Complete learning edition. The Sanskrit source remains separate from attributed word meanings, translation, explanation and commentary witnesses. Diagrams and memory aids are study tools, not replacements for the source text.
ते तं भुक्त्वा स्वर्गलोकं विशालं क्षीणे पुण्ये मर्त्यलोकं विशन्ति। एव त्रयीधर्ममनुप्रपन्ना गतागतं कामकामा लभन्ते।।9.21।।
te taṁ bhuktvā swarga-lokaṁ viśhālaṁ kṣhīṇe puṇye martya-lokaṁ viśhanti evaṁ trayī-dharmam anuprapannā gatāgataṁ kāma-kāmā labhante
Yet, although they enjoy the spacious glories of Paradise, when their merit is exhausted, they are born again into this world of mortals. They have followed the letter of the scriptures, yet, because they have sought to fulfill their own desires, they must depart and return again and again.
English rendering by Shri Purohit Swami. Each source voice remains named.
Build the sentence from its parts
Read across once, then cover the meanings and recover them from the Sanskrit forms.
| Sanskrit form | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| te | they |
| tam | that |
| bhuktvā | having enjoyed |
| swarga-lokam | heaven |
| viśhālam | vast |
| kṣhīṇe | at the exhaustion of |
| puṇye | stock of merits |
| martya-lokam | to the earthly plane |
| viśhanti | return |
| evam | thus |
| trayī dharmam | the karm-kāṇḍ portion of the three Vedas |
| anuprapannāḥ | follow |
| gata-āgatam | repeated coming and going |
| kāma-kāmāḥ | desiring objects of enjoyments |
| labhante | attain |
When the accumulated merit (the cause of heavenly pleasures) is exhausted, they descend to this world. The Dharma of the three Mere Vedic ritual, enjoined by the three Vedas.
Attributed explanatory witness: Swami Sivananda. Chapter lens: Observe the chapter’s first-person claims, the relation between Kṛṣṇa and the world, different forms of worship and accessible devotion.
Three named reading witnesses
Śaṅkara edition witness
Swami GambiranandaAfter having enjoyed that vast heavenly world, they enter into the human world upon the exhaustion of their merit. Thus, those who follow the rites and duties prescribed in the three Vedas, and are desirous of pleasures, attain the state of coming and going.
Rāmānuja edition witness
Swami AdidevanandaHaving enjoyed the spacious world of heaven, they return to the world of mortals, their merit having been exhausted. Thus, those who follow the Vedic rituals and are drawn by desires come and go.
Sivananda commentary witness
Swami SivanandaWhen the accumulated merit (the cause of heavenly pleasures) is exhausted, they descend to this world. The Dharma of the three Mere Vedic ritual, enjoined by the three Vedas.
These are concise, attributed reading witnesses from identified editions. They are presented for comparison and are not merged into one anonymous interpretation.
Meaning map
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- 1
Yet, although they enjoy the spacious glories of Paradise, when their merit is exhausted, they are born again into this world of mortals
- 2
They have followed the letter of the scriptures, yet, because they have sought to fulfill their own desires, they must depart and return again and again
- 3
te: they
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