Canto 2: The Cosmic Manifestation
SB2.6

Canto 2 · Chapter 6 · 46 verses · 1 story

Puruṣa-sūkta Confirmed

Brahmā describes the universal form, his sacrifice, and the Lord’s control over creation, maintenance, and destruction.

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Connected storiesThe four KumārasQueen Kuntī
Who is speakingSūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitLord Brahmā → Nārada MuniEvery voice in this chapter ›

What this chapter speaks about · the ten subjects

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14 verses on Āśraya (The supreme shelter).

Verse map · 40 texts
  1. SB 2.6.12Āśraya· The supreme shelter

    The Lord Is the Abode of Truth

    Study

    Also, the consciousness of that great personality is the abode of religious principles — mine, yours, and those of the four bachelors Sanaka, Sanātana, Sanat-kumāra and Sanandana. That consciousness is also the abode of truth and transcendental knowledge.

  2. SB 2.6.13-16Āśraya· The supreme shelter

    Everything Rests on Kṛṣṇa, Yet He Transcends

    Study

    Beginning from me [Brahmā] down to you and Bhava [Śiva], all the great sages who were born before you, the demigods, the demons, the Nāgas, the human beings, the birds, the beasts, as well as the reptiles, etc., and all phenomenal manifestations of the universes, namely the planets, stars, asteroids, luminaries, lightning, thunder, and the inhabitants of the different planetary systems, namely the Gandharvas, Apsarās, Yakṣas, Rakṣas, Bhūtagaṇas, Uragas, Paśus, Pitās, Siddhas, Vidyādharas, Cāraṇas, and all other different varieties of living entities, including the birds, beasts, trees and everything that be, are all covered by the universal form of the Lord at all times, namely past, present and future, although He is transcendental to all of them, eternally existing in a form not exceeding nine inches.

  3. SB 2.6.17Āśraya· The supreme shelter

    Kṛṣṇa Is the Source of All Radiation

    Study

    The sun illuminates both internally and externally by expanding its radiation; similarly, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by expanding His universal form, maintains everything in the creation both internally and externally.

  4. SB 2.6.18Āśraya· The supreme shelter

    The Lord Grants Immortality and Fearlessness

    Study

    The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the controller of immortality and fearlessness, and He is transcendental to death and the fruitive actions of the material world. O Nārada, O brāhmaṇa, it is therefore difficult to measure the glories of the Supreme Person.

  5. SB 2.6.21Āśraya· The supreme shelter

    Choose Service Rather Than Control

    Study

    By His energies, the all-pervading Personality of Godhead is thus comprehensively the master in the activities of controlling and in devotional service. He is the ultimate master of both nescience and factual knowledge of all situations.

  6. SB 2.6.31Āśraya· The supreme shelter

    The Lord Directs His Material Energy

    Study

    All the material manifestations of the universes are therefore situated in His powerful material energies, which He accepts self-sufficiently, although He is eternally without affinity for the material modes.

  7. SB 2.6.32Āśraya· The supreme shelter

    Kṛṣṇa Is Supreme Above All

    Study

    By His will, I create, Lord Śiva destroys, and He Himself, in His eternal form as the Personality of Godhead, maintains everything. He is the powerful controller of these three energies.

  8. SB 2.6.33Āśraya· The supreme shelter

    Kṛṣṇa Is the Cause of All Causes

    Study

    My dear son, whatever you inquired from me I have thus explained unto you, and you must know for certain that whatever there is (either as cause or as effect, both in the material and spiritual worlds) is dependent on the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

  9. SB 2.6.36Āśraya· The supreme shelter

    Surrender Opens the Way to Unlimited Happiness

    Study

    Therefore it is best for me to surrender unto His feet, which alone can deliver one from the miseries of repeated birth and death. Such surrender is all-auspicious and allows one to perceive all happiness. Even the sky cannot estimate the limits of its own expansion. So what can others do when the Lord Himself is unable to estimate His own limits?

  10. SB 2.6.37Āśraya· The supreme shelter

    Learn About Kṛṣṇa From Recognized Authorities

    Study

    Since neither Lord Śiva nor you nor I could ascertain the limits of spiritual happiness, how can other demigods know it? And because all of us are bewildered by the illusory, external energy of the Supreme Lord, we can see only this manifested cosmos according to our individual ability.

  11. SB 2.6.39Āśraya· The supreme shelter

    Kṛṣṇa Remains Supreme While Expanding Everything

    Study

    That supreme original Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, expanding His plenary portion as Mahā-Viṣṇu, the first incarnation, creates this manifested cosmos, but He is unborn. The creation, however, takes place in Him, and the material substance and manifestations are all Himself. He maintains them for some time and absorbs them into Himself again.

  12. SB 2.6.40-41Āśraya· The supreme shelter

    Knowing the Pure Lord Through Devotional Service

    Study

    The Personality of Godhead is pure, being free from all contaminations of material tinges. He is the Absolute Truth and the embodiment of full and perfect knowledge. He is all-pervading, without beginning or end, and without rival. O Nārada, O great sage, the great thinkers can know Him when completely freed from all material hankerings and when sheltered under undisturbed conditions of the senses. Otherwise, by untenable arguments, all is distorted, and the Lord disappears from our sight.

  13. SB 2.6.42Āśraya· The supreme shelter

    Creation Offers a Chance to Return

    Study

    Kāraṇārṇavaśāyī Viṣṇu is the first incarnation of the Supreme Lord, and He is the master of eternal time, space, cause and effects, mind, the elements, the material ego, the modes of nature, the senses, the universal form of the Lord, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and the sum total of all living beings, both moving and nonmoving.

  14. SB 2.6.43-45Āśraya· The supreme shelter

    Recognize the Lord Beyond His Powers

    Study

    I myself [Brahmā], Lord Śiva, Lord Viṣṇu, great generators of living beings like Dakṣa and Prajāpati, yourselves [Nārada and the Kumāras], heavenly demigods like Indra and Candra, the leaders of the Bhūrloka planets, the leaders of the earthly planets, the leaders of the lower planets, the leaders of the Gandharva planets, the leaders of the Vidyādhara planets, the leaders of the Cāraṇaloka planets, the leaders of the Yakṣas, Rakṣas and Uragas, the great sages, the great demons, the great atheists and the great spacemen, as well as the dead bodies, evil spirits, satans, jinn, kūṣmāṇḍas, great aquatics, great beasts and great birds, etc. — in other words, anything and everything which is exceptionally possessed of power, opulence, mental and perceptual dexterity, strength, forgiveness, beauty, modesty, opulence, and breeding, whether in form or formless — may appear to be the specific truth and the form of the Lord, but actually they are not so. They are only a fragment of the transcendental potency of the Lord.