Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.7.31
श्रीभगवानुवाच
यदुनैवं महाभागो ब्रह्मण्येन सुमेधसा ।
पृष्ट: सभाजित: प्राह प्रश्रयावनतं द्विज: ॥ ३१ ॥
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
[shree-bhagavaan uvaacha]
yadunaivaṁ mahā-bhāgo
[yadunaivam mahaa-bhaago]
brahmaṇyena su-medhasā
[brahmanyena su-medhasaa]
pṛṣṭaḥ sabhājitaḥ prāha
[prishtah sabhaajitah praaha]
praśrayāvanataṁ dvijaḥ
[prashrayaavanatam dvijah]
Word-for-word
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
—
the Supreme Personality of Godhead said
yadunā
—
by King Yadu
evam
—
in this way
mahā-bhāgaḥ
—
greatly fortunate
brahmaṇyena
—
who was very respectful to brāhmaṇas
su-medhasā
—
and intelligent
pṛṣṭaḥ
—
asked
sabhājitaḥ
—
honored
prāha
—
he spoke
praśraya
—
out of humility
avanatam
—
bowing his head
dvijaḥ
—
the brāhmaṇa..
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
the Supreme Personality of Godhead said
yadunaivaṁ mahā-bhāgo
yadunā
by King Yadu
evam
in this way
mahā-bhāgaḥ
greatly fortunate
brahmaṇyena su-medhasā
brahmaṇyena
who was very respectful to brāhmaṇas
su-medhasā
and intelligent
pṛṣṭaḥ sabhājitaḥ prāha
pṛṣṭaḥ
asked
sabhājitaḥ
honored
prāha
he spoke
praśrayāvanataṁ dvijaḥ
praśraya
out of humility
avanatam
bowing his head
dvijaḥ
the brāhmaṇa..
Lord Kṛṣṇa continued: The intelligent King Yadu, always respectful to the brāhmaṇas, waited with bowed head as the brāhmaṇa, pleased with the King’s attitude, began to reply.
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura
Gauḍīya
Translation
Lord Kṛṣṇa continued: When the intelligent King Yadu, always respectful to the brāhmaṇas, asked and honored the brāhmaṇa, the brāhmaṇa replied to the humble King.
By his service, he brought the brāhmaṇa under control. His intelligence attracted the brāhmaṇa. For these reasons the brāhmaṇa replied.
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
A wise inquirer first honors the teacher and waits humbly — only then does real knowledge flow.
Practical Applications
- Before opening Bhāgavatam or Gītā today, pause and physically bow your head, acknowledging you are receiving, not extracting.
- Identify one person who knows more than you about kṛṣṇa-bhakti and ask them a specific question with praśraya — submissive attentiveness, not debate.
- Refuse the modern habit of skimming sacred texts; sit with one verse the way King Yadu sat before the brāhmaṇa — head bowed, ready to wait.
Reflection Questions
- Where in my study of scripture do I approach as a consumer rather than as one who waits with bowed head for the teacher's word?
- Whom have I failed to honor as a su-medhasā — intelligent in Kṛṣṇa — because their station, dress, or age did not match my expectations?
For Each Age Group
youth
- When a teacher, parent, or senior devotee speaks today, put your phone down, lower your gaze, and let them finish before forming your reply.
- Pick one peer or older student who clearly lives bhakti more seriously than you and ask them one real question this week — not to argue, but to learn.
- Refuse the social-media reflex of ranking and rating every teacher you encounter online; spend that time instead with one verse, head bowed.
householder
- In the next disagreement with your spouse about a family decision, practice praśraya — listen with bowed head before defending your view.
- When your children ask you something about Kṛṣṇa or dharma, treat their sincere question the way Yadu treated the brāhmaṇa — pause, honor the inquiry, then speak.
- Identify one elder in your sangha and arrange a regular visit where you go as a student of their life, not as a peer with opinions.
senior
- When a younger devotee comes to you with a question, receive it as Yadu did — do not rush to teach; first honor that they came at all.
- Loosen your attachment to being the knower in family gatherings; sit with bowed head when a qualified speaker, even a young one, expounds on Kṛṣṇa.
- Choose one teaching of your own guru that you have grown casual about and re-approach it this week as if hearing it for the first time, praśrayāvanata.
Common Pitfalls
- Mistaking external bowing for praśraya — performing humility while inwardly cross-examining the speaker.
- Approaching guru and śāstra with the questions one wants answered rather than the questions one needs answered.
- Reserving reverence for famous teachers while overlooking the qualified brāhmaṇa quietly present in one's own life.
Discussion Prompts
- Share a time you received real knowledge only after you stopped trying to be clever — what changed in your posture, inner or outer?
- King Yadu was already a great soul (mahā-bhāga) yet stood with bowed head before a brāhmaṇa. Where does our culture's allergy to hierarchy block this kind of learning?
- What is the difference between intellectual curiosity and praśraya, and how would each of us recognize which mode we are actually in this week?
Role Play
Two students pair up. One plays a senior devotee who has been asked a sincere question about sādhana; the other plays a younger seeker. Run the conversation twice — first with the seeker subtly testing the senior, then with the seeker approaching praśrayāvanata, head bowed, waiting. Afterward, the 'senior' reports how differently the same words landed.
Objections & Responses
- Bowing the head to another human being is feudal and infantilizing — I should think for myself.
Yadu did think for himself; that is precisely why he bowed. Real intelligence (su-medhā) recognizes that some knowledge — especially knowledge of the soul and of Kṛṣṇa — cannot be seized, only received, and reception requires the posture of a receiver. - Why honor a brāhmaṇa by birth or dress? Surely only inner qualification matters.
Gauḍīya teachers agree that qualification, not birth, makes the brāhmaṇa — but the verse shows a king honoring a qualified one. The point is not credentialism; it is that when you do meet someone established in brahman, your bowed head is the channel through which their realization can actually reach you.
My note
Source: vedabase.io