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

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Canto 7 · The Science of God · 15 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 ›
Canto 7 · Chapter 11: The Perfect Society: Four Social Classes
7.11.287.11.30

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 7.11.29

Nirodha· Winding up
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Nārada Munisince 7.11.5inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitNārada Muni → Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira

या पतिं हरिभावेन भजेत् श्रीरिव तत्परा ।

हर्यात्मना हरेर्लोके पत्या श्रीरिव मोदते ॥ २९ ॥

yā patiṁ hari-bhāvena

bhajet śrīr iva tat-parā

hary-ātmanā harer loke

patyā śrīr iva modate

Translation

The woman who engages in the service of her husband, following strictly in the footsteps of the goddess of fortune, surely returns home, back to Godhead, with her devotee husband, and lives very happily in the Vaikuṇṭha planets.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Faithful Service Leads Back to Godhead

  1. 1

    The faithfulness of the goddess of fortune is presented as the ideal for a chaste wife. She should serve her husband with such faithfulness.

  2. 2

    The husband should be an ideal servant of the Lord. By acting together faithfully, husband and wife can return home, back to Godhead, and live happily in Vaikuṇṭha.

  3. 3

    The purport teaches seeing the Supreme Personality of Godhead in those one serves, including the husband and spiritual master. Such service is meant to help one become a devotee of the Lord and become Kṛṣṇa conscious.

Key points from the purport
  • A woman should serve her husband as faithfully as the goddess of fortune.
  • A man should be an ideal servant of the Lord, and a woman should be an ideal wife like the goddess of fortune.
  • A woman should think of her husband as the Supreme Lord.

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

Seriousness → Principled living. The example of bhakti becomes a guide to daily life.

Chapters 11–15 of Canto 7: Teachings on social and spiritual conduct. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 11: The Perfect Society: Four Social Classes

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

The qualification for a woman is to be a very faithful and chaste wife. In this way, Nārada Muni described the characteristics of higher and lower grades of people and recommended that one follow the principles of his caste or his hereditary occupation.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 7.11
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. yāany woman who
  2. patimher husband
  3. hari-bhāvenamentally accepting him as equal to Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead
  4. bhajetworships or renders service to
  5. śrīḥ ivaexactly like the goddess of fortune
  6. tat-parābeing devoted
  7. hari-ātmanācompletely absorbed in thoughts of Hari
  8. hareḥ lokein the spiritual world, the Vaikuṇṭha planets
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Nirodha · Returning home, back to Godhead

    What happens when everything here comes to an end? · Subject 8 of 10

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 7.11

    In this verse: “devotee”

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

How can I keep devotion to the Lord at the heart of my service?

Practice

Perform one small act of service today while consciously remembering the Lord.

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.

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 7.11's connections

Live this todayFaithful Service Leads 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 7.11.29? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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