FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.81.41

एतद् ब्रह्मण्यदेवस्य श्रुत्वा ब्रह्मण्यतां नर: । लब्धभावो भगवति कर्मबन्धाद् विमुच्यते ॥ ४१ ॥
etad brahmaṇya-devasya
[etad brahmanya-devasya]
śrutvā brahmaṇyatāṁ naraḥ
[shrutvaa brahmanyataam narah]
labdha-bhāvo bhagavati
[labdha-bhaavo bhagavati]
karma-bandhād vimucyate
[karma-bandhaad vimuchyate]
etat — this brahmaṇya - devasya — of the Supreme Lord, who especially favors the brāhmaṇas śrutvā — hearing brahmaṇyatām — of the kindness toward brāhmaṇas naraḥ — a man labdha — obtaining bhāvaḥ — love bhagavati — for the Lord karma — of material work bandhāt — from the bondage vimucyate — becomes freed .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
etad brahmaṇya-devasya
etat
this
brahmaṇya - devasya
of the Supreme Lord, who especially favors the brāhmaṇas
śrutvā brahmaṇyatāṁ naraḥ
śrutvā
hearing
brahmaṇyatām
of the kindness toward brāhmaṇas
naraḥ
a man
labdha-bhāvo bhagavati
labdha
obtaining
bhāvaḥ
love
bhagavati
for the Lord
karma-bandhād vimucyate
karma
of material work
bandhāt
from the bondage
vimucyate
becomes freed .
  • brahmaṇya-devasya — of the Supreme Lord who favors the brāhmaṇas
    The chapter's keyword returns one final time. The chapter is bracketed by brahmaṇya-deva — opened in verses 1–2, closed here. Gauḍīyas read this ring-composition as the Bhāgavata-poet's structural signature: the doctrine is the door and the door is the doctrine.
  • śrutvā — having heard
    Gerund of √śru. Śravaṇa — the first of the nine limbs of bhakti. The verse's claim is structural: the limb works. To hear this account is to begin the ladder.
  • labdha-bhāvaḥ — having obtained love (bhāva)
    Compound: labdha (obtained) + bhāva. Bhāva — the threshold rasa between sādhana and prema. Gauḍīya rasa-śāstra: bhāva is the bud, prema is the flower. The chapter promises bhāva as the immediate fruit of hearing it.
  • karma-bandhāt vimucyate — becomes freed from the bondage of (material) work
    Compound: karma (work) + bandha (bondage); vimucyate (passive present of vi + √muc — is freed). The promise is at the same scale as the chapter's events: as Sudāmā's hut became palace, the hearer's karma becomes mukti. Hearing is the parjanya-cloud over the reader's field.
The Lord always shows brāhmaṇas special favor. Anyone who hears this account of the Supreme Lord’s kindness to brāhmaṇas will come to develop love for the Lord and thus become freed from the bondage of material work.

In the introduction to the chapter of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead that describes this pastime, His Divine Grace Śrīla Prabhupāda comments: “Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supersoul of all living entities, knows everyone’s heart very well. He is especially inclined to the brāhmaṇa devotees. Lord Kṛṣṇa is also called brahmaṇya-deva, which means that He is worshiped by the brāhmaṇas. Therefore it is understood that a devotee who is fully surrendered unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead has already acquired the position of a brāhmaṇa. Without becoming a brāhmaṇa, one cannot approach the Supreme Brahman, Lord Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is especially concerned with vanquishing the distress of His devotees, and He is the only shelter of pure devotees.” Thus end the purports of the humble servants of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda to the Tenth Canto, Eighty-first Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled “The Lord Blesses Sudāmā Brāhmaṇa.”

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
The Lord always shows brāhmaṇas special favor. Anyone who hears this account of the Supreme Lord's kindness to brāhmaṇas will come to develop love for the Lord and thus become freed from the bondage of material work.
Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

One should not think it astonishing that the brāhmaṇa quickly achieved the Lord’s abode. One can achieve that even by hearing the story about it. If any human (naraḥ)-- without qualification-- hears the story of the Lord’s kindness to the brāhmaṇa, what to speak of hearing of his friend and his embraces, he attains prema for Kṛṣṇa. In that state, he is freed from the bondage of karma completely (vi—mucyate). He will automatically be free of prārabdha karmas. This means, performing bhakti happily by his free will, he attains the Lord’s abode. Or hearing of Kṛṣṇa’s (brāhmaṇya-devasya) the affection for the brāhmaṇa, one attains prema for the Lord who reveals all powers (bhavagati). Thus end the purports of the humble servants of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda to the Tenth Canto, Eighty-first Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "The Lord Blesses Sudāmā Brāhmaṇa." 10.82: Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma Meet the Inhabitants of Vṛndāvana verses: Summary, 1, 2, 3-6, 7-8, 9, 10, 11, 12-13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23-26, 27, 28, 29-30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48 Chapter Summary This chapter describes how the Yādavas and many other kings met at Kurukṣetra during a solar eclipse and discussed topics concerning Lord Kṛṣṇa. It also relates how Kṛṣṇa met Nanda Mahārāja and the other residents of Vṛndāvana at Kurukṣetra and gave them great joy. Hearing that a total eclipse of the sun was soon to occur, people from all over Bhārata-varṣa, including the Yādavas, converged at Kurukṣetra to earn special pious credit. After the Yadus had bathed and performed other obligatory rituals, they noticed that kings of Matsya, Uśīnara and other places had also come, as well as Nanda Mahārāja and the cowherd community of Vraja, who were always feeling the intense anxiety of separation from Kṛṣṇa. The Yādavas, overjoyed to see all these old friends, embraced them one by one as they shed tears of happiness. Their wives also embraced one another with great pleasure. When Queen Kuntī saw her brother Vasudeva and other members of her family, she put aside her sorrow. Yet still she said to Vasudeva, "O brother, I am so unfortunate, because all of you forgot me during my tribulations. Alas, even one's relatives forget a person whom Providence no longer favors." Vasudeva replied, "My dear sister, everyone is merely a plaything of fate. We Yādavas were so harassed by Kaṁsa that we were forced to scatter and take shelter in foreign lands. So there was no way for us to keep in touch with you." The kings present were struck with wonder upon beholding Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and His wives, and they began to glorify the Yādavas for having gotten the Lord's personal association. Seeing Nanda Mahārāja, the Yādavas were delighted, and each of them embraced him tightly. Vasudeva also embraced Nanda with great joy and remembered how, when Vasudeva was tormented by Kaṁsa, Nanda had taken his sons, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, under his protection. Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa embraced and bowed down to mother Yaśodā, but Their throats choked up with emotion and they could say nothing to her. Nanda and Yaśodā lifted their two sons onto their laps and embraced Them, and in this way they relieved the distress of separation. Rohiṇī and Devakī both embraced Yaśodā and, remembering the great friendship she had shown them, told her that the kindness she had done by raising and supporting Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma could not be repaid even with the wealth of Indra. Then the Supreme Lord approached the young cowherd girls in a secluded place. He consoled them by pointing out that He is all-pervasive, being the source of all energies, and thus He implied that they could never be separated from Him. Having been at long last reunited with Kṛṣṇa, the gopīs prayed simply to have His lotus feet manifested in their hearts.

Related values
Sthitaprajna (Steady Wisdom)Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)Discriminative WisdomShanti (Peace / Tranquility)Abhaya (Fearlessness)Seva (Service / Selfless Action)Saurya (Heroism / Bravery)
Related verses
Concepts
Karma
Anyone who hears this account of the Lord's kindness to brāhmaṇas comes to develop love for Him and becomes free from bondage. The act of hearing is itself liberating; the story does the work.
Reflection Questions
  • What story of the Lord's kindness could I let work on me this week?
  • How does the act of hearing become its own freedom?

A traveler who only hears the story of a fountain is changed by the hearing — the throat begins to want the water before the eyes have seen it. The chapter's last verse promises: śrutvā, simply by hearing this account of brahmaṇyatā, the listener develops bhāva and is freed from karma-bandha. The Bhāgavatam ends its chapter by inviting its reader inside the chapter.

Parīkṣit and Śukadeva

King Parīkṣit, condemned to die in seven days, attained liberation by śravaṇa — by hearing the Bhāgavatam from Śukadeva. The chapter's closing promise is not abstract: it is the Bhāgavatam's own self-claim, demonstrated in its frame story. To hear is to be freed; Sudāmā's chapter is one more piece of that medicine.

📝 My note

← Read full Chapter 81