Study a Verse

• Therefore the duty of those advanced in knowledge in human society is to study the constitutional position of the imperishable soul and not waste the valuable time of human life in merely maintaining the body and not considering life’s real responsibility.
• Therefore everyone who is captivated by the material energy and absorbed in thinking “I am this body, and everything belonging to this body is mine” is in illusion.
• One should think only of being eternally a part of Janārdana, and one’s endeavor in this material world, especially in this human form of life, should be to attain the association of Janārdana by going back home, back to Godhead.

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

Each link is a verse the purport itself quotes, or a purport elsewhere that quotes this verse, shown with the purport's own words.

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:

By narrating these stories, Hiraṇyakaśipu pacified his nephews and other relatives and relieved them of lamentation. Thus having been pacified, Diti and Ruṣābhānu, Hiraṇyakaśipu’s mother and sister-in-law, engaged their minds in spiritual understanding.