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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

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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 ›
Canto 2 · Chapter 1: The First Step in God Realization
2.1.382.2.1

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 2.1.39

Āśraya· The supreme shelter
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 2.1.23inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

स सर्वधीवृत्त्यनुभूतसर्व

आत्मा यथा स्वप्नजनेक्षितैक: ।

तं सत्यमानन्दनिधिं भजेत

नान्यत्र सज्जेद् यत आत्मपात: ॥ ३९ ॥

sa sarva-dhī-vṛtty-anubhūta-sarva

ātmā yathā svapna-janekṣitaikaḥ

taṁ satyam ānanda-nidhiṁ bhajeta

nānyatra sajjed yata ātma-pātaḥ

Translation

One should concentrate his mind upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who alone distributes Himself in so many manifestations just as ordinary persons create thousands of manifestations in dreams. One must concentrate the mind on Him, the only all-blissful Absolute Truth. Otherwise one will be misled and will cause his own degradation.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Concentrate on Kṛṣṇa Without Deviation

  1. 1

    The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the supreme object of realization, worship and devotion. Material rewards and miraculous powers can distract one from this goal and bring renewed bondage.

  2. 2

    The Supreme Lord is one, though His expansions are many, and Lord Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate Supersoul of everything. One should unhesitatingly worship Kṛṣṇa or His plenary expansion Nārāyaṇa.

  3. 3

    Creation is simultaneously one with and different from the Lord, who is never entangled in its reactions. Human life offers an opportunity to leave the repetition of creation and annihilation by concentrating on Him without deviation.

Key points from the purport
  • The whole material creation, therefore, is one with and different from Nārāyaṇa, simultaneously, and this supports the acintya-bhedābheda-tattva philosophy of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
  • Being an emanation from the glancing potency of Nārāyaṇa, the whole material creation is nondifferent from Him.
  • As a part of Him, one should therefore concentrate on Him only, without deviation; otherwise one is sure to be overcome by the potencies of the material creation, one after another.

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· 1

The purport of SB 2.1.39 quotesBG 9.7

It is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.7) as follows: “O son of Kuntī, at the end of the millennium every material manifestation enters into My nature, and at the beginning of another millennium, by My potency, I again create.”

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

Further reading

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
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. saḥHe (the Supreme Person)
  2. sarva-dhī-vṛttithe process of realization by all sorts of intelligence
  3. anubhūtacognizant
  4. sarveeveryone
  5. ātmāthe Supersoul
  6. yathāas much as
  7. svapna-janaa person dreaming
  8. īkṣitaseen by
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 2.1

    In this verse: “devotion”, “worship”

  • Jñāna · Spiritual insight

    Inquiry, revelation and discrimination between self and matter. · Theme in SB 2.1

    In this verse: “absolute truth”

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 2.1

    In this verse: “material”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Which attraction most often draws your attention away from devotion to Kṛṣṇa?

Practice

Set aside one distraction for a few minutes today and concentrate on Kṛṣṇa as the object of your worship and devotion.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

6

Connected stories

Keep going: stories told elsewhere in the Bhāgavatam that this verse or its purport brings in.

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 2.1's connections

Live this todayConcentrate on Kṛṣṇa Without DeviationThis 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 2.1.39? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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