Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 6 - Chapter 1

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 6 - Chapter 1 - Verse 1 Sanskrit: श्रीपरीक्षिदुवाचनिवृत्तिमार्ग: कथित आदौ भगवता यथा ।क्रमयोगोपलब्धेन ब्रह्मणा यदसंसृति: ॥ १ ॥ ITRANS: śrī-parīkṣid uvācanivṛtti-mārgaḥ kathitaādau bhagavatā yathākrama-yogopalabdhenabrahmaṇā yad asaṁsṛtiḥ Translation: Mahārāja Parīkṣit said: O my lord, O Śukadeva Gosvāmī, you have already described [in the Second Canto] the path of liberation [nivṛtti-mārga]. By following that path, one is certainly elevated gradually to the highest planetary system, Brahmaloka, from which one is promoted to the spiritual world along with Lord Brahmā....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 6 - Chapter 1 - Verse 2 Sanskrit: प्रवृत्तिलक्षणश्चैव त्रैगुण्यविषयो मुने ।योऽसावलीनप्रकृतेर्गुणसर्ग: पुन: पुन: ॥ २ ॥ ITRANS: pravṛtti-lakṣaṇaś caivatraiguṇya-viṣayo muneyo ’sāv alīna-prakṛterguṇa-sargaḥ punaḥ punaḥ Translation: O great sage Śukadeva Gosvāmī, unless the living entity is freed from the infection of the material modes of nature, he receives different types of bodies in which to enjoy or suffer, and according to the body, he is understood to have various inclinations....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 6 - Chapter 1 - Verse 3 Sanskrit: अधर्मलक्षणा नाना नरकाश्चानुवर्णिता: ।मन्वन्तरश्च व्याख्यात आद्य: स्वायम्भुवो यत: ॥ ३ ॥ ITRANS: adharma-lakṣaṇā nānānarakāś cānuvarṇitāḥmanvantaraś ca vyākhyātaādyaḥ svāyambhuvo yataḥ Translation: You have also described [at the end of the Fifth Canto] the varieties of hellish life that result from impious activities, and you have described [in the Fourth Canto] the first manvantara, which was presided over by Svāyambhuva Manu, the son of Lord Brahmā....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 6 - Chapter 1 - Verse 4-5 Sanskrit: प्रियव्रतोत्तानपदोर्वंशस्तच्चरितानि च ।द्वीपवर्षसमुद्राद्रिनद्युद्यानवनस्पतीन् ॥ ४ ॥धरामण्डलसंस्थानं भागलक्षणमानत: ।ज्योतिषां विवराणां च यथेदमसृजद्विभु: ॥ ५ ॥ ITRANS: priyavratottānapadorvaṁśas tac-caritāni cadvīpa-varṣa-samudrādri-nady-udyāna-vanaspatīn Translation: My dear lord, you have described the dynasties and characteristics of King Priyavrata and King Uttānapāda. The Supreme Personality of Godhead created this material world with various universes, planetary systems, planets and stars, with varied lands, seas, oceans, mountains, rivers, gardens and trees, all with different characteristics....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 6 - Chapter 1 - Verse 6 Sanskrit: अधुनेह महाभाग यथैव नरकान्नर: ।नानोग्रयातनान्नेयात्तन्मे व्याख्यातुमर्हसि ॥ ६ ॥ ITRANS: adhuneha mahā-bhāgayathaiva narakān naraḥnānogra-yātanān neyāttan me vyākhyātum arhasi Translation: O greatly fortunate and opulent Śukadeva Gosvāmī, now kindly tell me how human beings may be saved from having to enter hellish conditions in which they suffer terrible pains. Purport: In the Twenty-sixth Chapter of the Fifth Canto, Śukadeva Gosvāmī has explained that people who commit sinful acts are forced to enter hellish planets and suffer....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 6 - Chapter 1 - Verse 7 Sanskrit: श्रीशुक उवाचन चेदिहैवापचितिं यथांहस:कृतस्य कुर्यान्मनउक्तपाणिभि: ।ध्रुवं स वै प्रेत्य नरकानुपैतिये कीर्तिता मे भवतस्तिग्मयातना: ॥ ७ ॥ ITRANS: śrī-śuka uvācana ced ihaivāpacitiṁ yathāṁhasaḥkṛtasya kuryān mana-ukta-pāṇibhiḥdhruvaṁ sa vai pretya narakān upaitiye kīrtitā me bhavatas tigma-yātanāḥ Translation: Śukadeva Gosvāmī replied: My dear King, if before one’s next death whatever impious acts one has performed in this life with his mind, words and body are not counteracted through proper atonement according to the description of the Manu-saṁhitā and other dharma-śāstras, one will certainly enter the hellish planets after death and undergo terrible suffering, as I have previously described to you....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 6 - Chapter 1 - Verse 8 Sanskrit: तस्मात्पुरैवाश्विह पापनिष्कृतौयतेत मृत्योरविपद्यतात्मना ।दोषस्य द‍ृष्ट्वा गुरुलाघवं यथाभिषक् चिकित्सेत रुजां निदानवित् ॥ ८ ॥ ITRANS: tasmāt puraivāśv iha pāpa-niṣkṛtauyateta mṛtyor avipadyatātmanādoṣasya dṛṣṭvā guru-lāghavaṁ yathābhiṣak cikitseta rujāṁ nidānavit Translation: Therefore, before one’s next death comes, as long as one’s body is strong enough, one should quickly adopt the process of atonement according to śāstra; otherwise one’s time will be lost, and the reactions of his sins will increase....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 6 - Chapter 1 - Verse 9 Sanskrit: श्रीराजोवाचद‍ृष्टश्रुताभ्यां यत्पापं जानन्नप्यात्मनोऽहितम् ।करोति भूयो विवश: प्रायश्चित्तमथो कथम् ॥ ९ ॥ ITRANS: śrī-rājovācadṛṣṭa-śrutābhyāṁ yat pāpaṁjānann apy ātmano ’hitamkaroti bhūyo vivaśaḥprāyaścittam atho katham Translation: Mahārāja Parīkṣit said: One may know that sinful activity is injurious for him because he actually sees that a criminal is punished by the government and rebuked by people in general and because he hears from scriptures and learned scholars that one is thrown into hellish conditions in the next life for committing sinful acts....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 6 - Chapter 1 - Verse 10 Sanskrit: क्‍वचिन्निवर्ततेऽभद्रात्‍क्‍वचिच्चरति तत्पुन: ।प्रायश्चित्तमथोऽपार्थं मन्ये कुञ्जरशौचवत् ॥ १० ॥ ITRANS: kvacin nivartate ’bhadrātkvacic carati tat punaḥprāyaścittam atho ’pārthaṁmanye kuñjara-śaucavat Translation: Sometimes one who is very alert so as not to commit sinful acts is victimized by sinful life again. I therefore consider this process of repeated sinning and atoning to be useless. It is like the bathing of an elephant, for an elephant cleanses itself by taking a full bath, but then throws dust over its head and body as soon as it returns to the land....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 6 - Chapter 1 - Verse 11 Sanskrit: श्रीबादरायणिरुवाचकर्मणा कर्मनिर्हारो न ह्यात्यन्तिक इष्यते ।अविद्वदधिकारित्वात्प्रायश्चित्तं विमर्शनम् ॥ ११ ॥ ITRANS: śrī-bādarāyaṇir uvācakarmaṇā karma-nirhārona hy ātyantika iṣyateavidvad-adhikāritvātprāyaścittaṁ vimarśanam Translation: Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the son of Vedavyāsa, answered: My dear King, since acts meant to neutralize impious actions are also fruitive, they will not release one from the tendency to act fruitively. Persons who subject themselves to the rules and regulations of atonement are not at all intelligent....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 6 - Chapter 1 - Verse 12 Sanskrit: नाश्नत: पथ्यमेवान्नं व्याधयोऽभिभवन्ति हि ।एवं नियमकृद्राजन् शनै: क्षेमाय कल्पते ॥ १२ ॥ ITRANS: nāśnataḥ pathyam evānnaṁvyādhayo ’bhibhavanti hievaṁ niyamakṛd rājanśanaiḥ kṣemāya kalpate Translation: My dear King, if a diseased person eats the pure, uncontaminated food prescribed by a physician, he is gradually cured, and the infection of disease can no longer touch him. Similarly, if one follows the regulative principles of knowledge, he gradually progresses toward liberation from material contamination....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 6 - Chapter 1 - Verse 15 Sanskrit: केचित्केवलया भक्त्या वासुदेवपरायणा: ।अघं धुन्वन्ति कार्त्स्‍न्येन नीहारमिव भास्कर: ॥ १५ ॥ ITRANS: kecit kevalayā bhaktyāvāsudeva-parāyaṇāḥaghaṁ dhunvanti kārtsnyenanīhāram iva bhāskaraḥ Translation: Only a rare person who has adopted complete, unalloyed devotional service to Kṛṣṇa can uproot the weeds of sinful actions with no possibility that they will revive. He can do this simply by discharging devotional service, just as the sun can immediately dissipate fog by its rays....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 6 - Chapter 1 - Verse 16 Sanskrit: न तथा ह्यघवान् राजन्पूयेत तपआदिभि: ।यथा कृष्णार्पितप्राणस्तत्पुरुषनिषेवया ॥ १६ ॥ ITRANS: na tathā hy aghavān rājanpūyeta tapa-ādibhiḥyathā kṛṣṇārpita-prāṇastat-puruṣa-niṣevayā Translation: My dear King, if a sinful person engages in the service of a bona fide devotee of the Lord and thus learns how to dedicate his life unto the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, he can be completely purified. One cannot be purified merely by undergoing austerity, penance, brahmacarya and the other methods of atonement I have previously described....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 6 - Chapter 1 - Verse 17 Sanskrit: सध्रीचीनो ह्ययं लोके पन्था: क्षेमोऽकुतोभय: ।सुशीला: साधवो यत्र नारायणपरायणा: ॥ १७ ॥ ITRANS: sadhrīcīno hy ayaṁ lokepanthāḥ kṣemo ’kuto-bhayaḥsuśīlāḥ sādhavo yatranārāyaṇa-parāyaṇāḥ Translation: The path followed by pure devotees, who are well-behaved and fully endowed with the best qualifications, is certainly the most auspicious path in this material world. It is free from fear, and it is authorized by the śāstras....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 6 - Chapter 1 - Verse 18 Sanskrit: प्रायश्चित्तानि चीर्णानि नारायणपराङ्‍मुखम् ।न निष्पुनन्ति राजेन्द्र सुराकुम्भमिवापगा: ॥ १८ ॥ ITRANS: prāyaścittāni cīrṇāninārāyaṇa-parāṅmukhamna niṣpunanti rājendrasurā-kumbham ivāpagāḥ Translation: My dear King, as a pot containing liquor cannot be purified even if washed in the waters of many rivers, nondevotees cannot be purified by processes of atonement even if they perform them very well. Purport: To take advantage of the methods of atonement, one must be at least somewhat devoted; otherwise there is no chance of one’s being purified....