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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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Choose a chapter to see all its verses.

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 10 · Chapter 40: The Prayers of Akrūra

10.40.13-14 10.40.16

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 10.40.15

Āśraya· The supreme shelter

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:Akrūrasince 10.40.1inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

त्वय्यव्ययात्मन् पुरुषे प्रकल्पिता

लोका: सपाला बहुजीवसङ्कुला: ।

यथा जले सञ्जिहते जलौकसो-

ऽप्युदुम्बरे वा मशका मनोमये ॥ १५ ॥

tvayy avyayātman puruṣe prakalpitā

lokāḥ sa-pālā bahu-jīva-saṅkulāḥ

yathā jale sañjihate jalaukaso

’py udumbare vā maśakā mano-maye

Translation

All the worlds, with their presiding demigods and teeming populations, originate in You, the inexhaustible Supreme Personality of Godhead. These worlds travel within You, the basis of the mind and senses, just as aquatics swim in the sea or tiny insects burrow within an udumbara fruit.

Read this verse on Vedabase.io

This verse has no purport; its meaning is explained by the verses around it.

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.

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

All Worlds Exist Within the Supreme Lord

1
All worlds, their presiding demigods and their many inhabitants originate in the inexhaustible Supreme Personality of Godhead.
2
These worlds move within Him, just as aquatics swim in the sea or tiny insects burrow within an udumbara fruit.
3
He is also the basis of the mind and senses.

How it feels

Anxiety and conflict → Liberation and joy. Heroic victory is complicated by separation from Vraja.

Chapters 39–45 of Canto 10: Mathurā, Kaṁsa and reunion with parents. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 40: The Prayers of Akrūra

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Like aquatics moving about in water or like tiny insects burrowing in an udumbara fruit, all living beings move about within the Lord. These living beings, bewildered by His Māyā, wander along the path of material work, falsely identifying with body, home and so forth.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in chapter 10.40