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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 ›
Canto 7 · Chapter 9: Prahlāda Pacifies Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva with Prayers
7.9.367.9.38

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 7.9.37

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Prahlāda Mahārājasince 7.9.9inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitNārada Muni → Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira

तस्मै भवान्हयशिरस्तनुवं हि बिभ्रद्

वेदद्रुहावतिबलौ मधुकैटभाख्यौ ।

हत्वानयच्छ्रुतिगणांश्च रजस्तमश्च

सत्त्वं तव प्रियतमां तनुमामनन्ति ॥ ३७ ॥

tasmai bhavān haya-śiras tanuvaṁ hi bibhrad

veda-druhāv atibalau madhu-kaiṭabhākhyau

hatvānayac chruti-gaṇāṁś ca rajas tamaś ca

sattvaṁ tava priyatamāṁ tanum āmananti

Translation

My dear Lord, when You appeared as Hayagrīva, with the head of a horse, You killed two demons known as Madhu and Kaiṭabha, who were full of the modes of passion and ignorance. Then You delivered the Vedic knowledge to Lord Brahmā. For this reason, all the great saints accept Your forms as transcendental, untinged by material qualities.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Transcendental Lord Protects His Devotees

  1. 1

    As Hayagrīva, the Lord killed Madhu and Kaiṭabha and delivered Vedic knowledge to Lord Brahmā. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is always ready to protect His devotees.

  2. 2

    Whenever the Lord appears, His form is spiritual and blissful, never material. His various forms remain untouched by material qualities.

  3. 3

    The Vedas give knowledge by which we can understand Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By cultivating goodness, we can understand how He removes obstacles on the path of knowing Him.

Key points from the purport
  • The devotees of the Lord are always ready to spread knowledge by which one may understand the Lord through Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but the demons, being unable to understand the Supreme Lord, are full of ignorance and passion.
  • Thus the Lord, whose form is transcendental, is always ready to kill the demons.
  • Whenever the Lord appears, whether as a fish, a tortoise, a hog or any other form, one should understand that He maintains His transcendental position and that His only business, as stated here, is hatvā — to kill the demons.

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 7.9.37 quotesBG 4.7

As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (4.7): “Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion — at that time I descend Myself.”

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

Terror and divine fury → Protection and compassion. The crisis resolves through relationship rather than domination.

Chapters 8–10 of Canto 7: Nṛsiṁhadeva appears; Prahlāda pacifies Him. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 9: Prahlāda Pacifies Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva with Prayers

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

He was attacked by two demons, Madhu and Kaiṭabha, who took away Vedic knowledge, but the Lord killed them and entrusted to Lord Brahmā the Vedic knowledge. Thus the Lord appears in every millennium in the societies of demigods, human beings, animals, saints and aquatics.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 7.9
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. tasmaiunto Lord Brahmā
  2. bhavānYour Lordship
  3. haya-śiraḥhaving the head and neck of a horse
  4. tanuvamthe incarnation
  5. hiindeed
  6. bibhrataccepting
  7. veda-druhautwo demons who were against the Vedic principles
  8. ati-balauextremely powerful
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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

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 7.9

    In this verse: “knowledge”, “understand”

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 7.9

    In this verse: “material”

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 7.9

    In this verse: “devotees”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How can confidence in the Lord’s protection encourage me to learn about Him and share that knowledge?

Practice

Share one teaching from this verse about the Lord’s transcendental form with someone today.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

6

Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks

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

1 lecture given on it. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Live this todayThe Transcendental Lord Protects His DevoteesThis 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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