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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

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 10: Bhāgavatam Is the Answer to All Questions

2.10.11 2.10.13

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 2.10.12

Āśraya· The supreme shelter

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 2.10.1inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

द्रव्यं कर्म च कालश्च स्वभावो जीव एव च ।

यदनुग्रहत: सन्ति न सन्ति यदुपेक्षया ॥ १२ ॥

dravyaṁ karma ca kālaś ca

svabhāvo jīva eva ca

yad-anugrahataḥ santi

na santi yad-upekṣayā

Translation

One should definitely know that all material ingredients, activities, time and modes, and the living entities who are meant to enjoy them all, exist by His mercy only, and as soon as He does not care for them, everything becomes nonexistent.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Everything Depends on the Lord’s Mercy

1
Material ingredients, activities, time, modes and living entities exist by the Lord’s mercy. Their continued existence depends entirely on His care.
2
The Lord is the supreme enjoyer, and living entities are meant to assist in His enjoyment. In their pure condition, they share in His transcendental enjoyment as His associates.
3
Trying to enjoy independently, and later seeking to become one with the Lord, are forms of illusion. By His mercy, the living entity returns to his original position and becomes actually liberated.

Key points from the purport

The living entities are the enjoyers of the material ingredients, time, modes, etc., because they want to lord it over the material nature.
In the spiritual world the living entities are pure in nature, and therefore they are associates in the enjoyment of the Supreme Lord.
In the material world the spirit of enjoyment of the living entities by dint of their own actions (karma) gradually fades by the laws of nature, and thus the illusory energy dictates in the ears of the conditioned souls that they should become one with the Lord.

Śrīla Prabhupāda'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 → Conviction. Divine knowledge resolves fundamental cosmic uncertainty.

Chapters 8–10 of Canto 2: Parīkṣit questions; Brahmā receives revelation. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 10: Bhāgavatam Is the Answer to All Questions

Śukadeva outlines the Bhāgavatam’s subjects and describes creation through the Lord’s universal form.

Back to this verse in chapter 2.10

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

dravyamphysical elements
karmaaction
caand
kālaḥtime
caalso
sva-bhāvaḥ jīvaḥthe living entities
evacertainly
caalso

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
Moha · Material attachment
The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 2.10
In this verse: “material”, “illusion”
Kṛpā · Divine mercy
Grace received beyond material calculations. · Theme in SB 2.10
In this verse: “mercy”

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

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Where am I trying to enjoy independently rather than assist in the Lord’s enjoyment?

Practice

Before one enjoyable activity today, pause and ask how you can approach it in service to the Lord rather than for yourself alone.

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayEverything Depends on the Lord’s MercyThis 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 2.10.12? Get an answer from the verses themselves.

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