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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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Canto 6 · Chapter 9: Appearance of the Demon Vṛtrāsura
6.9.406.9.42

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 6.9.41

Poṣaṇa· The Lord's protection
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:The demigodssince 6.9.31inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

अस्माकं तावकानां तततत नतानां हरे तव चरणनलिनयुगल ध्यानानुबद्धहृदयनिगडानां स्वलिङ्गविवरणेनात्मसात्कृतानामनुकम्पानुरञ्जितविशदरुचिरशिशिरस्मितावलोकेन विगलित मधुरमुख रसामृत कलया चान्तस्तापमनघार्हसि शमयितुम् ॥ ४१ ॥

asmākaṁ tāvakānāṁ tatatata natānāṁ hare tava caraṇa-nalina-yugala-dhyānānubaddha-hṛdaya-nigaḍānāṁ sva-liṅga-vivaraṇenātmasāt-kṛtānām anukampānurañjita-viśada-rucira-śiśira-smitāvalokena vigalita-madhura-mukha-rasāmṛta-kalayā cāntas tāpam anaghārhasi śamayitum.

Translation

O supreme protector, O grandfather, O supreme pure, O Lord! We are all surrendered souls at Your lotus feet. Indeed, our minds are bound to Your lotus feet in meditation by chains of love. Now please manifest Your incarnation. Accepting us as Your own eternal servants and devotees, be pleased with us and sympathetic toward us. By Your love-filled glance, with its cool and pleasing smile of sympathy, and by the sweet, nectarean words emanating from Your beautiful face, free us from the anxiety caused by this Vṛtrāsura, who always pains the cores of our hearts.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Bound to the Lord by Love

  1. 1

    The Lord is addressed as grandfather because Brahmā is the father of the demigods, and Kṛṣṇa, or Lord Viṣṇu, is Brahmā’s father. Brahmā took birth from the lotus growing from the Lord’s abdomen.

  2. 2

    The surrendered souls describe their minds as bound to the Lord’s lotus feet by chains of love. They ask Him to accept them as His eternal servants and devotees.

  3. 3

    They seek relief from the anxiety caused by Vṛtrāsura through the Lord’s compassionate glance, pleasing smile and sweet words. Their prayer expresses dependence on His sympathy.

Key points from the purport
  • Lord Brahmā is considered the father of the demigods, but Kṛṣṇa, or Lord Viṣṇu, is the father of Brahmā because Brahmā took birth from the lotus flower growing from the Lord’s abdomen.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

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

Further reading

Chapter 9: Appearance of the Demon Vṛtrāsura

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Being pleased with the demigods, the Supreme Personality of Godhead advised them to approach Dadhīci to beg him for the bones of his own body. Dadhīci would comply with the request of the demigods, and with the help of his bones Vṛtrāsura could be killed.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 6.9
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. asmākamof us
  2. tāvakānāmwho are wholly and solely dependent upon You
  3. tata-tataO grandfather, father of the father
  4. natānāmwho are fully surrendered unto You
  5. hareO Lord Hari
  6. tavaYour
  7. caraṇaon the feet
  8. nalina-yugalalike two blue lotus flowers
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Poṣaṇa · Protection by the Lord

    How does the Lord care for His devotees? · Subject 4 of 10

  • Prema · Transcendental love

    The intimacy and sweetness of devotion to Kṛṣṇa. · Theme in SB 6.9

    In this verse: “love”, “sweet”

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 6.9

    In this verse: “devotees”

  • Rakṣā · Divine protection

    Protection of devotees through the Lord’s intervention. · Theme in SB 6.9

    In this verse: “protector”

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

What does it mean to approach the Lord as His eternal servant rather than only as someone needing relief?

Practice

Spend one quiet minute meditating on the Lord’s lotus feet and offering yourself as His servant.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayBound to the Lord by LoveThis 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 6.9.41? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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