Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 4 Chapter 4 Verse 28

Canto 4: Creation of the Fourth Order | Chapter 4: Satī Quits Her Body

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.4.28

tat paśyatāḿ khe bhuvi cādbhutaḿ mahad

hā heti vādaḥ sumahān ajāyata

hanta priyā daivatamasya devī

jahāv asūn kena satī prakopitā

SYNONYMS

tat — that; paśyatām — of those who had seen; khe — in the sky; bhuvi — on the earth; ca — and; adbhutam — wonderful; mahat — great; hā hā — oh, oh; iti — thus; vādaḥ — roar; su-mahān — tumultuous; ajāyata — occurred; hanta — alas; priyā — the beloved; daiva-tamasya — of the most respectable demigod (Lord Śiva); devī — Satī; jahau — quit; asūn — her life; kena — by Dakṣa; satī — Satī; prakopitā — angered.

TRANSLATION

When Satī annihilated her body in anger, there was a tumultuous roar all over the universe. Why had Satī, the wife of the most respectable demigod, Lord Śiva, quit her body in such a manner?

PURPORT

There was a tumultuous roaring all over the universe in the societies of the demigods of different planets because Satī was the daughter of Dakṣa, the greatest of all kings, and the wife of Lord Śiva, the greatest of all demigods. Why did she become so angry that she gave up her body? Since she was the daughter of a great personality and wife of a great personality, she had nothing to desire, but still she gave up her body in dissatisfaction. Certainly this was astonishing. One cannot attain complete satisfaction even if one is situated in the greatest material opulence. There was nothing Satī could not achieve either from her relationship with her father or from her relationship with the greatest of the demigods, but still, for some reason, she was dissatisfied. Therefore, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.6) explains that one has to achieve real satisfaction (yayātmā suprasīdati), but ātmā — the body, mind and soul — all become completely satisfied only if one develops devotional service to the Absolute Truth. Sa vai puḿsāḿ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje. Adhokṣaja means the Absolute Truth. If one can develop his unflinching love for the transcendental Supreme Personality of Godhead, that can give complete satisfaction, otherwise there is no possibility of satisfaction in the material world or anywhere else.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness