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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
  1. 1Chant the verse. Say the Sanskrit slowly and carefully.
  2. 2Read the word meanings. Go through each Sanskrit word and its meaning.
  3. 3Find the meaning yourself. Before the translation, piece the meaning together from the words.
  4. 4Read the translation. Ask: what is the Lord teaching here, and how does it apply to my life?
  5. 5Read the purport slowly. Read it two or three times. Don't rush.
  6. 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
1.2.221.2.24

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 1.2.23

Āśraya· The supreme shelter
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Sūta Gosvāmīsince 1.2.2inside 1 frame: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya

सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति प्रकृतेर्गुणास्तै-

र्युक्त: पर: पुरुष एक इहास्य धत्ते ।

स्थित्यादये हरिविरिञ्चिहरेति संज्ञा:

श्रेयांसि तत्र खलु सत्त्वतनोर्नृणां स्यु: ॥ २३ ॥

sattvaṁ rajas tama iti prakṛter guṇās tair

yuktaḥ paraḥ puruṣa eka ihāsya dhatte

sthity-ādaye hari-viriñci-hareti saṁjñāḥ

śreyāṁsi tatra khalu sattva-tanor nṛṇāṁ syuḥ

Translation

The transcendental Personality of Godhead is indirectly associated with the three modes of material nature, namely passion, goodness and ignorance, and just for the material world’s creation, maintenance and destruction He accepts the three qualitative forms of Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva. Of these three, all human beings can derive ultimate benefit from Viṣṇu, the form of the quality of goodness.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Devotional Service to Viṣṇu Brings Ultimate Benefit

  1. 1

    The transcendental Personality of Godhead accepts the forms of Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva for creation, maintenance and destruction. Although living beings may come under material energy, the Viṣṇu forms always control it.

  2. 2

    Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and all His plenary parts are viṣṇu-tattva, the Lordship of Godhead. They should be worshiped through devotional service.

  3. 3

    Demigods can offer temporary relief within material existence, but only Viṣṇu can release the living being from conditioned life. Those seeking freedom from birth, death, disease and old age must please Him.

Key points from the purport
  • When Viṣṇu, the Personality of Godhead, appears in the material world, He comes to deliver the conditioned living beings who are under the material energy.
  • The prison house of the material world is created by Brahmā under instruction of the Personality of Godhead, and at the conclusion of a kalpa the whole thing is destroyed by Śiva.
  • Therefore, the ultimate benefit may be derived from Viṣṇu, the Personality of Godhead.

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· 1

Quoted in the purport ofSB 10.88.5

This same idea is echoed in the following statement of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.23): śreyāṁsi tatra khalu sattva-tanor nṛṇām syuḥ.

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

Further reading

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
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. sattvamgoodness
  2. rajaḥpassion
  3. tamaḥthe darkness of ignorance
  4. itithus
  5. prakṛteḥof the material nature
  6. guṇāḥqualities
  7. taiḥby them
  8. yuktaḥassociated with
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Āśraya · The summum bonum

    Who is the shelter of everything? · Subject 10 of 10

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 1.2

    In this verse: “devotional service”, “worshiped”

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 1.2

    In this verse: “material”

  • Abhaya · Fearlessness

    Steadiness through faith amid danger and death. · Theme in SB 1.2

    In this verse: “death”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Am I seeking temporary relief, or the ultimate benefit of devotional service?

Practice

Take a quiet minute today to ask Lord Viṣṇu for the desire to serve Him rather than merely seek temporary relief.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

6

Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks

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

2 lectures given on it · quoted in 1 more lecture. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Quoted in 1 other lecture

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 todayDevotional Service to Viṣṇu Brings Ultimate BenefitThis verse's lesson: one practice and one question for today

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 1.2.23? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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