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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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Choose a chapter to see all its verses.

How to study this verse, in six steps

1Chant the verse. Say the Sanskrit slowly and carefully.
2Read the word meanings. Go through each Sanskrit word and its meaning.
3Find the meaning yourself. Before the translation, piece the meaning together from the words.
4Read the translation. Ask: what is the Lord teaching here, and how does it apply to my life?
5Read the purport slowly. Read it two or three times. Don't rush.
6Write down what touched you. Note the main points in your own notebook.

Read the full guide: how to hear the Bhāgavatam ›

Canto 12 · Chapter 7: The Purāṇic Literatures

12.7.19 12.7.21

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 12.7.20

Āśraya· The supreme shelter

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:Sūta Gosvāmīsince 12.7.1inside 1 frame: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya

पदार्थेषु यथा द्रव्यं सन्मात्रं रूपनामसु ।

बीजादिपञ्चतान्तासु ह्यवस्थासु युतायुतम् ॥ २० ॥

padārtheṣu yathā dravyaṁ

san-mātraṁ rūpa-nāmasu

bījādi-pañcatāntāsu

hy avasthāsu yutāyutam

Translation

Although a material object may assume various forms and names, its essential ingredient is always present as the basis of its existence. Similarly, both conjointly and separately, the Supreme Absolute Truth is always present with the created material body throughout its phases of existence, beginning with conception and ending with death.

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.

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Lord Remains Present and Separate

1
Clay can be shaped and named as different kinds of pots, while earth remains their essential ingredient.
2
Similarly, the Supreme Lord is present throughout every stage of the material body, from conception to death.
3
The Lord is identical with material nature as its ultimate generating source. At the same time, He exists separately, aloof in His own abode.

Key points from the purport

Despite the various names and forms, the essential ingredient, earth, is constantly present.
Similarly, the Supreme Lord is present throughout a material body’s stages of bodily existence.
At the same time, the unique Supreme Being exists separately, aloof in His own abode.

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

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

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

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

pada-artheṣuwithin material objects
yathājust as
dravyamthe basic substance
sat-mātramthe sheer existence of things
rūpa-nāmasuamong their forms and names
bīja-ādibeginning from the seed (i.e., from the time of conception)
pañcatā-antāsuending with death
hiindeed
avasthāsuthroughout the various phases of bodily existence
yuta-ayutamboth conjoined and separate

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”
Moha · Material attachment
The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 12.7
In this verse: “material”
Abhaya · Fearlessness
Steadiness through faith amid danger and death. · Theme in SB 12.7
In this verse: “death”

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

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does the example of clay help me understand the Lord’s presence amid changing forms?

Practice

Look at a material object and distinguish its name and shape from its basic substance; then reread the verse’s comparison.

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayThe Lord Remains Present and SeparateThis 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 12.7.20? Get an answer from the verses themselves.

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