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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 · Texts 11.9.17-18

कालेनात्मानुभावेन साम्यं नीतासु शक्तिषु ।

सत्त्वादिष्वादिपुरुष: प्रधानपुरुषेश्वर: ॥ १७ ॥

परावराणां परम आस्ते कैवल्यसंज्ञित: ।

केवलानुभवानन्दसन्दोहो निरुपाधिक: ॥ १८ ॥

kālenātmānubhāvena

sāmyaṁ nītāsu śaktiṣu

sattvādiṣv ādi-puruṣaḥ

pradhāna-puruṣeśvaraḥ

parāvarāṇāṁ parama

āste kaivalya-saṁjñitaḥ

kevalānubhavānanda-

sandoho nirupādhikaḥ

Translation

When the Supreme Personality of Godhead displays His own potency in the form of time and guides His material potencies, such as the mode of goodness, into a neutral condition of equilibrium, He remains as the supreme controller of that neutral state, called pradhāna, as well as of the living entities. He is also the supreme worshipable object for all beings, including liberated souls, demigods and ordinary conditioned souls. The Lord is eternally free from any material designation, and He constitutes the totality of spiritual bliss, which one experiences by seeing the Lord’s spiritual form. The Lord thus exhibits the fullest meaning of the word “liberation.”

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.

Liberation Means Blissful Service to the Lord

  1. 1

    The Lord controls material nature and all living entities while remaining completely apart from material contamination. Fixing the mind on His transcendental form brings relief from material anxiety.

  2. 2

    The gross and subtle bodies are coverings of the eternal soul. Our real nature is neither to enjoy matter nor to merge into the Lord's existence, but to be His servants.

  3. 3

    Service to the Lord is eternal and full of bliss and knowledge. It liberates the soul and gradually brings the bliss of seeing His transcendental personal form.

Study points are short summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport on Vedabase.