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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

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 2: Hiraṇyakaśipu, King of the Demons

7.2.36 7.2.38

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 7.2.37

Mukti· Liberation

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:Yamarājasince 7.2.37inside 5 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitNārada Muni → Mahārāja YudhiṣṭhiraHiraṇyakaśipu → his mother and familyYamarāja, as a boy → the queens of King Suyajña

श्रीयम उवाच

अहो अमीषां वयसाधिकानां

विपश्यतां लोकविधिं विमोह: ।

यत्रागतस्तत्र गतं मनुष्यं

स्वयं सधर्मा अपि शोचन्त्यपार्थम् ॥ ३७ ॥

śrī-yama uvāca

aho amīṣāṁ vayasādhikānāṁ

vipaśyatāṁ loka-vidhiṁ vimohaḥ

yatrāgatas tatra gataṁ manuṣyaṁ

svayaṁ sadharmā api śocanty apārtham

Translation

Śrī Yamarāja said: Alas, how amazing it is! These persons, who are older than me, have full experience that hundreds and thousands of living entities have taken birth and died. Thus they should understand that they also are apt to die, yet still they are bewildered. The conditioned soul comes from an unknown place and returns after death to that same unknown place. There is no exception to this rule, which is conducted by material nature. Knowing this, why do they uselessly lament?

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Body Perishes, the Soul Endures

1
Although people see many living beings take birth and die, they often remain bewildered about their own death. Yamarāja asks them to recognize this universal law of material nature.
2
Material elements pass from an unmanifested state into manifestation and become unmanifested again. Even from this material viewpoint, the purport explains that nothing is simply lost.
3
The Vedic conclusion is that the body is perishable but the soul is eternal. The body is like a dress, and Vedic wisdom encourages self-realization rather than lamentation over its change.

Key points from the purport

The material body has no factual existence in relation to the eternal soul.
Therefore, in either case, whether one believes in the existence of the soul or one does not believe in the existence of the soul, there is no cause for lamentation for loss of the body.
The body of the King was manifested from an unmanifested source, and again it became unmanifested from manifestation.

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 7.2.37 quotesBG 2.28

The Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (2.28): “All created beings are unmanifest in their beginning, manifest in their interim state, and unmanifest again when they are annihilated.

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

Pride and rage → Oppression. The ruler's power intensifies his insecurity.

Chapters 1–4 of Canto 7: Hiraṇyakaśipu's ascent and intimidation. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 2: Hiraṇyakaśipu, King of the Demons

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

According to their different fruitive activities, living entities come together within this material world and are again separated by the laws of nature. We should always know, however, that the spirit soul, which is different from the body, is eternal, inadjustable, pure, all-pervading and aware of everything.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in chapter 7.2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

śrī-yamaḥ uvācaŚrī Yamarāja said
ahoalas
amīṣāmof these
vayasāby age
adhikānāmof those advanced
vipaśyatāmseeing every day
loka-vidhimthe law of nature (that everyone dies)
vimohaḥthe bewilderment

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
Viraha · Longing in separation
Love and remembrance experienced in apparent absence. · Theme in SB 7.2
In this verse: “lament”, “lamentation”
Jñāna · Spiritual insight
Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 7.2
In this verse: “understand”, “wisdom”
Moha · Material attachment
The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 7.2
In this verse: “material”

Chapter themes come from the story phase this chapter belongs to.

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does remembering the soul’s eternity change my view of bodily change?

Practice

Write this reminder and read it slowly: “The body is like a dress; the soul is eternal.”

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayThe Body Perishes, the Soul EnduresThis 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.

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