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

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Canto 11 · General History · 31 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 11 · Chapter 2: Mahārāja Nimi Meets the Nine Yogendras
11.2.3011.2.32

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 11.2.31

Poṣaṇa· The Lord's protection
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:King Nimisince 11.2.28inside 4 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitNārada Muni → VasudevaThe nine Yogendras → King Nimi

धर्मान् भागवतान् ब्रूत यदि न: श्रुतये क्षमम् ।

यै: प्रसन्न: प्रपन्नाय दास्यत्यात्मानमप्यज: ॥ ३१ ॥

dharmān bhāgavatān brūta

yadi naḥ śrutaye kṣamam

yaiḥ prasannaḥ prapannāya

dāsyaty ātmānam apy ajaḥ

Translation

Please speak about how one engages in the devotional service of the Supreme Lord, if you consider me capable of properly hearing these topics. When a living entity offers loving service to the Supreme Lord, the Lord is immediately satisfied, and in return He will give even His own self to the surrendered soul.

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.

Loving Service Wins the Lord's Heart

  1. 1

    The living entity and the Supreme Lord are qualitatively one but quantitatively different. Both are eternal persons, but the Lord's power is unlimited and ours is infinitesimal.

  2. 2

    As parts and parcels of Kṛṣṇa, we are meant to serve Him with love. Sincere surrender means desiring to serve Him eternally without expecting personal reward.

  3. 3

    Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is immediately pleased by such loving service. In gratitude, He is inclined to offer anything—even Himself—to His surrendered devotee.

Key points from the purport
  • The difference is that the eternal form and personality of the Supreme Lord contain unlimited potency and opulence whereas our potency and opulence are infinitesimal.
  • The Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, expands Himself into innumerable living entities to enjoy rasas, or ecstatic relationships, with them.
  • Such intense loving feelings exchanged between the Lord and His pure devotees would not be possible were the living entities not qualitatively one with the Supreme Personality of Godhead and indeed inseparable parts and parcels of the Lord.

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

Foreboding → Devotional urgency. Uddhava realizes that Kṛṣṇa's visible association is nearing an end.

Chapters 1–6 of Canto 11: The Yadu curse, the nine Yogendras and farewell signs. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 2: Mahārāja Nimi Meets the Nine Yogendras

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Bhāgavata-dharma, or pure devotional service to the Lord, is the only means of ultimate good fortune for the soul. The Supreme Lord, being pleased by such service, offers His own self to the devotee.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 11.2
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. dharmān bhāgavatānthe science of devotional service
  2. brūtaplease speak
  3. yadiif
  4. naḥof us
  5. śrutayeto hear properly
  6. kṣamamthere is the capacity
  7. yaiḥby which (devotional service)
  8. prasannaḥbeing satisfied
3

Key ideas in this verse

The subject this verse serves and the themes it speaks of.

  • Poṣaṇa · Protection by the Lord

    How does the Lord care for His devotees? · Subject 4 of 10

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 11.2

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

  • Śaraṇāgati · Wholehearted surrender

    Relinquishing ownership while entrusting oneself to the Lord. · Theme in SB 11.2

    In this verse: “surrendered”, “surrender”

  • Kīrtana · Hearing and chanting

    Remembering the Lord through sacred sound. · Theme in SB 11.2

    In this verse: “hearing”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What expectation of personal reward could I begin to let go of in my service to Kṛṣṇa?

Practice

Before one act of devotional service today, pause and form the intention to please Kṛṣṇa without asking for a reward.

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 11.2's connections

Live this todayLoving Service Wins the Lord's HeartThis 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 11.2.31? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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