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

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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
1.2.311.2.33

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 1.2.32

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

यथा ह्यवहितो वह्निर्दारुष्वेक: स्वयोनिषु ।

नानेव भाति विश्वात्मा भूतेषु च तथा पुमान् ॥ ३२ ॥

yathā hy avahito vahnir

dāruṣv ekaḥ sva-yoniṣu

nāneva bhāti viśvātmā

bhūteṣu ca tathā pumān

Translation

The Lord, as Supersoul, pervades all things, just as fire permeates wood, and so He appears to be of many varieties, though He is the absolute one without a second.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Hear Receptively to Realize the Lord

  1. 1

    Lord Vāsudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, pervades the material world through His Paramātmā feature. Though He appears in many varieties, He remains one without a second.

  2. 2

    The Lord's presence can be realized through proper hearing and chanting of transcendental subjects. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam explains the teachings of the Upaniṣads and Vedānta.

  3. 3

    As one fire kindles another, the spiritual master awakens divine consciousness through proper spiritual messages. We should approach the proper spiritual master with receptive ears.

Key points from the purport
  • As from wood, fire can be manifested, or as butter can be churned out of milk, so also the presence of the Lord as Paramātmā can be felt by the process of legitimate hearing and chanting of the transcendental subjects which are especially treated in the Vedic literatures like the Upaniṣads and Vedānta.
  • As fire is kindled from wood by another fire, the divine consciousness of man can similarly be kindled by another divine grace.
  • Therefore one is required to approach the proper spiritual master with receptive ears only, and thus divine existence is gradually realized.

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 10.54.44

The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.32) gives a similar analogy concerning fire and wood: “The Lord, as the Supersoul, pervades all things, just as fire permeates wood, and so He appears to be of many varieties, though He is the absolute one without a second.”

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
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. yathāas much as
  2. hiexactly like
  3. avahitaḥsurcharged with
  4. vahniḥfire
  5. dāruṣuin wood
  6. ekaḥone
  7. sva-yoniṣuthe source of manifestation
  8. nānā ivalike different entities
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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

  • Kīrtana · Hearing and chanting

    Remembering the Lord through sacred sound. · Theme in SB 1.2

    In this verse: “chanting”, “hearing”

  • Moha · Material attachment

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

    In this verse: “material”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What would help me hear spiritual teachings with greater receptivity?

Practice

Spend five undistracted minutes listening to a reading of this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam translation and purport.

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.

1 lecture 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 todayHear Receptively to Realize the LordThis 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 1.2.32? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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