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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 3: Kṛṣṇa Is the Source of All Incarnations

1.3.27 1.3.29

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 1.3.28

Āśraya· The supreme shelter

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:Sūta Gosvāmīsince 1.3.1inside 1 frame: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya

एते चांशकला: पुंस: कृष्णस्तु भगवान् स्वयम् ।

इन्द्रारिव्याकुलं लोकं मृडयन्ति युगे युगे ॥ २८ ॥

ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ

kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam

indrāri-vyākulaṁ lokaṁ

mṛḍayanti yuge yuge

Translation

All of the above-mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead. All of them appear on planets whenever there is a disturbance created by the atheists. The Lord incarnates to protect the theists.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Kṛṣṇa Is the Source of All Incarnations

1
Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, the source of all other incarnations. He has no source other than Himself.
2
The Lord and His incarnations descend out of mercy to fulfill particular missions and protect the theists. Each incarnation manifests the powers needed for its particular work.
3
Kṛṣṇa exhibits the complete features of Godhead. His pastimes with the gopīs are transcendental and should be understood through gradual study of the Bhāgavatam, not mistaken for ordinary love.

Key points from the purport

In this particular stanza Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, is distinguished from other incarnations.
So all the different indirectly or directly empowered incarnations of the Lord manifested different features, but Lord Kṛṣṇa, the primeval Lord, exhibited the complete features of Godhead, and thus it is confirmed that He is the source of all other incarnations.
The living being can never possess attributes like Śiva, Viṣṇu or Lord Kṛṣṇa.

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· 5

Quoted in the purport ofSB 3.1.45

The Bhāgavatam (1.3.28) has already confirmed this in the following verse: In every millennium, whenever there is any trouble for the obedient rulers, the Lord appears.

Quoted in the purport ofSB 4.30.24

mṛḍayanti yuge yuge. Kṛṣṇa, the original Personality of Godhead, appears in this material world when the demigods, who are devotees of the Lord, are disturbed by the demons.

Quoted in the purport ofSB 10.3.20

As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.3.28), ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam.

Quoted in the purport ofSB 10.8.17

Demons, thieves and rogues always disturb Indra (indrāri-vyākulaṁ lokam), but when indrāris, the enemies of Indra, become prominent, Kṛṣṇa appears.

Quoted in the purport ofSB 10.87.46

Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī remarks that Nārada’s addressing Śrī Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi as an incarnation of Lord Kṛṣṇa is perfectly appropriate, in accordance with the following statement of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.3.28): ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ/ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam.

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 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

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

eteall these
caand
aṁśaplenary portions
kalāḥportions of the plenary portions
puṁsaḥof the Supreme
kṛṣṇaḥLord Kṛṣṇa
tubut
bhagavānthe Personality of Godhead

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
Rakṣā · Divine protection
Protection of devotees through the Lord’s intervention. · Theme in SB 1.3
In this verse: “protect”
Kṛpā · Divine mercy
Grace received beyond material calculations. · Theme in SB 1.3
In this verse: “mercy”
Prema · Transcendental love
The intimacy and sweetness of devotion to Kṛṣṇa. · Theme in SB 1.3
In this verse: “love”

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

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does knowing that Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead deepen my understanding of His incarnations?

Practice

Write down one teaching from this verse about Kṛṣṇa’s supremacy and reflect on it for one minute.

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.

1 lecture given on it · quoted in 164 more lectures. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

SB 1.3.283 Oct 1972 · Los AngelesListen

Quoted in 164 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.

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 todayKṛṣṇa Is the Source of All IncarnationsThis 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 1.3.28? Get an answer from the verses themselves.

Next in Learn · 5 of 11 · 2 minAsk the BhāgavatamBring your own question. Get an answer drawn only from the Bhāgavatam's translations, with every verse shown.Back · LearnCantos & stories