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

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Canto 2 · The Cosmic Manifestation · 10 chapters

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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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 2 · Chapter 1: The First Step in God Realization

2.1.37 2.1.39

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 2.1.38

Mukti· Liberation

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 2.1.23inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

इयानसावीश्वरविग्रहस्य

य: सन्निवेष: कथितो मया ते ।

सन्धार्यतेऽस्मिन् वपुषि स्थविष्ठे

मन: स्वबुद्ध्या न यतोऽस्ति किञ्चित् ॥ ३८ ॥

iyān asāv īśvara-vigrahasya

yaḥ sanniveśaḥ kathito mayā te

sandhāryate ’smin vapuṣi sthaviṣṭhe

manaḥ sva-buddhyā na yato ’sti kiñcit

Translation

I have thus explained to you the gross material gigantic conception of the Personality of Godhead. One who seriously desires liberation concentrates his mind on this form of the Lord, because there is nothing more than this in the material world.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Train the Mind to Remember the Lord

1
Material nature is an order-carrying agent acting under the Lord’s direction. Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, remains transcendental even when He mercifully appears like a human being.
2
The gigantic form helps those who cannot yet accept the Lord’s personal feature. Thinking of a forest, hill, ocean or another part of this form can fix the flickering mind on Him.
3
This concentration gradually diminishes godlessness and develops devotional service to the Lord. Recognizing everything as part of His supreme body teaches respect and reduces pride.

Key points from the purport

As the supreme transcendental Lord, He simply casts a glance over the material principle, and thus the agitation of matter begins, and the resultant actions are manifested one after another by six kinds of gradual differentiations.
Therefore, one is advised to think of the Lord by thinking of any part of His gigantic body, and by one’s intelligence only one can think of Him in any manifestation of the material world — the forest, the hill, the ocean, the man, the animal, the demigod, the bird, the beast or anything else.
Each and every item of the material manifestation entails a part of the body of the gigantic form, and thus the flickering mind can be fixed in the Lord only and nothing else.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

Connected verses· 2

The purport of SB 2.1.38 quotesBG 9.10

In the Bhagavad-gītā (9.10), the Supreme Personality of Godhead has verily explained that the material nature is only an order-carrying agent of His.

The purport of SB 2.1.38 quotesBG 9.11

Less intelligent persons with a poor fund of knowledge cannot accommodate the thought of this inconceivable potency of the Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, by which He appears just like a human being.

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

Death anxiety → Steady attention. The answer to mortality begins with spiritual focus.

Chapters 1–3 of Canto 2: The practice of hearing, remembering and devotion. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 1: The First Step in God Realization

Śukadeva describes the value of conscious living, self-control, and meditation on the Lord’s universal form.

Back to this verse in chapter 2.1

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

iyānall these
asauthat
īśvaraSupreme Lord
vigrahasyaof the form
yaḥwhatsoever
sanniveśaḥas they are located
kathitaḥexplained
mayāby me

Key ideas in this verse

The subject this verse serves and the themes it speaks of.

Mukti · Liberation
What is real freedom for the soul? · Subject 9 of 10
Moha · Material attachment
The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 2.1
In this verse: “material”
Bhakti · Devotion and loving service
How devotion reorganizes desire and action. · Theme in SB 2.1
In this verse: “devotional service”
Dainya · Humility
Ego yields to insight, service and surrender. · Theme in SB 2.1
In this verse: “pride”

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What familiar feature of the world could help bring your wandering mind back to the Lord?

Practice

Spend one minute observing a natural feature and remembering it as part of the Lord’s gigantic form.

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayTrain the Mind to Remember the LordThis 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 2.1.38? Get an answer from the verses themselves.

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