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Canto 9 · Liberation · 24 chapters

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How to study this verse· six steps
  1. 1Chant the verseSay the Sanskrit slowly and carefully.
  2. 2Read the word meaningsGo through each Sanskrit word and its meaning.
  3. 3Find the meaning yourselfBefore the translation, piece the meaning together from the words.
  4. 4Read the translationAsk: what is the Lord teaching here, and how does it apply to my life?
  5. 5Read the purport slowlyRead it two or three times. Don't rush.
  6. 6Write down what touched youNote the main points in your own notebook.
Read the full guide: how to hear the Bhāgavatam ›
Canto 9 · Chapter 9: The Dynasty of Aṁśumān
9.9.319.9.33

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 9.9.32

यद्ययं क्रियते भक्ष्यस्तर्हि मां खाद पूर्वत: ।

न जीविष्ये विना येन क्षणं च मृतकं यथा ॥ ३२ ॥

yady ayaṁ kriyate bhakṣyas

tarhi māṁ khāda pūrvataḥ

na jīviṣye vinā yena

kṣaṇaṁ ca mṛtakaṁ yathā

Translation

Without my husband, I cannot live for a moment. If you want to eat my husband, it would be better to eat me first, for without my husband I am as good as a dead body.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Hear the Wife’s Desperate Plea

  1. 1

    The brāhmaṇa’s wife said she could not live even a moment without her husband. She begged the King to eat her first if he intended to eat him.

  2. 2

    The purport connects her feelings with the historical practice called satī or saha-maraṇa, in which a wife died with her husband.

  3. 3

    The purport describes a social system in which a woman depended on her father, husband and later her elderly sons. Within this account, the wife expressed her dependence by comparing life without her husband to being a dead body.

Study points are short summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport on Vedabase.