adṛṣṭvāntaṁ bhuvo yūyaṁ

bāliśā bata pālakāḥ

tathaika-puruṣaṁ rāṣṭraṁ

bilaṁ cādṛṣṭa-nirgamam

bahu-rūpāṁ striyaṁ cāpi

pumāṁsaṁ puṁścalī-patim

nadīm ubhayato vāhāṁ

pañca-pañcādbhutaṁ gṛham

kvacid dhaṁsaṁ citra-kathaṁ

kṣaura-pavyaṁ svayaṁ bhrami

Translation

The great sage Nārada said: My dear Haryaśvas, you have not seen the extremities of the earth. There is a kingdom where only one man lives and where there is a hole from which, having entered, no one emerges. A woman there who is extremely unchaste adorns herself with various attractive dresses, and the man who lives there is her husband. In that kingdom, there is a river flowing in both directions, a wonderful home made of twenty-five materials, a swan that vibrates various sounds, and an automatically revolving object made of sharp razors and thunderbolts. You have not seen all this, and therefore you are inexperienced boys without advanced knowledge. How, then, will you create progeny?

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Look Within and Seek the Lord’s Shelter

  1. 1

    Nārada Muni saw that the Haryaśvas were already purified and practically ready for liberation. He questioned why they should become entangled in family life.

  2. 2

    Through his analogy, he indirectly asked them to find the Supersoul, Lord Viṣṇu, within their hearts. Absorption in the material environment without looking within increases entanglement in the illusory energy.

  3. 3

    Nārada wanted to turn their attention toward spiritual realization rather than the complicated affairs of propagation. The purport directs one toward shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as freedom from material anxiety.

Key points from the purport
  • Why then should they be encouraged to become entangled in family life, which is so dark that once having entered it one cannot leave it?
  • Through this analogy, Nārada Muni asked them to consider why they should follow their father’s order to be entangled in family life.
  • Since they were already advanced in spiritual knowledge, why should they be entangled in that way?

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 6.5.6-8 quotesSB 7.5.5

The same advice was given by Prahlāda Mahārāja to his father: In the dark well of family life, one is always full of anxiety because of having accepted a temporary body.

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
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. uvācahe said
  2. caalso
  3. athathus
  4. haryaśvāḥO Haryaśvas, sons of Prajāpati Dakṣa
  5. kathamwhy
  6. srakṣyathayou will beget
  7. vaiindeed
  8. prajāḥprogeny
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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: “materials”, “material”

  • Rāja-dharma · Devotional leadership

    Serving and protecting through responsibility. · Theme in SB 6.5

    In this verse: “kingdom”

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

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

    In this verse: “knowledge”

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

Where is absorption in my material surroundings drawing my attention away from the Lord within?

Practice

Pause for one quiet minute today to remember Lord Viṣṇu, the Supersoul within your heart.

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.

Live this todayLook Within and Seek the Lord’s ShelterThis 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 6.5.6-8? Get an answer from the verses themselves.