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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 6: The Yadu Dynasty Retires to Prabhāsa
11.6.1411.6.16

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 11.6.15

Āśraya· The supreme shelter
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:The demigodssince 11.6.7inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

अस्यासि हेतुरुदयस्थितिसंयमाना-

मव्यक्तजीवमहतामपि कालमाहु: ।

सोऽयं त्रिणाभिरखिलापचये प्रवृत्त:

कालो गभीररय उत्तमपूरुषस्त्वम् ॥ १५ ॥

asyāsi hetur udaya-sthiti-saṁyamānām

avyakta-jīva-mahatām api kālam āhuḥ

so ’yaṁ tri-ṇābhir akhilāpacaye pravṛttaḥ

kālo gabhīra-raya uttama-pūruṣas tvam

Translation

You are the cause of the creation, maintenance and destruction of this universe. As time, You regulate the subtle and manifest states of material nature and control every living being. As the threefold wheel of time You diminish all things by Your imperceptible actions, and thus You are 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.

Time Reveals the Supreme Lord’s Potency

  1. 1

    The Lord is the cause of the universe’s creation, maintenance and destruction. As time, He regulates material nature and controls every living being.

  2. 2

    Material things, including our bodies, gradually deteriorate. We see the accumulated results, but cannot perceive the process from moment to moment; this is the Lord’s wonderful potency as time.

  3. 3

    The threefold wheel of time refers to the year divided into three sections. The Lord Himself is the Supreme Person, beyond both the fallible and the infallible.

Key points from the purport
  • Although we can perceive the long-term results of this aging process, we cannot experience the process itself.
  • From moment to moment we cannot perceive exactly how this is happening, but in the course of longer intervals of time we can actually see the deterioration of the house.
  • In other words, we can experience the results or manifestations of aging and deterioration, but as it is taking place the process itself is imperceptible.

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 11.6.15 quotesBG 15.18

The word uttama-pūruṣa, or puruṣottama, is explained in Bhagavad-gītā (15.18): “Because I am transcendental, beyond both the fallible and the infallible, and because I am the greatest, I am celebrated both in the world and in the Vedas as that Supreme Person.”

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

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 6: The Yadu Dynasty Retires to Prabhāsa

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

This chapter describes how Brahmā and other demigods, after offering prayers to Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, requested the Lord to return to His own abode and how Uddhava, anticipating separation from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, was very distressed and prayed to Śrī Kṛṣṇa that he might accompany Him on His return to that abode.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 11.6
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. asyaof this (universe)
  2. asiYou are
  3. hetuḥthe cause
  4. udayaof the creation
  5. sthitimaintenance
  6. saṁyamānāmand annihilation
  7. avyaktaof the unmanifest material nature
  8. jīvathe individual living beings
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

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 11.6

    In this verse: “material”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does noticing the passage of time help me recognize the Lord’s power?

Practice

Observe one sign of aging or wear today and take a moment to remember the Lord’s potency as time.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayTime Reveals the Supreme Lord’s PotencyThis 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.

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