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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 20: Pure Devotional Service Surpasses Knowledge and Detachment
11.20.2911.20.31

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 11.20.30

Mukti· Liberation
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:The Supreme Personality of Godheadsince 11.20.6inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitLord Kṛṣṇa → Uddhava

भिद्यते हृदयग्रन्थिश्छिद्यन्ते सर्वसंशया: ।

क्षीयन्ते चास्य कर्माणि मयि द‍ृष्टेऽखिलात्मनि ॥ ३० ॥

bhidyate hṛdaya-granthiś

chidyante sarva-saṁśayāḥ

kṣīyante cāsya karmāṇi

mayi dṛṣṭe ’khilātmani

Translation

The knot in the heart is pierced, all misgivings are cut to pieces and the chain of fruitive actions is terminated when I am seen as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

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 Unties the Heart’s Knot

  1. 1

    The heart’s knot is false identification with the material body. This illusion makes us think we cannot be satisfied without material sense pleasure.

  2. 2

    Through steady devotional service, a devotee realizes that Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is an unlimited ocean of happiness and the personification of all knowledge. This realization cuts through false identification and misgivings.

  3. 3

    Advanced devotional service ends the chain of fruitive activities and frees one from material bondage. A devotee does not need a separate effort to attain liberation.

Key points from the purport
  • Hṛdaya-granthi indicates that one’s heart is bound to illusion by false identification with the material body.
  • When a devotee achieves steadiness in devotional service, feeling transcendental pleasure at every moment in the execution of his loving service to the Lord, the knot of false identification is pierced and all his misgivings are cut to pieces.
  • That very service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the process of liberation, because to engage oneself in the service of the Lord is to liberate oneself from material entanglement.

The purport'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 11.20.30 quotesSB 3.25.33

Advanced devotional service automatically awards one liberation from material bondage, as confirmed by Lord Kapila: jarayaty āśu yā kośaṁ nigīrṇam analo yathā. “ Bhakti, devotional service, dissolves the subtle body of the living entity without separate effort, just as fire in the stomach digests all that we eat.”

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

Uncertainty → Clarity. The coming separation makes the instruction personally urgent.

Chapters 10–20 of Canto 11: Kṛṣṇa's teachings on self, yoga and wisdom. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 20: Pure Devotional Service Surpasses Knowledge and Detachment

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Anyone who renders service to the Supreme Lord by constant devotional service will be able to steadily fix his mind upon the Supreme Lord, and thus all desires for sense gratification sitting within the heart will be destroyed to the root. When one directly perceives the presence of the Supreme Lord, his false ego becomes completely eradicated; all of his doubts are shattered, and heaps of material activities become diminished to nil.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 11.20
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. bhidyatepierced
  2. hṛdayaheart
  3. granthiḥknots
  4. chidyantecut to pieces
  5. sarvaall
  6. saṁśayāḥmisgivings
  7. kṣīyanteterminated
  8. caand
3

Key ideas in this verse

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

  • Mukti · Liberation

    What is real freedom for the soul? · Subject 9 of 10

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 11.20

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

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 11.20

    In this verse: “illusion”, “material”

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 11.20

    In this verse: “knowledge”

Chapter themes come from the story phase this chapter belongs to.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Where do I still imagine that material enjoyment is necessary for my satisfaction?

Practice

Before one act of devotional service today, pause and remember that Lord Kṛṣṇa is the reservoir of all pleasure.

5

Connected stories

Keep going: stories told elsewhere in the Bhāgavatam that this verse or its purport brings in.

The purport quotesSB 3.25.33

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 11.20's connections

Live this todayLoving Service Unties the Heart’s KnotThis 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 11.20.30? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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