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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 9: The Passing Away of Bhīṣmadeva in the Presence of Lord Kṛṣṇa
1.9.411.9.43

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 1.9.42

Āśraya· The supreme shelter
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Bhīṣmadevasince 1.9.32inside 1 frame: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya

तमिममहमजं शरीरभाजां

हृदि हृदि धिष्ठितमात्मकल्पितानाम् ।

प्रतिद‍ृशमिव नैकधार्कमेकं

समधिगतोऽस्मि विधूतभेदमोह: ॥ ४२ ॥

tam imam aham ajaṁ śarīra-bhājāṁ

hṛdi hṛdi dhiṣṭhitam ātma-kalpitānām

pratidṛśam iva naikadhārkam ekaṁ

samadhi-gato ’smi vidhūta-bheda-mohaḥ

Translation

Now I can meditate with full concentration upon that one Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, now present before me because now I have transcended the misconceptions of duality in regard to His presence in everyone’s heart, even in the hearts of the mental speculators. He is in everyone’s heart. The sun may be perceived differently, but the sun is one.

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Kṛṣṇa Is the Origin of All Features

  1. 1

    Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the one Supreme Personality of Godhead. By His inconceivable energy, He is present as Paramātmā in everyone’s heart, just as the one sun appears before everyone.

  2. 2

    The brahmajyoti is His personal glow, and Paramātmā is His expansion. Bhīṣmadeva’s misconception of duality was removed: he understood Kṛṣṇa as the origin of all these features.

  3. 3

    Pārtha-sārathi and Śyāmasundara of Vṛndāvana are the same Kṛṣṇa. Great devotees worship His personal feature, in which sweet loving relationships with Him are available.

Key points from the purport
  • Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the one Absolute Supreme Personality of Godhead, but He has expanded Himself into His multiplenary portions by His inconceivable energy.
  • In His personal feature Kṛṣṇa is both Pārtha-sārathi and Śyāmasundara of Vṛndāvana, but in His impersonal feature He is neither in the brahmajyoti nor in the Paramātmā.
  • Great mahātmās like Bhīṣmadeva realize all these different features of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and therefore they worship Lord Kṛṣṇa, knowing Him as the origin of all features.

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· 4

The purport of SB 1.9.42 quotesBG 9.11

In the Bhagavad-gītā (9.11) the Lord says that only the foolish take Him to be a mere human being.

The purport of SB 1.9.42 quotesBG 7.19

This enlightenment is attained by the great mahātmās or devotees, as it is stated in Bhagavad-gītā (7.19) that Vāsudeva is all in all in everything and that there is no existence of anything without Vāsudeva.

Quoted in the purport ofSB 10.3.7-8

In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.9.42), Bhīṣma, a great authority to be followed by devotees, says that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is situated in the core of everyone’s heart, just as the sun may be on everyone’s head.

Quoted in the purport ofCC Ādi 2.21

This verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.9.42) was spoken by Bhīṣmadeva, the grandfather of the Kurus, when he was lying on a bed of arrows at the last stage of his life.

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

Grief → Trust. Violence and bereavement make Kṛṣṇa's protective presence precious.

Chapters 7–9 of Canto 1: Postwar anguish, Kuntī and Bhīṣma. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 9: The Passing Away of Bhīṣmadeva in the Presence of Lord Kṛṣṇa

Bhīṣmadeva instructs Yudhiṣṭhira and fixes his attention on Kṛṣṇa as he prepares to pass away.

Back to this verse in chapter 1.9
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. tamthat Personality of Godhead
  2. imamnow present before me
  3. ahamI
  4. ajamthe unborn
  5. śarīra-bhājāmof the conditioned soul
  6. hṛdiin the heart
  7. hṛdiin the heart
  8. dhiṣṭhitamsituated
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 1.9

    In this verse: “devotees”, “worship”

  • Prema · Transcendental love

    The intimacy and sweetness of devotion to Kṛṣṇa. · Theme in SB 1.9

    In this verse: “sweet”

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

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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does knowing that the same Lord is present in every heart deepen your remembrance of Him?

Practice

Pause for one minute today and remember that Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is present in your heart and everyone else’s.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

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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 1.9's connections

Live this todayKṛṣṇa Is the Origin of All FeaturesThis 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 1.9.42? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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