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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 ›

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 11.7.47

Who is speaking and story frame

स्वमायया सृष्टमिदं सदसल्ल‍क्षणं विभु: ।

प्रविष्ट ईयते तत्तत्स्वरूपोऽग्निरिवैधसि ॥ ४७ ॥

sva-māyayā sṛṣṭam idaṁ

sad-asal-lakṣaṇaṁ vibhuḥ

praviṣṭa īyate tat-tat-

svarūpo ’gnir ivaidhasi

Translation

Just as fire manifests differently in pieces of wood of different sizes and qualities, the omnipotent Supreme Soul, having entered the bodies of higher and lower life forms created by His own potency, appears to assume the identity of each.

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.

Recognize the Lord Beyond Material Bodies

  1. 1

    The Supreme Lord enters all kinds of bodies but remains the all-powerful Personality of Godhead. Although He is within everything, everything is not the Lord.

  2. 2

    Like fire blazing when wood is stirred, the Lord directly manifests before devotees who chant and hear His glories with love and devotion.

  3. 3

    Temporary bodily identities entangle our consciousness. Our true identity is pure spirit soul, the eternal, blissful servant of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Key points from the purport
  • Although the Supreme Lord is within everything, everything is not the Lord.
  • By the mode of goodness the Lord creates the exalted material bodies of demigods and brāhmaṇas, and by expanding the mode of ignorance He similarly creates the bodies of animals, śūdras and other lower forms of life.
  • One should cut off such useless entanglement and accept the fact that one is pure spirit soul, the eternal, blissful servant of Lord 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

Grief and dependence → Detachment. The temporary world becomes a source of spiritual instruction.

Chapters 7–9 of Canto 11: The avadhuta's twenty-four teachers. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 7: Lord Kṛṣṇa Instructs Uddhava

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

He had also learned from fire how the Supreme Soul enters into every body and appears to assume the identity of each. From the moon he had learned how the various phases the material body undergoes — birth, growth, dwindling and death — do not affect the embodied soul.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 11.7
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. sva-māyayāby His own material energy
  2. sṛṣṭamcreated
  3. idamthis (body of the individual jīva)
  4. sat-asatas demigod, animal, and so on
  5. lakṣaṇamcharacterized
  6. vibhuḥthe Almighty
  7. praviṣṭaḥhaving entered
  8. īyateappears
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

  • Bhakti · Devotion and loving service

    How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 11.7

    In this verse: “devotion”, “devotees”

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 11.7

    In this verse: “spirit soul”

  • Kīrtana · Hearing and chanting

    Remembering the Lord through sacred sound. · Theme in SB 11.7

    In this verse: “chant”

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

Which temporary identity most often distracts me from being Kṛṣṇa’s servant?

Practice

Spend a few minutes chanting or hearing Kṛṣṇa’s glories with attention and devotion.

5

The story around it

The stories this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayRecognize the Lord Beyond Material BodiesThis 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 11.7.47? Get an answer from the verses themselves.