FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.20.1

श्रीउद्धव उवाच विधिश्च प्रतिषेधश्च निगमो हीश्वरस्य ते । अवेक्षतेऽरविन्दाक्ष गुणं दोषं च कर्मणाम् ॥ १ ॥
śrī-uddhava uvāca
[shree-uddhava uvaacha]
vidhiś ca pratiṣedhaś ca
[vidhish cha pratishedhash cha]
nigamo hīśvarasya te
[nigamo heeshvarasya te]
avekṣate ’raviṇḍākṣa
[avekshate ’ravindaaksha]
guṇaṁ doṣaṁ ca karmaṇām
[gunam dosham cha karmanaam]
Word-for-word
śrī-uddhavaḥ uvāca — Śrī Uddhava said vidhiḥ — positive injunction ca — also pratiṣedhaḥ — prohibitive injunction ca — and nigamaḥ — the Vedic literature hi — indeed īśvarasya — of the Lord te — of You avekṣate — focuses upon araviṇḍa-akṣa — O lotus-eyed one guṇam — good or pious qualities doṣam — bad or sinful qualities ca — also karmaṇām — of activities.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
śrī-uddhava uvāca
śrī-uddhavaḥ uvāca
Śrī Uddhava said
vidhiś ca pratiṣedhaś ca
vidhiḥ
positive injunction
ca
also
pratiṣedhaḥ
prohibitive injunction
ca
and
nigamo hīśvarasya te
nigamaḥ
the Vedic literature
hi
indeed
īśvarasya
of the Lord
te
of You
avekṣate ’raviṇḍākṣa
avekṣate
focuses upon
guṇaṁ doṣaṁ ca karmaṇām
araviṇḍa-akṣa
O lotus-eyed one
guṇam
good or pious qualities
doṣam
bad or sinful qualities
ca
also
karmaṇām
of activities.
Śrī Uddhava said: My dear lotus-eyed Kṛṣṇa, You are the Supreme Lord, and thus the Vedic literatures, consisting of positive and negative injunctions, constitute Your order. Such literatures focus upon the good and bad qualities of work.
Purport

At the end of the previous chapter, Lord Kṛṣṇa stated, guṇa-doṣa-dṛśir doṣo guṇas tūbhaya-varjitaḥ: “Focusing upon material piety and sin is itself a discrepancy, since actual piety means to transcend both of them.” Śrī Uddhava now pursues this point so that Lord Kṛṣṇa will give a more elaborate explanation of this difficult subject matter. Śrī Uddhava here states that the Vedic literatures, which constitute the laws of God, deal with piety and sin; therefore, it must be clarified how one transcends activities recommended in the Vedas. According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, Uddhava suddenly understood Lord Kṛṣṇa’s purpose in the words He had just spoken, and to induce the Lord to elaborate upon this interesting point Uddhava outwardly challenged the Lord’s statement.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Uddhava said: O lotus-eyed Kṛṣṇa! You are the Supreme Lord, and thus the Vedic literatures, consisting of positive and negative injunctions, constitute your order. Such literatures focus upon the good and bad qualities of work. In the Twentieth Chapter jñāna, karma and bhakti are well defined, and the qualifications of each are described, with good and bad points. At the end of the last chapter Kṛṣṇa said that one should overcome seeing good and bad. Though Uddhava understood the Lord’s meaning, he desires to hear from the Lord’s mouth an explanation with various examples. Thus in five verses, he opposes Kṛṣṇa’s statement. Your orders, the Vedas, consist of orders and prohibitions. The orders concern good qualities of action which should be done. The prohibitions concern bad actions which are forbidden. By following orders one performs good acts of piety and goes to Svarga. By performing prohibited acts one performs bad actions of sin and goes to hell.
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Uddhava notes that Vedic literatures with their positive and negative injunctions are the Lord's own order, focusing on the qualities of work. Scripture is named as the Lord speaking directly.
Reflection Questions
  • When I read scripture, do I receive it as the Lord's direct order or as historical advice?
  • What changes when I hear it as His speech?
📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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