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Read one verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with its Sanskrit, word meanings, translation and study points.

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Canto 1 · Creation · 19 chapters

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How to study this verse, in six steps

1Chant the verse. Say the Sanskrit slowly and carefully.
2Read the word meanings. Go through each Sanskrit word and its meaning.
3Find the meaning yourself. Before the translation, piece the meaning together from the words.
4Read the translation. Ask: what is the Lord teaching here, and how does it apply to my life?
5Read the purport slowly. Read it two or three times. Don't rush.
6Write down what touched you. Note the main points in your own notebook.

Read the full guide: how to hear the Bhāgavatam ›

Canto 1 · Chapter 2: Divinity and Divine Service

1.2.18 1.2.20

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 1.2.19

Mukti· Liberation

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:Sūta Gosvāmīsince 1.2.2inside 1 frame: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya

तदा रजस्तमोभावा: कामलोभादयश्च ये ।

चेत एतैरनाविद्धं स्थितं सत्त्वे प्रसीदति ॥ १९ ॥

tadā rajas-tamo-bhāvāḥ

kāma-lobhādayaś ca ye

ceta etair anāviddhaṁ

sthitaṁ sattve prasīdati

Translation

As soon as irrevocable loving service is established in the heart, the effects of nature’s modes of passion and ignorance, such as lust, desire and hankering, disappear from the heart. Then the devotee is established in goodness, and he becomes completely happy.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Steady Devotion Brings True Satisfaction

1
The living being’s natural position is full satisfaction in spiritual bliss. This is attained through firmly established devotional service, which is the soul’s pure activity, not inactivity.
2
When loving service becomes fixed, the effects of passion and ignorance, such as lust and hankering, disappear. The devotee becomes established in goodness and completely happy.
3
The devotee progresses to śuddha-sattva, or unmixed goodness, in which Kṛṣṇa can always be seen through pure affection. Genuine devotion shows itself in good qualities and in harming no one, not merely in outward dress.

Key points from the purport

The effect of devotional service becomes manifest by complete elimination of these effects of passion and ignorance.
The devotee is fixed at once in the mode of goodness, and he makes further progress to rise to the position of vasudeva, or the state of unmixed sattva, or śuddha-sattva.
A devotee is always in the mode of unalloyed goodness; therefore he harms no one.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

Connected verses· 4

Quoted in the purport ofSB 6.2.46

As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.19): As a result of rajaḥ and tamaḥ, one becomes increasingly lusty and greedy, but when one takes to the process of chanting and hearing, one comes to the platform of goodness and becomes happy.

Quoted in the purport ofSB 7.9.26

The symptoms of passion and ignorance are described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.19) as lust and hankering (tadā rajas tamo-bhāvāḥ kāma-lobhādayaś ca ye).

Quoted in the purport ofSB 10.10.8

sthitaṁ sattve prasīdati. This is culture: one must subdue the modes of passion and ignorance.

Quoted in the purport ofSB 10.13.53

Tadā rajas-tamo-bhāvāḥ kāma-lobhādayaś ca ye. Tamo-guṇa and rajo-guṇa increase lust and greed, which implicate a living entity in such a way that he must exist in this material world in many, many forms.

Each link is a verse the purport itself quotes, or a purport elsewhere that quotes this verse, shown with the purport's own words.

How it feels

Concern → Purpose. A spiritually urgent question emerges for the age of Kali.

Chapters 1–3 of Canto 1: The sages ask the ultimate questions. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 2: Divinity and Divine Service

Sūta explains how hearing about Kṛṣṇa and rendering devotional service purify the heart.

Back to this verse in chapter 1.2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

tadāat that time
rajaḥin the mode of passion
tamaḥthe mode of ignorance
bhāvāḥthe situation
kāmalust and desire
lobhahankering
ādayaḥothers
caand

Key ideas in this verse

The subject this verse serves and the themes it speaks of.

Mukti · Liberation
What is real freedom for the soul? · Subject 9 of 10
Bhakti · Devotion and loving service
How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 1.2
In this verse: “devotee”, “devotional service”
Moha · Material attachment
The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 1.2
In this verse: “lust”

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Am I seeking satisfaction through active devotional service or through inactivity?

Practice

Choose one small act of devotional service today and carry it out with care not to harm anyone.

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks

His recorded lectures on this verse, and the talks where he quotes it.

4 lectures given on it · quoted in 42 more lectures. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Show 2 more lectures on it

Quoted in 42 other lectures

In each of these he quotes this verse while speaking on another verse or subject. "Find the quote" opens the transcript at that spot.

Live this todaySteady Devotion Brings True SatisfactionOne of the 108 chosen lessons: a practice and a question from this verse

Study points are short summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport on Vedabase.

Ask the BhāgavatamHave a question about SB 1.2.19? Get an answer from the verses themselves.

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