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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 3: The Birth of Lord Kṛṣṇa
10.3.1910.3.21

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 10.3.20

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Vasudevasince 10.3.13inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

स त्वं त्रिलोकस्थितये स्वमायया

बिभर्षि शुक्लं खलु वर्णमात्मन: ।

सर्गाय रक्तं रजसोपबृंहितं

कृष्णं च वणन तमसा जनात्यये ॥ २० ॥

sa tvaṁ tri-loka-sthitaye sva-māyayā

bibharṣi śuklaṁ khalu varṇam ātmanaḥ

sargāya raktaṁ rajasopabṛṁhitaṁ

kṛṣṇaṁ ca varṇaṁ tamasā janātyaye

Translation

My Lord, Your form is transcendental to the three material modes, yet for the maintenance of the three worlds, You assume the white color of Viṣṇu in goodness; for creation, which is surrounded by the quality of passion, You appear reddish; and at the end, when there is a need for annihilation, which is surrounded by ignorance, You appear blackish.

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Lord Is Beyond Material Qualities

  1. 1

    Creation, maintenance and annihilation are conducted by the Lord’s potencies. The Supreme Personality of Godhead remains unaffected by the material qualities.

  2. 2

    The colors white, red and black here represent goodness, passion and ignorance. They should not be understood simply as colors perceived by our senses.

  3. 3

    We should understand the Lord’s position through spiritual authorities, not sense perception alone. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Key points from the purport
  • Lord Brahmā is called rakta, or red, because Brahmā represents the qualities of passion for creation.
  • Lord Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu is celebrated as possessing a blackish color, Lord Śiva is whitish, and Lord Brahmā is reddish, but according to Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī in the Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā, this exhibition of colors is not what is referred to here.
  • The Lord is always transcendental, but for the sake of creation He assumes the color rakta as Lord Brahmā.

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· 2

The purport of SB 10.3.20 quotesBG 16.19

As He says in Bhagavad-gītā (16.19): “Those who are envious and mischievous, who are the lowest among men, are cast by Me into the ocean of material existence, into various demoniac species of life.”

The purport of SB 10.3.20 quotesSB 1.3.28

As stated in 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

Terror → Wonder and relief. The threat of destruction yields to divine appearance.

Chapters 1–4 of Canto 10: Threat from Kaṁsa and Kṛṣṇa's birth. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 3: The Birth of Lord Kṛṣṇa

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

For the creation, maintenance and annihilation of this material world, the Lord appears as the guṇa-avatāras — Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Maheśvara. Thus Vasudeva offered prayers full of meaning to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 10.3
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. saḥ tvamYour Lordship, who are the same person, the Transcendence
  2. tri-loka-sthitayeto maintain the three worlds, the upper, middle and lower planetary systems
  3. sva-māyayāby Your personal energy ( ātma-māyayā)
  4. bibharṣiassume
  5. śuklamthe white form of Viṣṇu in goodness
  6. khaluas well as
  7. varṇamcolor
  8. ātmanaḥof the same category as You ( viṣṇu-tattva)
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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

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 10.3

    In this verse: “material”

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 10.3

    In this verse: “understand”

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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How might judging only by outward appearance limit my understanding of the Lord?

Practice

Reread one paragraph of this purport and note one statement explaining why the Lord is beyond material qualities.

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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.

The purport quotesSB 1.3.28

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 10.3's connections

Live this todayThe Lord Is Beyond Material QualitiesThis 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 10.3.20? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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