Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 11 - Chapter 17

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 1-2 Sanskrit: श्रीउद्धव उवाचयस्त्वयाभिहित: पूर्वं धर्मस्त्वद्भ‍‍क्तिलक्षण: ।वर्णाश्रमाचारवतां सर्वेषां द्विपदामपि ॥ १ ॥यथानुष्ठीयमानेन त्वयि भक्तिर्नृणां भवेत् ।स्वधर्मेणारविन्दाक्ष तन् ममाख्यातुमर्हसि ॥ २ ॥ ITRANS: śrī-uddhava uvācayas tvayābhihitaḥ pūrvaṁdharmas tvad-bhakti-lakṣaṇaḥvarṇāśramācāravatāṁsarveṣāṁ dvi-padām api Translation: Śrī Uddhava said: My dear Lord, previously You described the principles of devotional service that are to be practiced by followers of the varṇāśrama system and even ordinary, unregulated human beings. My dear lotus-eyed Lord, now please explain to me how all human beings can achieve loving service unto You by the execution of their prescribed duties....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 3-4 Sanskrit: पुरा किल महाबाहो धर्मं परमकं प्रभो ।यत्तेन हंसरूपेण ब्रह्मणेऽभ्यात्थ माधव ॥ ३ ॥स इदानीं सुमहता कालेनामित्रकर्शन ।न प्रायो भविता मर्त्यलोके प्रागनुशासित: ॥ ४ ॥ ITRANS: purā kila mahā-bāhodharmaṁ paramakaṁ prabhoyat tena haṁsa-rūpeṇabrahmaṇe ’bhyāttha mādhava Translation: My dear Lord, O mighty-armed one, previously in Your form of Lord Haṁsa You spoke to Lord Brahmā those religious principles that bring supreme happiness to the practitioner....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 5-6 Sanskrit: वक्ता कर्ताविता नान्यो धर्मस्याच्युत ते भुवि ।सभायामपि वैरिञ्च्यां यत्र मूर्तिधरा: कला: ॥ ५ ॥कर्त्रावित्रा प्रवक्त्रा च भवता मधुसूदन ।त्यक्ते महीतले देव विनष्टं क: प्रवक्ष्यति ॥ ६ ॥ ITRANS: vaktā kartāvitā nānyodharmasyācyuta te bhuvisabhāyām api vairiñcyāṁyatra mūrti-dharāḥ kalāḥ Translation: My dear Lord Acyuta, there is no speaker, creator and protector of supreme religious principles other than Your Lordship, either on the earth or even in the assembly of Lord Brahmā, where the personified Vedas reside....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 7 Sanskrit: तत्त्वं न: सर्वधर्मज्ञ धर्मस्त्वद्भ‍‍क्तिलक्षण: ।यथा यस्य विधीयेत तथा वर्णय मे प्रभो ॥ ७ ॥ ITRANS: tat tvaṁ naḥ sarva-dharma-jñadharmas tvad-bhakti-lakṣaṇaḥyathā yasya vidhīyetatathā varṇaya me prabho Translation: Therefore, my Lord, since You are the knower of all religious principles, please describe to me the human beings who may execute the path of loving service to You and how such service is to be rendered....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 8 Sanskrit: श्रीशुक उवाचइत्थं स्वभृत्यमुख्येन पृष्ट: स भगवान् हरि: ।प्रीत: क्षेमाय मर्त्यानां धर्मानाह सनातनान् ॥ ८ ॥ ITRANS: śrī-śuka uvācaitthaṁ sva-bhṛtya-mukhyenapṛṣṭaḥ sa bhagavān hariḥprītaḥ kṣemāya martyānāṁdharmān āha sanātanān Translation: Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Śrī Uddhava, the best of devotees, thus inquired from the Lord. Hearing his question, the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, was pleased and for the welfare of all conditioned souls spoke those religious principles that are eternal....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 9 Sanskrit: श्रीभगवानुवाचधर्म्य एष तव प्रश्न‍ो नै:श्रेयसकरो नृणाम् ।वर्णाश्रमाचारवतां तमुद्धव निबोध मे ॥ ९ ॥ ITRANS: śrī-bhagavān uvācadharmya eṣa tava praśnonaiḥśreyasa-karo nṛṇāmvarṇāśramācāravatāṁtam uddhava nibodha me Translation: The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Uddhava, your question is faithful to religious principles and thus gives rise to the highest perfection in life, pure devotional service, for both ordinary human beings and the followers of the varṇāśrama system....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 10 Sanskrit: आदौ कृतयुगे वर्णो नृणां हंस इति स्मृत: ।कृतकृत्या: प्रजा जात्या तस्मात् कृतयुगं विदु: ॥ १० ॥ ITRANS: ādau kṛta-yuge varṇonṛṇāṁ haṁsa iti smṛtaḥkṛta-kṛtyāḥ prajā jātyātasmāt kṛta-yugaṁ viduḥ Translation: In the beginning, in Satya-yuga, there is only one social class, called haṁsa, to which all human beings belong. In that age all people are unalloyed devotees of the Lord from birth, and thus learned scholars call this first age Kṛta-yuga, or the age in which all religious duties are perfectly fulfilled....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 11 Sanskrit: वेद: प्रणव एवाग्रे धर्मोऽहं वृषरूपधृक् ।उपासते तपोनिष्ठा हंसं मां मुक्तकिल्बिषा: ॥ ११ ॥ ITRANS: vedaḥ praṇava evāgredharmo ’haṁ vṛṣa-rūpa-dhṛkupāsate tapo-niṣṭhāhaṁsaṁ māṁ mukta-kilbiṣāḥ Translation: In Satya-yuga the undivided Veda is expressed by the syllable om, and I am the only object of mental activities. I become manifest as the four-legged bull of religion, and thus the inhabitants of Satya-yuga, fixed in austerity and free from all sins, worship Me as Lord Haṁsa....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 12 Sanskrit: त्रेतामुखे महाभाग प्राणान्मे हृदयात्‍त्रयी ।विद्या प्रादुरभूत्तस्या अहमासं त्रिवृन्मख: ॥ १२ ॥ ITRANS: tretā-mukhe mahā-bhāgaprāṇān me hṛdayāt trayīvidyā prādurabhūt tasyāaham āsaṁ tri-vṛn makhaḥ Translation: O greatly fortunate one, at the beginning of Tretā-yuga Vedic knowledge appeared from My heart, which is the abode of the air of life, in three divisions — as Ṛg, Sāma and Yajur. Then from that knowledge I appeared as threefold sacrifice....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 13 Sanskrit: विप्रक्षत्रियविट्‍शूद्रा मुखबाहूरुपादजा: ।वैराजात् पुरुषाज्जाता य आत्माचारलक्षणा: ॥ १३ ॥ ITRANS: vipra-kṣatriya-viṭ-śūdrāmukha-bāhūru-pāda-jāḥvairājāt puruṣāj jātāya ātmācāra-lakṣaṇāḥ Translation: In Tretā-yuga the four social orders were manifested from the universal form of the Personality of Godhead. The brāhmaṇas appeared from the Lord’s face, the kṣatriyas from the Lord’s arms, the vaiśyas from the Lord’s thighs and the śūdras from the legs of that mighty form....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 14 Sanskrit: गृहाश्रमो जघनतो ब्रह्मचर्यं हृदो मम ।वक्ष:स्थलाद्वनेवास: संन्यास: शिरसि स्थित: ॥ १४ ॥ ITRANS: gṛhāśramo jaghanatobrahmacaryaṁ hṛdo mamavakṣaḥ-sthalād vane-vāsaḥsannyāsaḥ śirasi sthitaḥ Translation: The married order of life appeared from the loins of My universal form, and the celibate students came from My heart. The forest-dwelling retired order of life appeared from My chest, and the renounced order of life was situated within the head of My universal form....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 15 Sanskrit: वर्णानामाश्रमाणां च जन्मभूम्यनुसारिणी: ।आसन् प्रकृतयो नृणां नीचैर्नीचोत्तमोत्तमा: ॥ १५ ॥ ITRANS: varṇānām āśramāṇāṁ cajanma-bhūmy-anusāriṇīḥāsan prakṛtayo nṝnāṁnīcair nīcottamottamāḥ Translation: The various occupational and social divisions of human society appeared according to inferior and superior natures manifest in the situation of the individual’s birth. Purport: According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, the brāhmaṇas and sannyāsīs, being situated on the head of the universal form of the Lord, are considered to be the most qualified, whereas the śūdras and gṛhasthas, being on the legs or loins of the Personality of Godhead, are considered to be in the lowest position....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 16 Sanskrit: शमो दमस्तप: शौचं सन्तोष: क्षान्तिरार्जवम् ।मद्भ‍‍क्तिश्च दया सत्यं ब्रह्मप्रकृतयस्त्विमा: ॥ १६ ॥ ITRANS: śamo damas tapaḥ śaucaṁsantoṣaḥ kṣāntir ārjavammad-bhaktiś ca dayā satyaṁbrahma-prakṛtayas tv imāḥ Translation: Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, cleanliness, satisfaction, tolerance, simple straightforwardness, devotion to Me, mercy and truthfulness are the natural qualities of the brāhmaṇas. Purport:

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 17 Sanskrit: तेजो बलं धृति: शौर्यं तितिक्षौदार्यमुद्यम: ।स्थैर्यं ब्रह्मण्यमैश्वर्यं क्षत्रप्रकृतयस्त्विमा: ॥ १७ ॥ ITRANS: tejo balaṁ dhṛtiḥ śauryaṁtitikṣaudāryam udyamaḥsthairyaṁ brahmanyam aiśvaryaṁkṣatra-prakṛtayas tv imāḥ Translation: Dynamic power, bodily strength, determination, heroism, tolerance, generosity, great endeavor, steadiness, devotion to the brāhmaṇas and leadership are the natural qualities of the kṣatriyas. Purport:

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 18 Sanskrit: आस्तिक्यं दाननिष्ठा च अदम्भो ब्रह्मसेवनम् ।अतुष्टिरर्थोपचयैर्वैश्यप्रकृतयस्त्विमा: ॥ १८ ॥ ITRANS: āstikyaṁ dāna-niṣṭhā caadambho brahma-sevanamatuṣṭir arthopacayairvaiśya-prakṛtayas tv imāḥ Translation: Faith in Vedic civilization, dedication to charity, freedom from hypocrisy, service to the brāhmaṇas and perpetually desiring to accumulate more money are the natural qualities of the vaiśyas. Purport: Atuṣṭir arthopacayaiḥ indicates that a vaiśya is never satisfied with any amount of wealth and always wants to accumulate more....