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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
  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 8 · Chapter 6: The Demigods and Demons Declare a Truce
8.6.218.6.24

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Texts 8.6.22-23

Poṣaṇa· The Lord's protection
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

क्षिप्‍त्वा क्षीरोदधौ सर्वा वीरुत्तृणलतौषधी: ।

मन्थानं मन्दरं कृत्वा नेत्रं कृत्वा तु वासुकिम् ॥ २२ ॥

सहायेन मया देवा निर्मन्थध्वमतन्द्रिता: ।

क्लेशभाजो भविष्यन्ति दैत्या यूयं फलग्रहा: ॥ २३ ॥

kṣiptvā kṣīrodadhau sarvā

vīrut-tṛṇa-latauṣadhīḥ

manthānaṁ mandaraṁ kṛtvā

netraṁ kṛtvā tu vāsukim

sahāyena mayā devā

nirmanthadhvam atandritāḥ

kleśa-bhājo bhaviṣyanti

daityā yūyaṁ phala-grahāḥ

Translation

O demigods, cast into the Ocean of Milk all kinds of vegetables, grass, creepers and drugs. Then, with My help, making Mandara Mountain the churning rod and Vāsuki the rope for churning, churn the Ocean of Milk with undiverted attention. Thus the demons will be engaged in labor, but you, the demigods, will gain the actual result, the nectar produced from the ocean.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Work Attentively With the Lord’s Help

  1. 1

    The Lord instructed the demigods to put vegetables, grass, creepers and drugs into the Ocean of Milk. The purport explains that their active principles would mix with the milk through churning, producing nectar.

  2. 2

    Mandara Mountain was to serve as the churning rod and Vāsuki as the rope. The demigods were to churn with the Lord’s help and undiverted attention.

  3. 3

    The demons would share in the labor, but the demigods would gain the actual result: the nectar produced from the ocean.

Key points from the purport
  • It appears that when different kinds of drugs, creepers, grass and vegetables are put into this milk and the milk is churned, as milk is churned for butter, the active principles of the vegetables and drugs mix with the milk, and the result is nectar.

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

Further reading

Chapter 6: The Demigods and Demons Declare a Truce

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is known as Ajita, unconquerable, advised the demigods to make a peace proposal to the demons, so that after formulating a truce, the demigods and demons could churn the Ocean of Milk. The rope would be the biggest serpent, known as Vāsuki, and the churning rod would be Mandara Mountain.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 8.6
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. kṣiptvāputting
  2. kṣīra-udadhauin the Ocean of Milk
  3. sarvāḥall kinds of
  4. vīrutcreepers
  5. tṛṇagrass
  6. latāvegetables
  7. auṣadhīḥand drugs
  8. manthānamthe churning rod
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Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Poṣaṇa · Protection by the Lord

    How does the Lord care for His devotees? · Subject 4 of 10

  • Dharma · Duty and righteous conduct

    Right action as duty, responsibility and devotion. · Theme in SB 8.6

    In this verse: “principles”

Chapter themes come from the story phase this chapter belongs to.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does the instruction to work with the Lord’s help and undiverted attention teach me?

Practice

Spend two uninterrupted minutes studying these instructions, noting both the demigods’ effort and the Lord’s help.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayWork Attentively With the Lord’s HelpThis 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 8.6.22-23? Get an answer from the verses themselves.