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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 ›

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 7.5.22

Who is speaking and story frame

हिरण्यकशिपुरुवाच

प्रह्रादानूच्यतां तात स्वधीतं किञ्चिदुत्तमम् ।

कालेनैतावतायुष्मन् यदशिक्षद्गुरोर्भवान् ॥ २२ ॥

hiraṇyakaśipur uvāca

prahrādānūcyatāṁ tāta

svadhītaṁ kiñcid uttamam

kālenaitāvatāyuṣman

yad aśikṣad guror bhavān

Translation

Hiraṇyakaśipu said: My dear Prahlāda, my dear son, O long-lived one, for so much time you have heard many things from your teachers. Now please repeat to me whatever you think is the best of that knowledge.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Recognizing the Best of One’s Learning

  1. 1

    Hiraṇyakaśipu asked Prahlāda to repeat the best knowledge he had received from his teachers. He expected to hear about politics and diplomacy.

  2. 2

    Prahlāda’s appointed teachers were Ṣaṇḍa and Amarka, but his spiritual master was Nārada Muni. Nārada had instructed him while he was within his mother’s womb.

  3. 3

    Prahlāda chose to relate the instructions of Nārada, considering them his best learning. This difference in what father and son valued intensified their disagreement.

Key points from the purport
  • Prahlāda Mahārāja responded to the inquiry of his father with the instructions he had received from his spiritual master, Nārada.
  • Thus there was again a difference of opinion because Prahlāda Mahārāja wanted to relate the best thing he had learned from his spiritual master, whereas Hiraṇyakaśipu expected to hear about the politics and diplomacy Prahlāda had learned from Ṣaṇḍa and Amarka.
  • Now the dissension between the father and son became increasingly intense as Prahlāda Mahārāja began to say what he had learned from his guru Nārada Muni.

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

Threat → Steady faith. A vulnerable child remains inwardly unshaken.

Chapters 5–7 of Canto 7: Prahlāda refuses to abandon his devotion. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 5: Prahlāda Mahārāja, the Saintly Son of Hiraṇyakaśipu

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Once upon a time, Hiraṇyakaśipu inquired from his son what the best thing was that he had learned from his teachers. Prahlāda Mahārāja replied that a man engrossed in the material consciousness of duality, thinking, “This is mine, and that belongs to my enemy,” should give up his householder life and go to the forest to worship the Supreme Lord.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 7.5
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. hiraṇyakaśipuḥ uvācaKing Hiraṇyakaśipu said
  2. prahrādamy dear Prahlāda
  3. anūcyatāmlet it be told
  4. tātamy dear son
  5. svadhītamwell learned
  6. kiñcitsomething
  7. uttamamvery nice
  8. kālena etāvatāfor so much time
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Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Īśānukathā · The science of God

    Who is the Lord, and how do His devotees live? · Subject 7 of 10

  • Kīrtana · Hearing and chanting

    Remembering the Lord through sacred sound. · Theme in SB 7.5

    In this verse: “heard”

  • Vātsalya · Parental affection

    Affection and protective concern for the Lord as a child. · Theme in SB 7.5

    In this verse: “mother’s”, “father”

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 7.5

    In this verse: “knowledge”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What teaching do I consider the most valuable thing I have learned?

Practice

Write one sentence recalling a spiritual instruction you value most.

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The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

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Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks

His recorded lectures on this verse, and the talks where he quotes it.

2 lectures given on it. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Live this todayRecognizing the Best of One’s LearningThis 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 7.5.22? Get an answer from the verses themselves.