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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 47: The Song of the Bee

10.47.28 10.47.30

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 10.47.29

Āśraya· The supreme shelter

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:The Supreme Lordsince 10.47.29inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

श्रीभगवानुवाच

भवतीनां वियोगो मे न हि सर्वात्मना क्व‍‍चित् ।

यथा भूतानि भूतेषु खं वाय्वग्निर्जलं मही ।

तथाहं च मन:प्राणभूतेन्द्रियगुणाश्रय: ॥ २९ ॥

śrī-bhagavān uvāca

bhavatīnāṁ viyogo me

na hi sarvātmanā kvacit

yathā bhūtāni bhūteṣu

khaṁ vāyv-agnir jalaṁ mahī

tathāhaṁ ca manaḥ-prāṇa-

bhūtendriya-guṇāśrayaḥ

Translation

The Supreme Lord said: You are never actually separated from Me, for I am the Soul of all creation. Just as the elements of nature — ether, air, fire, water and earth — are present in every created thing, so I am present within everyone’s mind, life air and senses, and also within the physical elements and the modes of material nature.

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.

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Kṛṣṇa Is Never Truly Absent

1
Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, says that the gopīs are never actually separated from Him. As the Soul of all creation, He is present within everyone’s mind, life air and senses, and within material nature.
2
His words also carry a more intimate meaning: He reciprocates the gopīs’ special love and remains in their hearts and minds in His spiritual form.
3
His apparent separation intensifies their love and reveals it to other devotees. The gopīs are already the most exalted liberated souls; their pastimes must be understood with the help of authorized ācāryas.

Key points from the purport

The Supreme Lord was secretly telling the gopīs that He, by way of reciprocating their special love for Him, was present with them, not only as the Soul of all creation but also as their special lover.
In Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead and other books, Śrīla Prabhupāda has elaborately explained that the reason Lord Kṛṣṇa separated Himself from the gopīs was to intensify their love for Him and, as Uddhava noted, to bless other devotees by revealing to them the intensity of the gopīs’ love.
Similarly, Lord Kṛṣṇa now offers them jñāna-yoga, or metaphysical philosophy, but this is also inadequate for the gopīs, who have achieved spontaneous, unalloyed love for Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

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

Heartache → Unbroken remembrance. Love endures and deepens despite visible absence.

Chapters 46–49 of Canto 10: Uddhava, the gopīs and the Song of the Bee. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 47: The Song of the Bee

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Quoting Lord Kṛṣṇa, Uddhava said, “I am the Supreme Soul and supreme shelter of all. By My potencies I create, maintain and destroy the cosmos.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in chapter 10.47

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

śrī-bhagavān uvācathe Supreme Lord said
bhavatīnāmof you women
viyogaḥseparation
mefrom Me
nais not
hiindeed
sarva-ātmanāfrom the Soul of all existence
kvacitever

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
Viraha · Longing in separation
Love and remembrance experienced in apparent absence. · Theme in SB 10.47
In this verse: “separated”, “separation”
Moha · Material attachment
The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 10.47
In this verse: “material”
Bhakti · Devotion and loving service
How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 10.47
In this verse: “devotees”

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does Kṛṣṇa’s assurance of His presence encourage you to remember Him?

Practice

Read Kṛṣṇa’s opening assurance slowly and spend one quiet minute remembering His presence.

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayKṛṣṇa Is Never Truly AbsentThis 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 10.47.29? Get an answer from the verses themselves.

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