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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 3: Kṛṣṇa Is the Source of All Incarnations
1.3.11.3.3

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 1.3.2

Sarga· Creation
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Sūta Gosvāmīsince 1.3.1inside 1 frame: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya

यस्याम्भसि शयानस्य योगनिद्रां वितन्वत: ।

नाभिह्रदाम्बुजादासीद्ब्रह्मा विश्वसृजां पति: ॥ २ ॥

yasyāmbhasi śayānasya

yoga-nidrāṁ vitanvataḥ

nābhi-hradāmbujād āsīd

brahmā viśva-sṛjāṁ patiḥ

Translation

A part of the puruṣa lies down within the water of the universe, from the navel lake of His body sprouts a lotus stem, and from the lotus flower atop this stem, Brahmā, the master of all engineers in the universe, becomes manifest.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Creation Depends on the Lord’s Power

  1. 1

    Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu enters each universe and lies upon the water within it. From His navel grows the lotus on which Brahmā, the master engineer of the universe, appears.

  2. 2

    The three puruṣa features create the aggregate material ingredients, enter each universe, and dwell as Paramātmā in every material object. Knowing these features of the Personality of Godhead properly frees one from birth, death, old age and disease.

  3. 3

    Material nature has no power to create without the power of the Lord. His potencies are unlimited, and no one is greater than or equal to Him.

Key points from the purport
  • Thus He lies on the ocean of kāraṇa, from where He glances over His material nature, and the mahat-tattva is at once created.
  • Thus electrified by the power of the Lord, the material nature at once creates innumerable universes, just as in due course a tree decorates itself with innumerable grown fruits.
  • Because the Lord wished to lie down in meditation, the material energy created innumerable universes at once, in each of them the Lord lay down, and thus all the planets and the different paraphernalia were created at once by the will of the Lord.

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

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 3: Kṛṣṇa Is the Source of All Incarnations

Sūta describes the Lord’s incarnations and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as His literary incarnation.

Back to this verse in chapter 1.3
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. yasyawhose
  2. ambhasiin the water
  3. śayānasyalying down
  4. yoga-nidrāmsleeping in meditation
  5. vitanvataḥministering
  6. nābhinavel
  7. hradaout of the lake
  8. ambujātfrom the lotus
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Sarga · The creation of the universe

    Where does the universe come from? · Subject 1 of 10

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 1.3

    In this verse: “material”

  • Abhaya · Fearlessness

    Steadiness through faith amid danger and death. · Theme in SB 1.3

    In this verse: “death”

Chapter themes come from the story phase this chapter belongs to.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

When I observe the material world, do I remember its dependence on the Lord’s power?

Practice

Write down the three puruṣa features and the role of each, using this 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. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

7

Connected stories

Keep going: stories told elsewhere in the Bhāgavatam that this verse or its purport brings in.

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 1.3's connections

Live this todayCreation Depends on the Lord’s PowerThis 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 1.3.2? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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