FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.20.16

मार्गा बभूवु: सन्दिग्धस्तृणैश्छन्ना ह्यसंस्कृता: । नाभ्यस्यमाना: श्रुतयो द्विजै: कालेन चाहता: ॥ १६ ॥
mārgā babhūvuḥ sandigdhās
[maargaa babhoovuh sandigdhaas]
tṛṇaiś channā hy asaṁskṛtāḥ
[trinaish channaa hy asamskritaah]
nābhyasyamānāḥ śrutayo
[naabhyasyamaanaah shrutayo]
dvijaiḥ kālena cāhatāḥ
[dvijaih kaalena chaahataah]
Word-for-word
mārgāḥ — the roads babhūvuḥ — became sandigdhāḥ — obscured tṛṇaiḥ — by grass channāḥ — covered over hi — indeed asaṁskṛtāḥ — not cleansed na abhyasyamānāḥ — not being studied śrutayaḥ — the scriptures dvijaiḥ — by the brāhmaṇas kālena — by the effects of time ca — and āhatāḥ — corrupted .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
mārgā babhūvuḥ sandigdhās
mārgāḥ
the roads
babhūvuḥ
became
sandigdhāḥ
obscured
tṛṇaiś channā hy asaṁskṛtāḥ
tṛṇaiḥ
by grass
channāḥ
covered over
hi
indeed
asaṁskṛtāḥ
not cleansed
nābhyasyamānāḥ śrutayo
na abhyasyamānāḥ
not being studied
śrutayaḥ
the scriptures
dvijaiḥ kālena cāhatāḥ
dvijaiḥ
by the brāhmaṇas
kālena
by the effects of time
ca
and
āhatāḥ
corrupted .
Important Words
  • śrutayaḥ — the revealed scriptures
    Śruti — that which is heard, the Vedic revelation. The standing pramāṇa of all Hindu darśanas. Gauḍīyas read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam itself as the natural commentary on śruti (artho 'yaṁ brahma-sūtrāṇām, SB 1.2.2 colophon).
  • dvijaiḥ — by the twice-born
    Dvija — twice-born; brāhmaṇa by samskāra. The śruti's natural keepers. Gauḍīyas note: when the keepers neglect, anyone — Haridāsa Ṭhākura (born Muslim), Rūpa-Sanātana (former Yavana-court officials) — can take up the burden by Kṛṣṇa's grace.
  • asaṁskṛtāḥ — uncleansed, unrefined
    Privative + sam + √kṛ — not refined, not prepared. The roads are asaṁskṛta; so are minds without sādhana. Saṁskāra is what makes both a road and a soul usable.
  • kālena — by time
    Instrumental of kāla. Time corrupts; only what is re-spoken survives. Gauḍīyas hear this and remember Mahāprabhu's harer nāma — the one thing time cannot grind down because it is re-spoken every moment by His devotees.
  • tṛṇaiḥ-channāḥ — covered with grass
    Tṛṇa (grass, weed) + channa (covered). Vivid image. Even sacred land returns to weed without traffic. Bhakti is the traffic that keeps the dhāma a dhāma.
During the rainy season the roads, not being cleansed, became covered with grass and debris and were thus difficult to make out. These roads were like religious scriptures that brāhmaṇas no longer study and that thus become corrupted and covered over with the passage of time.
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
During the rainy season the roads, not being cleansed, became covered with grass and debris and were thus difficult to make out. These roads were like religious scriptures that brāhmaṇas no longer study and that thus become corrupted and covered over with the passage of time.
Commentary

Not studying the scriptures is compared to the unclean paths. Scriptures being lost due to time is compared to the paths overgrown with grass. The scriptures and the path are both defiled. This is unfavorable for the brahmanas.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

The roads are like the Vedas not being studied, destroyed by Kali-yuga. There is a version with śrutayaḥ iva and with kālena āhataḥ as well as kālena hatāḥ. The word iva means “and.”

Related values & verses
Related values
Dana (Charity / Generosity)Svadhyaya (Self-study & Scripture Study)Guru Bhakti (Reverence for Teacher)Shraddha (Faith / Reverence)Aparigraha (Non-possessiveness)Nishkama Karma (Selfless Action)Seva (Service / Selfless Action)Yajña (Sacrifice / Spirit of Offering)Tyaga (Renunciation / Letting Go)
Related verses
BG 3.9 BG 9.1 YS 2.32BG 4.28 BG 16.1 BG 13.8 BG 7.3 BG 6.47
Concepts
Jiva
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Uncleansed roads become grass-covered and hard to discern, like scriptures brāhmaṇas no longer study. Disuse hides the path; the maps need re-walking to stay visible.
Reflection Questions
  • Which scripture have I stopped studying so it has gone grass-covered for me?
  • What old practice 'road' could I clear back to walkable condition this week?
Analogy

Untrodden, the rainy-season roads vanish under grass and litter — like śrutis that brāhmaṇas no longer chant. Scripture is not preserved by being kept on a shelf; it is preserved by being walked on, spoken aloud, taught. The remedy for Kali's overgrown roads is the saṅkīrtana of Mahāprabhu — feet and tongues simultaneously clearing the path.

Stories
Six Gosvāmīs recovering the lost places of Vraja

When Caitanya sent Rūpa and Sanātana to Vṛndāvana, the forest had grown over every līlā-sthala. They walked the ground inch by inch, identified Govardhana, Rādhā-kuṇḍa, Yāvaṭa, Nandagrāma — and wrote, sang, taught. The verse's overgrown roads describe the pre-Caitanya Vraja exactly; the Gosvāmīs are the verse's antidote.

Gauḍīyas read SB 10.20.16 as a quiet prophecy: śrutis go unread, holy places go forgotten — until a saṅkīrtana-movement walks them back into use.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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