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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 4: The Process of Creation
2.4.182.4.20

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 2.4.19

Āśraya· The supreme shelter
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 2.4.12inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

स एष आत्मात्मवतामधीश्वर-

स्त्रयीमयो धर्ममयस्तपोमय: ।

गतव्यलीकैरजशङ्करादिभि-

र्वितर्क्यलिङ्गो भगवान् प्रसीदताम् ॥ १९ ॥

sa eṣa ātmātmavatām adhīśvaras

trayīmayo dharmamayas tapomayaḥ

gata-vyalīkair aja-śaṅkarādibhir

vitarkya-liṅgo bhagavān prasīdatām

Translation

He is the Supersoul and the Supreme Lord of all self-realized souls. He is the personification of the Vedas, religious scriptures and austerities. He is worshiped by Lord Brahmā and Śiva and all those who are transcendental to all pretensions. Being so revered with awe and veneration, may that Supreme Absolute be pleased with me.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Desire Only to Satisfy the Lord

  1. 1

    The Supreme Lord rules over all paths of self-realization, but He is perfectly realized only by devotees who are free from pretension.

  2. 2

    Those seeking material enjoyment, liberation or mystic powers want something for themselves. Devotees are called niṣkāmī because they desire everything for the Lord’s satisfaction, not their own.

  3. 3

    The devotee is peaceful because he makes no demand for himself and is always ready to serve the Lord’s desire. Realizing ourselves as His eternally subordinate parts and parcels leads us toward devotional service.

Key points from the purport
  • The Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, although the Lord of all followers of different paths of self-realization, is knowable only by those who are above all pretensions.
  • Everyone is searching for eternal peace or eternal life, and with an aim to this destination everyone is either studying the Vedic scriptures or other religious scriptures or undergoing severe austerity as empiric philosophers, as mystic yogīs or as unalloyed devotees, etc. But the Supreme Lord is perfectly realized only by the devotees because they are above all pretensions.
  • But the devotees of the Lord do not want anything like that for self-satisfaction.

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 2.4.19 quotesCC Madhya 19.149

In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 19.149) it is said: Those who are after fruitive results for their pious activities, those who desire salvation and identity with the Supreme, and those who desire material perfections of mystic power are all restless because they want something for themselves, but the devotee is completely peaceful because he has no demand for himself and is…

The purport of SB 2.4.19 quotesBG 8.9

The conclusion is, therefore, that the Lord is for everyone because no one can achieve the result of his respective desires without His sanction, but as stated by the Lord in Bhagavad-gītā (8.9), all such results are awarded by Him only, for the Lord is adhīśvara (the original controller) of everyone, namely the Vedāntists, the great karma-kāṇḍīyas, the great religious…

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

Uncertainty → Awe. The scale of reality widens dramatically.

Chapters 4–7 of Canto 2: The creation, cosmic Person and incarnations. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 4: The Process of Creation

Parīkṣit fixes his mind on Kṛṣṇa and asks about creation; Śukadeva offers prayers before answering.

Back to this verse in chapter 2.4
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. saḥHe
  2. eṣaḥit is
  3. ātmāthe Supersoul
  4. ātmavatāmof the self-realized souls
  5. adhīśvaraḥthe Supreme Lord
  6. trayī-mayaḥpersonified Vedas
  7. dharma-mayaḥpersonified religious scripture
  8. tapaḥ-mayaḥpersonified austerity
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 2.4

    In this verse: “worshiped”, “devotional service”, “devotees”

  • Dharma · Duty and righteous conduct

    Right action as duty, responsibility and devotion. · Theme in SB 2.4

    In this verse: “religious”

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 2.4

    In this verse: “material”

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

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Where could I replace a desire for personal satisfaction with a desire to please the Lord?

Practice

Before one duty today, pause and pray, “May I do this for Your satisfaction, not merely my own.”

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 2.4's connections

Live this todayDesire Only to Satisfy 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 2.4.19? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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