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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

1.3.34 1.3.36

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 1.3.35

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees

Who is speaking and story frame

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

एवं जन्मानि कर्माणि ह्यकर्तुरजनस्य च ।

वर्णयन्ति स्म कवयो वेदगुह्यानि हृत्पते: ॥ ३५ ॥

evaṁ janmāni karmāṇi

hy akartur ajanasya ca

varṇayanti sma kavayo

veda-guhyāni hṛt-pateḥ

Translation

Thus learned men describe the births and activities of the unborn and inactive, which is undiscoverable even in the Vedic literatures. He is the Lord of the heart.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Hear the Unborn Lord’s Transcendental Activities

1
Both the Lord and the living beings are spiritual and eternal. Yet conditioned living beings undergo birth and death under material nature, whereas the Lord’s appearances and disappearances manifest His internal potency.
2
The Lord’s birth and activities are transcendental and are described by great sages for self-realization. Meditation on these activities can free one from material bondage.
3
The Supreme Personality of Godhead displays His confidential activities to bestow mercy upon conditioned souls. Narrations of these activities offer a convenient and pleasing way to meditate on Brahman.

Key points from the purport

Both the Lord and the living entities are essentially all spiritual.
It is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā by the Lord that His so-called birth in the material world and His activities are all transcendental.
We should always take advantage of the narrations of the activities of the Lord, which are meditations on Brahman in the most convenient and palatable form.

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

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.

evamthus
janmānibirth
karmāṇiactivities
hicertainly
akartuḥof the inactive
ajanasyaof the unborn
caand
varṇayantidescribe

Key ideas in this verse

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

Īśānukathā · The science of God
Who is the Lord, and how do His devotees live? · Subject 7 of 10
Kīrtana · Hearing and chanting
Remembering the Lord through sacred sound. · Theme in SB 1.3
In this verse: “narrations”
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.

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How would remembering the Lord’s mercy change the way I hear about His activities?

Practice

Reread a description of the Lord’s activities from the supplied text and spend one minute meditating on its transcendental nature.

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayHear the Unborn Lord’s Transcendental ActivitiesThis 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 1.3.35? Get an answer from the verses themselves.

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