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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

2.10.44 2.10.46

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 2.10.45

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

नास्य कर्मणि जन्मादौ परस्यानुविधीयते ।

कर्तृत्वप्रतिषेधार्थं माययारोपितं हि तत् ॥ ४५ ॥

nāsya karmaṇi janmādau

parasyānuvidhīyate

kartṛtva-pratiṣedhārthaṁ

māyayāropitaṁ hi tat

Translation

There is no direct engineering by the Lord for the creation and destruction of the material world. What is described in the Vedas about His direct interference is simply to counteract the idea that material nature is the creator.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Kṛṣṇa Is the Original Cause

1
Descriptions of the Lord’s direct involvement in creation counteract the idea that material nature is the independent creator. He is the background of creation, maintenance and destruction, without directly engineering them.
2
Inert matter has potential to interact but no initiative of its own. Material nature acts only under the direction and transcendental glance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
3
Kṛṣṇa is the original cause, and His plenary expansion Kāraṇārṇavaśāyī Viṣṇu puts matter into motion. Material nature, the cosmic manifestation and living entities are different energies of the Lord, effective because He empowers them.

Key points from the purport

Therefore inert matter cannot be the ultimate cause of the creation, maintenance and destruction of the material world.
Considering material nature to be the cause of creation, maintenance, etc., is called “the logic of nipples on the neck of a goat.”
Therefore all of them, namely the material nature, the cosmic manifestation and the living entities, are but different energies of the Lord (fire).

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· 3

The purport of SB 2.10.45 quotesBG 9.10

He is the background of all creation, maintenance and destruction, and this is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.10): The material nature is one of the energies of the Lord, and she can work under the direction of the Lord (adhyakṣeṇa).

The purport of SB 2.10.45 quotesCC Ādi 5.61

prakṛti — kāraṇa yaiche ajā-gala-stana. Because Kāraṇārṇavaśāyī Viṣṇu is a plenary expansion of Kṛṣṇa, it is He who electrifies the matter to put it in motion.

The purport of SB 2.10.45 quotesSB 3.28.40

yathāgniḥ pṛthag ulmukāt. The original fire, its flame, its sparks and its smoke are all one, for fire is still fire yet is different from the flame, flame is different from sparks, and sparks are different from the smoke.

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

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.

nanever
asyaof the creation
karmaṇiin the matter of
janma-ādaucreation and destruction
parasyaof the Supreme
anuvidhīyateit is so described
kartṛtvaengineering
pratiṣedha-arthamcounteract

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”

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

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

When I observe material nature at work, do I remember its dependence on the Supreme Lord?

Practice

Observe one moving or standing living being today and recall that material nature works under the Lord’s direction.

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Connected stories

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

The purport quotesSB 3.28.40

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 2.10's connections

Live this todayKṛṣṇa Is the Original CauseThis 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 2.10.45? Get an answer from the verses themselves.

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