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

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Canto 10 · The Summum Bonum · 90 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 10 · Chapter 14: Brahmā’s Prayers to Lord Kṛṣṇa
10.14.2210.14.24

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 10.14.23

Āśraya· The supreme shelter
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Lord Brahmāsince 10.14.1inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

एकस्त्वमात्मा पुरुष: पुराण:

सत्य: स्वयंज्योतिरनन्त आद्य: ।

नित्योऽक्षरोऽजस्रसुखो निरञ्जन:

पूर्णाद्वयो मुक्त उपाधितोऽमृत: ॥ २३ ॥

ekas tvam ātmā puruṣaḥ purāṇaḥ

satyaḥ svayaṁ-jyotir ananta ādyaḥ

nityo ’kṣaro ’jasra-sukho nirañjanaḥ

pūrṇādvayo mukta upādhito ’mṛtaḥ

Translation

You are the one Supreme Soul, the primeval Supreme Personality, the Absolute Truth — self-manifested, endless and beginningless. You are eternal and infallible, perfect and complete, without any rival and free from all material designations. Your happiness can never be obstructed, nor have You any connection with material contamination. Indeed, You are the indestructible nectar of immortality.

Read the purport on Vedabase.io

From Canto 10, chapter 14 onward, the translation and purports were completed by Śrīla Prabhupāda's disciples after his departure, and published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.

1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Kṛṣṇa’s Body Is Eternally Spiritual

  1. 1

    Material bodies undergo birth, growth, maturity, reproduction, decline and destruction. Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental body is free from these material transformations.

  2. 2

    Kṛṣṇa is eternally complete, and His happiness is never obstructed. His body neither grows old nor dies, but remains full of spiritual youthful bliss.

  3. 3

    His creation of worlds and His expansions are spiritual expressions of His eternal bliss and glories. He remains the original Supreme Personality and Absolute Truth, with an eternal form of bliss and knowledge.

Key points from the purport
  • Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī explains how the various terms of this verse demonstrate that the transcendental body of Lord Kṛṣṇa is free from the characteristics of material bodies.
  • Since Lord Kṛṣṇa existed long before the creation of any material atmosphere or element, there is no question of material birth for His transcendental body.
  • In other words, Lord Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental body is free from the transformations of material bodies.

The purport'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

Peril and pride → Friendship and humility. Divinity is revealed amid intimate childhood play.

Chapters 12–19 of Canto 10: Childhood dangers and Brahmā's amazement. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 14: Brahmā’s Prayers to Lord Kṛṣṇa

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

By knowing the Supreme Personality in truth, the individual spirit soul can achieve liberation from bondage. In actuality, however, both liberation and bondage are unreal, for it is only from the living entity’s conditioned outlook that his bondage and liberation are produced.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 10.14
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. ekaḥone
  2. tvamYou
  3. ātmāthe Supreme Soul
  4. puruṣaḥthe Supreme Person
  5. purāṇaḥthe oldest
  6. satyaḥthe Absolute Truth
  7. svayam-jyotiḥself-manifested
  8. anantaḥwithout end
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

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 10.14

    In this verse: “absolute truth”, “knowledge”

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 10.14

    In this verse: “material”

  • Vairāgya · Freedom from attachment

    Release from possessiveness and false identities. · Theme in SB 10.14

    In this verse: “free from”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Which quality of Kṛṣṇa’s eternal form most helps you distinguish Him from an ordinary embodied being?

Practice

Write down one quality of Kṛṣṇa’s spiritual body and reflect on it for one minute.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayKṛṣṇa’s Body Is Eternally SpiritualThis 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 10.14.23? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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