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Study a Verse

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

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Canto 8 · Withdrawal of the Cosmic Creations · 24 chapters

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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 8 · Chapter 6: The Demigods and Demons Declare a Truce

8.6.19 8.6.21

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 8.6.20

Manvantara· The Manus and right duty

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:The Supreme Personality of Godheadsince 8.6.18inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

अरयोऽपि हि सन्धेया: सति कार्यार्थगौरवे ।

अहिमूषिकवद् देवा ह्यर्थस्य पदवीं गतै: ॥ २० ॥

arayo ’pi hi sandheyāḥ

sati kāryārtha-gaurave

ahi-mūṣikavad devā

hy arthasya padavīṁ gataiḥ

Translation

O demigods, fulfilling one’s own interests is so important that one may even have to make a truce with one’s enemies. For the sake of one’s self-interest, one has to act according to the logic of the snake and the mouse.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

An Important Purpose May Require a Truce

1
The Lord explains that an important purpose may require making a truce even with an enemy.
2
A snake and a mouse were trapped in a basket. Eating the mouse immediately would not help the snake escape, so the snake asked the mouse to make a hole.
3
The snake intended to eat the mouse afterward and escape through the hole. This illustrates the logic of the snake and the mouse: the truce served the snake’s own interest.

Key points from the purport

A snake and a mouse were once caught in a basket.
Therefore, the snake thought it wise to make a truce with the mouse and ask the mouse to make a hole in the basket so that both of them could get out.
This is called the logic of the snake and the mouse.

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

Danger and ambition → Divine rescue and surprise. Cooperation, rivalry and revelation alternate rapidly.

Chapters 5–12 of Canto 8: Churning the ocean, poison and nectar. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 6: The Demigods and Demons Declare a Truce

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, in His various forms, is always present even within this material world, but the material qualities cannot touch Him. One can understand His position only by His instructions, as given in Bhagavad-gītā.”

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in chapter 8.6