1 · Learn4 of 6 · 5 min

Study a Verse

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

Or browse by canto and chapter
Canto

Canto 7 · The Science of God · 15 chapters

123456789101112131415

Choose a chapter to see all its verses.

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 2: Hiraṇyakaśipu, King of the Demons
7.2.567.2.58

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 7.2.57

Nirodha· Winding up
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Yamarājasince 7.2.44inside 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

एवं यूयमपश्यन्त्य आत्मापायमबुद्धय: ।

नैनं प्राप्स्यथ शोचन्त्य: पतिं वर्षशतैरपि ॥ ५७ ॥

evaṁ yūyam apaśyantya

ātmāpāyam abuddhayaḥ

nainaṁ prāpsyatha śocantyaḥ

patiṁ varṣa-śatair api

Translation

Thus Yamarāja, in the guise of a small boy, told all the queens: You are all so foolish that you lament but do not see your own death. Afflicted by a poor fund of knowledge, you do not know that even if you lament for your dead husband for hundreds of years, you will never get him back alive, and in the meantime your lives will be finished.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Remember Your Own Mortality

  1. 1

    Yamarāja explained that even hundreds of years of lamentation could not bring the queens’ husband back to life. Meanwhile, their own lives would pass away.

  2. 2

    Living entities meet death at every moment, yet people think themselves deathless and do not prepare for death.

  3. 3

    Everyone is under the control of material nature, though people imagine themselves independent. Plans to live forever do not prevent death from arriving.

Key points from the purport
  • Yamarāja once asked Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, “What is the most wonderful thing within this world?”
  • Hundreds and thousands of living entities meet death at every moment, but a foolish living being nonetheless thinks himself deathless and does not prepare for death.
  • So-called scientists are making various plans by which living entities in the future can live forever, but while they are thus pursuing such scientific knowledge, Yamarāja, in due course of time, will take them away from their business of so-called research.

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

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

Further reading

Chapter 2: Hiraṇyakaśipu, King of the Demons

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

When the King was killed, his queens, overwhelmed with grief, received instructions, which Hiraṇyakaśipu quoted to his nephews. Hiraṇyakaśipu related an account of a kuliṅga bird pierced by the arrow of a hunter while lamenting for his wife, who had also been shot by the same hunter.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 7.2
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. evamthus
  2. yūyamyou
  3. apaśyantyaḥnot seeing
  4. ātma-apāyamown death
  5. abuddhayaḥO ignorant ones
  6. nanot
  7. enamhim
  8. prāpsyathayou will obtain
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

  • Viraha · Longing in separation

    Love and remembrance experienced in apparent absence. · Theme in SB 7.2

    In this verse: “lament”, “lamentation”

  • Abhaya · Fearlessness

    Steadiness through faith amid danger and death. · Theme in SB 7.2

    In this verse: “death”

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 7.2

    In this verse: “knowledge”

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

Am I living as though death happens only to others?

Practice

Write down one way that accepting your mortality could change how you use today.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayRemember Your Own MortalityThis 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 7.2.57? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
  1. Learn
  2. Live
  3. Lead
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