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

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Canto 12 · The Age of Deterioration · 13 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 12.7.19

Who is speaking and story frame

व्यतिरेकान्वयो यस्य जाग्रत्स्वप्नसुषुप्तिषु ।

मायामयेषु तद् ब्रह्म जीववृत्तिष्वपाश्रय: ॥ १९ ॥

vyatirekānvayo yasya

jāgrat-svapna-suṣuptiṣu

māyā-mayeṣu tad brahma

jīva-vṛttiṣv apāśrayaḥ

Translation

The Supreme Absolute Truth is present throughout all the stages of awareness — waking consciousness, sleep and deep sleep — throughout all the phenomena manifested by the illusory energy, and within the functions of all living entities, and He also exists separate from all these. Thus situated in His own transcendence, He is the ultimate and unique shelter.

Read this verse on Vedabase.io

This verse has no purport; its meaning is explained by the verses around it.

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.

The Absolute Truth Is Our Ultimate Shelter

  1. 1

    The Supreme Absolute Truth is present throughout waking consciousness, sleep and deep sleep.

  2. 2

    He is present throughout the phenomena of the illusory energy and within the functions of all living entities, yet also exists separately from them.

  3. 3

    Situated in His own transcendence, He is the ultimate and unique shelter.

How it feels

Inquiry → Reverence. The transmission of sacred knowledge continues beyond the king's life.

Chapters 7–8 of Canto 12: The Vedic corpus and Mārkaṇḍeya's devotion. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 7: The Purāṇic Literatures

Summary of this chapter:

In this chapter Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī describes the expansion of the branches of the Atharva Veda, enumerates the compilers of the Purāṇas and explains the characteristics of a Purāṇa. He then lists the eighteen major Purāṇas and finishes his account by stating that any person who hears about these matters from someone in a proper disciplic succession will acquire spiritual potency.
Back to this verse in chapter 12.7
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. vyatirekathe presence as separate
  2. anvayaḥand as conjoint
  3. yasyaof which
  4. jāgratwithin waking consciousness
  5. svapnasleep
  6. suṣuptiṣuand deep sleep
  7. māyā-mayeṣuwithin the products of the illusory energy
  8. tatthat
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

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 12.7

    In this verse: “absolute truth”

  • Śaraṇāgati · Wholehearted surrender

    Relinquishing ownership while entrusting oneself to the Lord. · Theme in SB 12.7

    In this verse: “shelter”

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

What does it mean for me to regard the Supreme Absolute Truth as my ultimate shelter?

Practice

Before sleeping tonight, recall that the Supreme Absolute Truth remains present through every stage of awareness.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayThe Absolute Truth Is Our Ultimate ShelterThis 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 12.7.19? Get an answer from the verses themselves.