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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 5: Prahlāda Mahārāja, the Saintly Son of Hiraṇyakaśipu

7.5.28 7.5.30

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 7.5.29

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:Nārada Munisince 7.5.29inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitNārada Muni → Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira

श्रीनारद उवाच

गुरुणैवं प्रतिप्रोक्तो भूय आहासुर: सुतम् ।

न चेद्गुरुमुखीयं ते कुतोऽभद्रासती मति: ॥ २९ ॥

śrī-nārada uvāca

guruṇaivaṁ pratiprokto

bhūya āhāsuraḥ sutam

na ced guru-mukhīyaṁ te

kuto ’bhadrāsatī matiḥ

Translation

Śrī Nārada Muni continued: When Hiraṇyakaśipu received this reply from the teacher, he again addressed his son Prahlāda. Hiraṇyakaśipu said: You rascal, most fallen of our family, if you have not received this education from your teachers, where have you gotten it?

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Learning Devotional Service Is Auspicious

1
Hiraṇyakaśipu condemned Prahlāda’s education and demanded to know where he had received it.
2
Knowledge of devotional service is neither inauspicious nor contrary to proper conduct. Learning devotional service is everyone’s duty.
3
Prahlāda Mahārāja’s spontaneous education in devotional service is supported as auspicious and perfect.

Key points from the purport

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura explains that devotional service is actually bhadrā satī, not abhadra asatī.
To learn devotional service is the duty of everyone.
Therefore the spontaneous education of Prahlāda Mahārāja is supported as auspicious and perfect.

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

Chapter 5: Prahlāda Mahārāja, the Saintly Son of Hiraṇyakaśipu

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Prahlāda Mahārāja replied that those who are attached to family life do not develop Kṛṣṇa consciousness, either personally or collectively. Instead, they suffer repeated birth and death in this material world and continue simply chewing the chewed.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in chapter 7.5

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

śrī-nāradaḥ uvācaNārada Muni said
guruṇāby the teacher
evamthus
pratiproktaḥbeing answered
bhūyaḥagain
āhasaid
asuraḥthe great demon, Hiraṇyakaśipu
sutamunto his son

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
Bhakti · Devotion and loving service
How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 7.5
In this verse: “devotional service”
Dharma · Duty and righteous conduct
Right action as duty, responsibility and devotion. · Theme in SB 7.5
In this verse: “duty”
Jñāna · Spiritual insight
Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 7.5
In this verse: “knowledge”

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Do I value learning devotional service even when others misunderstand it?

Practice

Spend a few minutes today reviewing one teaching about devotional service.

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

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 todayLearning Devotional Service Is AuspiciousThis 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 7.5.29? Get an answer from the verses themselves.

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