SB 11.8.25-26 — FolioCorpus

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.8.25-26

आगतेष्वपयातेषु सा सङ्केतोपजीविनी । अप्यन्यो वित्तवान् कोऽपि मामुपैष्यति भूरिद: ॥ २५ ॥ एवं दुराशया ध्वस्तनिद्रा द्वार्यवलम्बती । निर्गच्छन्ती प्रविशती निशीथं समपद्यत ॥ २६ ॥

āgateṣv apayāteṣu

[aagateshv apayaateshu]

sā saṅketopajīvinī

[saa sanketopajeevinee]

apy anyo vittavān ko ’pi

[apy anyo vittavaan ko ’pi]

mām upaiṣyati bhūri-daḥ

[maam upaishyati bhoori-dah]

evaṁ durāśayā dhvasta-

[evam duraashayaa dhvasta-]

nidrā dvāry avalambatī

[nidraa dvaary avalambatee]

nirgacchantī praviśatī

[nirgachchantee pravishatee]

niśīthaṁ samapadyata

[nisheetham samapadyata]

Word-for-word

āgateṣu — when they came apayāteṣu — and they went sā — she saṅketa-upajīvinī — she whose only income was from prostitution api — maybe anyaḥ — another one vitta-vān — who has money kaḥ api — someone mām — me upaiṣyati — will approach for love bhūri-daḥ — and he will give lots of money evam — thus durāśayā — with vain hope dhvasta — spoiled nidrā — her sleep dvāri — in the doorway avalambatī — hanging on nirgacchantī — going out toward the street praviśatī — going back into her house niśītham — midnight samapadyata — arrived.

Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)

āgateṣv apayāteṣu

āgateṣu

when they came

apayāteṣu

and they went

sā saṅketopajīvinī

sā

she

saṅketa-upajīvinī

she whose only income was from prostitution

apy anyo vittavān ko ’pi

api

maybe

anyaḥ

another one

vitta-vān

who has money

kaḥ api

someone

mām upaiṣyati bhūri-daḥ

mām

upaiṣyati

will approach for love

bhūri-daḥ

and he will give lots of money

evaṁ durāśayā dhvasta-

evam

thus

durāśayā

with vain hope

dhvasta

spoiled

nidrā dvāry avalambatī

nidrā

her sleep

dvāri

in the doorway

avalambatī

hanging on

nirgacchantī praviśatī

nirgacchantī

going out toward the street

praviśatī

going back into her house

niśīthaṁ samapadyata

niśītham

midnight

samapadyata

arrived.

As the prostitute Piṅgalā stood in the doorway, many men came and went, walking by her house. Her only means of sustenance was prostitution, and therefore she anxiously thought, “Maybe this one who is coming now is very rich… Oh, he is not stopping, but I am sure someone else will come. Surely this man who is coming now will want to pay me for my love, and he will probably give lots of money.” Thus, with vain hope, she remained leaning against the doorway, unable to finish her business and go to sleep. Out of anxiety she would sometimes walk out toward the street, and sometimes she went back into her house. In this way, the midnight hour gradually arrived.

Gauḍīya Ācāryas

Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya

Translation

As many men passed by her house, Piṅgalā, who lived by prostitution, thought, “Maybe this rich one will come and give me lots of money.” Thus, with vain hope, she remained leaning against the doorway and could not go to sleep. Out of anxiety she would sometimes walk out in the street and sometimes she went back into her house. In this way, midnight arrived. Midnight (niśītham) arrived.

Personal Guidance

Pingala's restless vigil at the doorway shows how vain hope of material reward keeps the soul awake, anxious, and unable to rest in Krishna.

Practical Applications

Notice the moment today when you keep refreshing a screen, inbox, or notification, hoping the next arrival will be the one that pays off, and consciously step away.
Name aloud the specific person, deal, or outcome you are leaning in the doorway waiting for, and offer that waiting itself to Krishna before sleeping tonight.
Refuse to extend your working day past its natural close just because one more transaction might come; treat the closing of the day as a small surrender.

Reflection Questions

Which doorway am I still leaning against, telling myself the next passerby will finally make the wait worthwhile, and what is that vigil costing my inner life?
Where have I confused anxious hope with genuine effort, and dressed up restlessness as diligence?

For Each Age Group

youth

Notice the next time you keep checking likes, replies, or grades after submitting, and close the app for the rest of the evening instead of leaning in that doorway.
Name the specific friend group, romantic interest, or admission result you are hoping will finally validate you, and tell one trusted person you are trying to loosen that grip.
Refuse to stay up past your decided bedtime scrolling for one more interesting thing; treat sleeping on time as a small act of surrender.

householder

Set a firm hour at which you stop checking work messages tonight, even if a big client might still write, and let that boundary be your offering.
Have an honest conversation with your spouse about which financial outcome you are silently leaning in the doorway for, and whether the family's peace is being mortgaged to that wait.
Refuse to teach your children, by example, that the next promotion or purchase is the one that will finally make the household happy; let them see you close the day in contentment.

senior

Identify the recognition, inheritance arrangement, or reconciliation you are still waiting for from family or former colleagues, and begin releasing the expectation in your evening prayers.
Refuse to measure your remaining years by what may still arrive at your door; instead, account each day by what you have offered to Krishna and to those you mentor.
Use the wakeful hours of old age, when sleep often thins, not to rehearse old disappointments but to turn the mind toward the holy name, as Pingala finally did.

Common Pitfalls

Reading the verse as a condemnation of others (sex workers, salespeople, hustlers) rather than recognizing the same calculating mind in oneself.
Mistaking the lesson as a call to stop working or earning, when the real target is the inner posture of vain expectation, not the outer activity.
Romanticizing Pingala's exhaustion as if suffering itself were purifying, missing that it is her turning toward Krishna, not the misery, that liberates her.

Discussion Prompts

Share one concrete doorway you have leaned against this week, refreshing and waiting, and let the group push back on whether the wait was really necessary.
Pingala's profession is named bluntly in the verse; discuss whether your own livelihood has any structural feature that keeps you in a similar posture of vain hope, and what honest reform would look like.
Debate: is it possible to run a business, a career, or a family life without ever leaning in the doorway, or is some degree of expectant waiting unavoidable for a householder?

Role Play

One student plays Pingala at midnight, exhausted at the doorway, still scanning the street for a wealthy patron. Another student plays a sober friend who has just walked up and noticed her there. The friend must, without preaching, help Pingala see the pattern she is caught in and gently turn her attention toward a more reliable shelter. The rest of the group observes and afterward names the moments where the friend slipped into either flattery or moralizing.

Objections & Responses

This verse is about a prostitute in ancient India; it has nothing to say to a modern professional with a respectable job.
The outer occupation is incidental; the verse diagnoses the inner economy of the conditioned soul, who stations herself at the doorway of the senses and waits for the next arrival to finally satisfy her. Anyone who has ever refreshed an inbox at midnight hoping for the email that will change everything is standing exactly where Pingala stood.
Hope is a virtue. Telling people to give up hope of reward sounds like a recipe for depression and passivity.
The verse does not attack hope as such; it attacks misplaced hope in a source that cannot deliver. Krishna is not asking you to stop hoping, but to redirect your hope toward the one shelter that does not pass by your door and leave you waiting. That redirection is the beginning of real rest, not depression.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io