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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 7: Indra Offends His Spiritual Master, Bṛhaspati.

6.7.13 6.7.15

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 6.7.14

Ūti· What drives us to act

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 6.7.2-8inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

तेषां कुपथदेष्टृणां पततां तमसि ह्यध: ।

ये श्रद्दध्युर्वचस्ते वै मज्जन्त्यश्मप्लवा इव ॥ १४ ॥

teṣāṁ kupatha-deṣṭṝṇāṁ

patatāṁ tamasi hy adhaḥ

ye śraddadhyur vacas te vai

majjanty aśma-plavā iva

Translation

Leaders who have fallen into ignorance and who mislead people by directing them to the path of destruction [as described in the previous verse] are, in effect, boarding a stone boat, and so too are those who blindly follow them. A stone boat would be unable to float and would sink in the water with its passengers. Similarly, those who mislead people go to hell, and their followers go with them.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Choose Guidance That Leads to Kṛṣṇa

1
False leaders and their blind followers are like passengers in a stone boat: they sink together.
2
The human body is a good boat for crossing the ocean of ignorance. The spiritual master is its captain, and Vedic instructions are favorable winds.
3
Bhagavad-gītā gives direct instructions for fulfilling human life’s aim. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, teaches surrender to Him, and Kṛṣṇa consciousness fulfills the human mission.

Key points from the purport

Thus one will board a boat of stone, which will sink and drown all its passengers.
If society is guided by political diplomacy, with one nation maneuvering against another, it will certainly sink like a stone boat.
People must take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness to understand the aim of life, to understand God, and to fulfill the human mission.

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 6.7.14 quotesSB 11.20.17

As stated in the Vedic literature: We, the conditioned souls, have fallen in the ocean of nescience, but the human body fortunately provides us a good opportunity to cross the ocean because the human body is like a very good boat.

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

Offense and dread → Moral reckoning. Heroic power does not guarantee inner freedom.

Chapters 7–10 of Canto 6: Indra, Bṛhaspati and the emergence of Vṛtrāsura. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 7: Indra Offends His Spiritual Master, Bṛhaspati.

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Once upon a time, Indra, the King of the demigods, was sitting with his wife Śacīdevī and being praised by various demigods like the Siddhas, Cāraṇas and Gandharvas when Bṛhaspati, the spiritual master of the demigods, entered the assembly. Indra, being too absorbed in material opulence, forgot himself and did not respect Bṛhaspati, who thus became aware of Indra’s pride in his material opulence and immediately disappeared from the assembly to teach him a lesson.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in chapter 6.7

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

teṣāmof them (the misleaders)
ku-patha-deṣṭṝṇāmwho show the path of danger
patatāmthemselves falling
tamasiin darkness
hiindeed
adhaḥdown
yeanyone who
śraddadhyuḥplace faith in

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
Kṛpā · Divine mercy
Grace received beyond material calculations. · Theme in SB 6.7
In this verse: “favorable”
Śaraṇāgati · Wholehearted surrender
Relinquishing ownership while entrusting oneself to the Lord. · Theme in SB 6.7
In this verse: “surrender”

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 the guidance I follow help me understand God and the aim of human life?

Practice

Read the instruction to surrender to Kṛṣṇa quoted in this purport, and spend a minute reflecting on it.

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Connected stories

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

The purport quotesSB 11.20.17

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 6.7's connections

Live this todayChoose Guidance That Leads to KṛṣṇaThis 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 6.7.14? Get an answer from the verses themselves.

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