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Study a Verse

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

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Canto

Canto 7 · The Science of God · 15 chapters

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

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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 7 · Chapter 13: The Behavior of a Perfect Person

7.13.36 7.13.38

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 7.13.37

Mukti· Liberation

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:The brāhmaṇasince 7.13.32inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitNārada Muni → Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira

अनीह: परितुष्टात्मा यद‍ृच्छोपनतादहम् ।

नो चेच्छये बह्वहानि महाहिरिव सत्त्ववान् ॥ ३७ ॥

anīhaḥ parituṣṭātmā

yadṛcchopanatād aham

no cec chaye bahv-ahāni

mahāhir iva sattvavān

Translation

I do not endeavor to get anything, but am satisfied with whatever is achieved in its own way. If I do not get anything, I am patient and unagitated like a python and lie down in this way for many days.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Practice Detachment and Patient Contentment

1
The brāhmaṇa is satisfied with whatever comes in its own way. He does not endeavor to obtain more.
2
When nothing comes, he remains patient and unagitated like a python. His contentment does not depend on receiving something immediately.
3
The bumblebee teaches not to keep more money than needed, while the python teaches patient acceptance. The brāhmaṇa draws instructions from both creatures.

Key points from the purport

One should learn detachment from the bumblebees, for they collect drops of honey here and there and keep it in their honeycomb, but then someone comes and by force takes all the honey away, leaving the bumblebees with nothing.
Therefore one should learn from the bumblebee not to keep more money than one needs.
Similarly, one should learn from the python to stay in one place for many, many days without food and then eat only if something comes in its own 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.

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

Chapter 13: The Behavior of a Perfect Person

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Being satisfied with whatever he attains by the grace of the Lord, he is completely independent of material happiness and distress, and thus he is transcendental to all regulative principles. Sometimes he accepts severe austerities, and sometimes he accepts material opulence.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in chapter 7.13