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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
10.3.3010.3.32

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 10.3.31

Āśraya· The supreme shelter
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śrī Devakīsince 10.3.24inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

विश्वं यदेतत् स्वतनौ निशान्ते

यथावकाशं पुरुष: परो भवान् ।

बिभर्ति सोऽयं मम गर्भगोऽभू-

दहो नृलोकस्य विडम्बनं हि तत् ॥ ३१ ॥

viśvaṁ yad etat sva-tanau niśānte

yathāvakāśaṁ puruṣaḥ paro bhavān

bibharti so ’yaṁ mama garbhago ’bhūd

aho nṛ-lokasya viḍambanaṁ hi tat

Translation

At the time of devastation, the entire cosmos, containing all created moving and nonmoving entities, enters Your transcendental body and is held there without difficulty. But now this transcendental form has taken birth from my womb. People will not be able to believe this, and I shall become an object of ridicule.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Pure Love Goes Beyond Admiring Opulence

  1. 1

    The Lord holds the entire cosmos within His transcendental body, yet He appeared within Devakī’s womb. Loving service can include admiration of His opulence or rest simply on pure love.

  2. 2

    Devakī serves Kṛṣṇa in vātsalya, motherly love. She wanted to relate to her eternal son and therefore asked Him to withdraw His opulent form of Viṣṇu.

  3. 3

    Unalloyed devotional service carries one beyond material nature, and only through bhakti can one understand the Lord’s spiritual nature. Devakī’s and Vasudeva’s fear arose from intense love, not from material bondage.

Key points from the purport
  • In Mathurā and Dvārakā the love for the Lord is mixed with appreciation of His opulence, but in Vṛndāvana the opulence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is not exhibited.
  • She wanted to deal with her eternal son, Kṛṣṇa, in that stage of love, and therefore she wanted the Supreme Personality of Godhead to withdraw His opulent form of Viṣṇu.
  • But when one reaches pure love, one realizes the transcendental form of the Lord as Lord Kṛṣṇa or Lord Rāma.

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· 1

The purport of SB 10.3.31 quotesBG 14.26

This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (14.26): “One who engages in the spiritual activities of unalloyed devotional service immediately transcends the modes of material nature and is elevated to the spiritual platform.”

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:

Fearing Kaṁsa and desiring that the Lord not be understood by atheistic and materialistic nondevotees, she prayed that the Lord withdraw His transcendental four-armed form and appear like an ordinary child with two hands. The Lord reminded Vasudeva and Devakī of two other incarnations in which He had appeared as their son.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 10.3
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. viśvamthe entire cosmic manifestation
  2. yat etatcontaining all moving and nonmoving creations
  3. sva-tanauwithin Your body
  4. niśā-anteat the time of devastation
  5. yathā-avakāśamshelter in Your body without difficulty
  6. puruṣaḥthe Supreme Personality of Godhead
  7. paraḥtranscendental
  8. bhavānYour Lordship
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 10.3

    In this verse: “devotional service”, “bhakti”

  • Vātsalya · Parental affection

    Affection and protective concern for the Lord as a child. · Theme in SB 10.3

    In this verse: “motherly”

  • Prema · Transcendental love

    The intimacy and sweetness of devotion to Kṛṣṇa. · Theme in SB 10.3

    In this verse: “love”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How can I make loving service, rather than only admiration of greatness, the focus of my devotion?

Practice

Offer a brief prayer to Kṛṣṇa asking to grow in pure loving service.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

6

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 10.3's connections

Live this todayPure Love Goes Beyond Admiring OpulenceThis 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 10.3.31? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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